I'm just a little curious. Everyone seems really focused on what is going on Israel. But how aware are we of what is going on in Somalia? What complications might this have in this whole global mess that's taken shape?

A brief review. The Unified Islamic Courts, a radical Islamist Group has taken complete control of Mogadishu including the airport and the seaports. I'd reckon that thousands have died in the unrest there, and tens of thousands have been further displaced. This in a city that over the past year has taken on tens of thousands of people that have lost everything in Somalia as a result of drought. The UIC of Somalia has continued pushing east towards the Ethiopian border, they have unseated the government from their previous position in the city of Jowhar to the city of Baidoa, which is not too far from the Ethiopian border.

This entire situation could truly be disasterous. The UIC is a group seeks the unification of all of greater Somalia. To include the Somali's in northern Kenya, and the extensive population of Somali's living in the Ogaden region of Ethiopia. A large ungoverned area of Ethiopia where the US is doing the majority of its humanitarian missions. This also implicates the autonomous regions of Puntland and Somaliland (where many of my girls from the orphanage are from). And of course, could ultimately pose a threat to Djibouti, although that is unlikely due to US and French presence.

Here is an article.

Somalia set for war as clashes continue

Somalia's Islamist militia briefly fought government forces - the first clash between the two sides and one that many Somalis fear may signal a slide to war in the Horn of Africa country.

Government militia seized and set on fire two "technicals" - heavily armed pickup trucks that are Somalia's version of tanks - in fighting in the remote Qoryooley district, an Islamist source told Reuters.

There was no word on any casualties in the clash, the first since Islamists captured Mogadishu from warlords on June 5, challenging the slim authority of President Abdullahi Yusuf's Western-backed government.

Witnesses said government forces brought one of the Islamists' battlewagons back to Baidoa, the government's provincial base, bolstered by the reported deployment of Ethiopian troops across the border in recent days.

Diplomats fear Somalia is on the verge of major conflict after the newly powerful Islamists moved closer to Baidoa this week and quit talks with the government, dashing hopes of a quick diplomatic breakthrough.

"We do not negotiate with a government which is being helped by the enemy of Somalia," senior Islamist leader Sheikh Sharif Ahmed said in a letter to Islamist delegates to the talks, in a reference to Ethiopia.

The Islamist leadership, vowing holy war, has called on Somalia's 10 million people to prepare to fight against the foreign troops, while Addis Ababa threatened to crush any attack on the Somali government.

Despite Ethiopia's repeated denials of reports that it has sent troops into Somalia, residents and aid workers in the south-western town of Wajid said Ethiopian soldiers seized the airport overnight from gunmen working for the local authorities.

Two helicopters carrying Ethiopian troops landed at the airport, they said. "Ethiopian military have been landing at the airport," said one Wajid resident, who did not want to be named.

Traditionally Christian Ethiopia fears a hardline Muslim state on its doorstep and possible Islamist aspirations to create a "Greater Somalia" that would incorporate Ethiopia's south-eastern, ethnically Somali, Ogaden region.

Analysts believe Ethiopia, the Horn's dominant power, has sent up to 5,000 troops into Somalia, and is massing more on the border to deter Islamist advances.

A source close to Somali government leaders admitted the presence of Ethiopian troops on Somali soil.

"They are there, but not in the big numbers people are saying. But believe me, if the Islamists attack, they will come," said the source, who did not wish to be named.

"Our national army is not set up yet, and they have many militias, so we need assistance."

Several residents of Baidoa said more Ethiopian troops and armoured vehicles arrived overnight to guard the parliament, presidential palace and airport.

"The Ethiopian troops have changed their uniforms and are now wearing the same clothes as the Somali government soldiers," said former militiaman and Baidoa resident Abdirizak Adan.

The government imposed a curfew on Baidoa three days ago, he added.

More than 50 of the Islamists' pickup trucks mounted with heavy weapons left Mogadishu, and after being joined by Eritrean and Ethiopian rebel forces were heading for Baidoa and Buur Hakaba, a town 60 km away, residents said.

The reported movements could not be independently verified.

Analysts say possible Eritrean involvement may be driven by poor relations with Addis Ababa, deadlocked over an unresolved border dispute. In a May report, the UN accused Asmara of funnelling arms to the Somali Islamists during their rise to power - a charge Eritrea denies.