Ethiopia To Pull Its Troops From Somalia By End Of The Year

Ethiopian soldiers in Mogadishu, Somalia, guard a cache of ammunitions they said were used by insurgents during two days of heavy fighting. Photograph: Mustafa Abdi/AFP/Getty. Photo from The Guardian.

From The Washington Post:

MOGADISHU, Somalia, Nov. 28 -- Ethiopia announced Friday that it will pull its forces from Somalia by year's end, leaving the ravaged capital vulnerable to the Islamist fighters who have seized nearly all of the country.

The decision ends the unpopular two-year presence here of the key U.S. ally much as it began -- with the fighters in near-total control of a failed state beset by a worsening humanitarian crisis.

Ethiopia has sent thousands of troops here since early 2007, when it launched a U.S.-backed operation that drove the Islamists from the capital, Mogadishu, after six months in power.

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Update: Somalia's Transitional Government Fears Withdrawal of Ethiopian Troops -- Voice Of America

My Comment: Ethiopia is resigned to the fact that thy would never be able to control Somalia and its many clans. With no support from its allies, they are going to leave very soon. Somalia's Transitional Government will fall a few weeks after the Ethiopians have left.