BEIJING, Dec. 25 -- Ethiopian and Somali government forces launched fighter jets and artillery against advancing Islamic militants Sunday, dramatically escalating a battle with its roots in religious and historical conflicts as well as the U.S. war on terror.

    Ethiopia confirmed the attacks, the first time it has acknowledged that its troops are fighting in Somalia, though witnesses have been reporting their presence for weeks. There were no reliable casualty reports immediately available.

    "After too much patience, the Ethiopian Government has taken a self-defensive measure and has begun counterattacking the aggressive extremist forces of the (Islamic militia) and foreign terrorist groups," said Ethiopia's foreign affairs spokesman, Solomon Abebe.

    Ethiopia, a largely Christian nation that supports Somalia's UN-backed government, dropped bombs on several towns held by the Council of Islamic Courts and its soldiers used artillery and tanks elsewhere.

    "They are cowards," said Sheik Mohamoud Ibrahim Suley, an official with Somalia's Council of Islamic Courts. "They are afraid of the face-to-face war and resorted to airstrikes. I hope God will help us shoot down their planes."

    Experts fear the conflict in Somalia could engulf the already volatile Horn of Africa. A recent UN report said 10 countries have been illegally supplying arms and equipment to both sides of the conflict and using Somalia as a proxy battlefield. Residents living along Somalia's coast have seen hundreds of foreign Islamic radicals entering the country to answer calls by religious leaders to fight a holy war against Ethiopia.

    The Islamic group's strict and often severe interpretation of Islam raises memories of Afghanistan's Taliban regime. The US Government says four al-Qaida leaders, believed to be behind the 1998 bombing of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, have become leaders in Somalia's Islamic militia.

    The US Central Intelligence Agency paid Somali warlords to capture the suspects early this year, but they were routed by the Islamic courts, who seized the momentum to take control of the capital, Mogadishu, and most of the southern half of the country. Several rounds of peace talks have failed to yield any lasting results.

    (Source: China Daily)