Ethiopia has sent a few hundred military troops into Somalia to support the interim government against the Islamists, Ethiopia Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said on Tuesday.
Meles told Reuters Ethiopia was “technically” at war with Somalia, after the Islamists declared jihad, or a holy war, on his country.
The troops are training Somali security elements, he said, adding that Ethiopia will only intervene if Ethiopian land is threatened.
The Somali Supreme Islamic Courts Council took control of the Somali capital Mogadishu and large areas in the south earlier this year.
The Islamists claim they have stationed troops within 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Baidoa, where the weak transitional federal government is located, and plan to seize the town.
Numerous reports have abounded regarding Ethiopia’s military support of the government since the takeover, reports that Addis Ababa has, until now, repeatedly denied.
Meles rejected reports of a large-scale Ethiopian military deployment in Somalia.
Analysts say the conflict in Somalia could spill over into both Ethiopia and Eritrea and engulf the entire Horn of Africa Region. Eritrea has been accused of arming the Islamists.