December 25, 2006 - The war in Somalia has increased in intensity, with Ethiopian planes bombing the airport in the capital, Mogadishu. The city is the stronghold of the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC), which are now confronting the Ethiopians in locations across 400km (250 miles) of Somalia.

The Ethiopian incursion, in support of the weak but internationally-recognised Somali transitional government, is using tanks and heavy artillery, as well as aircraft and is reported to be making significant gains against the lightly-armed Islamic forces.

Addis-Ababa has made it plain that it is determined to end what it sees as the threat from Somalia's Islamists once and for all.

In a televised address, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said: "Our patience was considered as weakness and we were forced to go to war and the alternative left to us is to speedily bring the war to a successful and victorious end in the shortest time possible."

Ethiopia has one of Africa's largest, best-equipped and most experienced armed forces, with more than 100,000 trained personnel.

Several senior Ethiopian army officers have defected to the rebels based in Eritrea in the last few months.

None of this implies that Ethiopia is incapable of meeting the challenges posed by the war in Somalia. But there are risks for Prime Minister Meles that he will have contemplated before committing his forces to the conflict that is now under way.