Extending the mandate of the African Union Mission in Somali (AMISOM) by eight months, the U.N. council also agreed to provide $200-300 million in funding.
The African Union has rejected the deployment of Western or Non-African troops to the region, but both Pakistan and Bangladesh, predominately Muslim countries, have offered to send troops.
AMISOM is made up of 4.300 soldiers from Uganda and Burundi. The force was meant to have 8,000 soldiers when it was first established, but to date only two countries have been willing to commit troops.
An estimated 200 people have been killed and 60000 have been driven from their homes since the latest round of violence began earlier this month.
Al-Shabab, which receives support from neighboring Eritrea, has launched a sustained attack on areas controlled by the government and now controls most parts of central and southern Somalia. The group is believed to have ties to Al-Qa’ida.
Ethiopian troops invaded Somalia in 2006 in an effort to prop up the weak central government. Since then Al-Shabab, led by Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys and forces loyal to the current President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, has thrived.
The Ethiopians withdrew towards the end of last year and Ahmed joined a U.N. sponsored reconciliations process. He was elected president in January 2009.
Some locals reported that Ethiopian forces had reentered the country and established checkpoints, but the rumors were denied by the Ethiopian government officials.
Much of the fighting as been concentrated in the capital Mogadishu, which neither side has managed to gain full control of.
Somalia has not had a stable government since 1991.