Just days after Ethiopian and Somali government forces began their campaign against the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC), pro-government troops now occupy much of southwest Somalia and stand just outside the capital city of Mogadishu.

The BBC reports that Ethiopian and pro-government troops captured the strategic city of Jowhar, a former UIC stronghold some 56 miles outside of Mogadishu, in a dawn attack Wednesday. Jowhar's fall "leaves the Islamists with control of little more than the coast."

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The Ethiopian and pro-government Somali troops are reported to be only 30 km [19 miles] from Mogadishu.

In Jowhar, residents told the BBC they had seen government forces riding on top of Ethiopian armoured vehicles in Jowhar.

The UIC still holds Mogadishu, and the southern port city of Kismayo. Leaders of the militia have admitted pulling out of many towns. Reports suggest that the Islamists evacuated many towns without putting up a fight.

The BBC notes that the UIC's two most senior military commanders, Yusuf Indade and Abu Mansur, are currently both on the Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca.

Reuters reports that the Jowhar's capture came soon after Ethiopia said it was halfway to defeating the UIC, heightening fears of an attack on the capital. But government spokesman Abdirahman Dinari said, "We will not go into Mogadishu today."

The Associated Press reports that Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, the leader of the UIC, said that his soldiers are in tactical retreat from Ethiopia's better armed troops, but that the military struggle has just begun.

"The war is entering a new phase," Ahmed said from Mogadishu, the capital. "We will fight Ethiopia for a long, long time and we expect the war to go everyplace."

Mr. Ahmed declined to elaborate, but some Islamic leaders have threatened a guerrilla war to include suicide bombings in Addis Ababa.

Ethiopia's push into Somalia has received the backing of the African Union (AU), which called the campaign "self defense," reports The Daily Telegraph of London.

"The AU recognises that Ethiopia was threatened by the Islamic courts and we acknowledge its rights to self defence," said Patrick Mazimhaka, the AU's deputy commissioner. "But we hope the AU will be able to do something to avoid the escalation and the intervention of other neighbours in the conflict."

The Telegraph writes that Ethiopia has also seen support from the United States. US State Department spokesman Gonzo Gallegos said that Ethiopia "has genuine security concerns and has provided support at the request of [Somalia's] legitimate governing authority," though he urged that Ethiopian forces show "maximum restraint."

The Los Angeles Times reports that the United Nations Security Council met in emergency session on Tuesday to attempt to address the escalating violence, but was unable to reach agreement on a statement. The Security Council earlier this month authorized sending a regional peacekeeping force to Somalia.

In an emergency meeting Tuesday, the Security Council agreed that all parties should stop fighting and return to talks, but it failed to agree on a statement demanding that all foreign fighters leave the country. The Somali deputy ambassador insisted after the meeting that the Ethiopian troops were welcome and necessary.

"Any Ethiopian forces there were invited by the legitimate government and they will stay as long as we need them," said the envoy, Idd Beddel Mohamed.

In an editorial, the Dubai-based Khaleej Times chastized the United Nations for not doing more to find a peaceful resolution to the situation in Somalia. The editorial likened the UN's failures to those of the League of Nations, which was dissolved in 1946 largely due to its inability to prevent World War II.

If the secretary-general will remember his mandate, it was for effectively liquidating crises just like these that the [League of Nations] was discarded and the UN erected in its place. It needs little stressing that the prime responsibility of ensuring the UN falls in line with its job-requirements rests with the world's big powers. With wars raging in Asia, the Middle East as well as Africa, the UN and its high-profile security council does not boast too impressive a resume.

The Guardian evokes the defunct League as a cautionary tale in an editorial calling for international efforts to resolve the conflict, as well as a quick withdrawal from Somalia by Ethiopian forces, so as stabilize the Horn of Africa.

It is hardly fanciful to recall that the failure to deal with Abyssinia in the 1930s was a death blow for the League of Nations. In today's Horn of Africa, Somalia is a bitter reminder that neglected problems are more likely to worsen than fade away. Ethiopia is hoping for a speedy victory: Mr Zenawi was sounding triumphant yesterday. But this could turn out to mean another long and costly trial for ordinary Somalis. The right course is to press for an immediate ceasefire and power-sharing talks between what passes for the Somali government and the [UIC] rebels. International mediation could help provide security guarantees to Ethiopia, which should withdraw its forces at once. Anything else would to be to court disaster for a country that has already suffered enough.

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Feedback appreciated. E-mail Arthur Bright.