Ethiopian troops enter Somalia

Ethiopian troops in armoured vehicles rolled into the central Somali town of Baidoa today and set up a camp near the home of the interim president, residents said, less than a day after Islamic militants reached the outskirts of the base of a UN-backed, but largely powerless government.

A spokesman for the Ethiopian government had said that his country would protect Somalia’s transitional government from attack by Islamic militias who control much of southern Somalia.