Witnesses in Somalia say Islamist fighters have retreated from front-line positions after coming under heavy attack by government and Ethiopian forces.

Islamist forces in Somalia are in retreat Tuesday, as Somali government and Ethiopian troops advance toward the Islamist-held capital.

Ethiopian fighter jets bombed parts of the main airport in Somalia's capital Mogadishu on Monday. The strike is the first direct attack on the seat of the country's powerful Islamist movement, which has declared a holy war on Ethiopia for its military support of the rival secular Somali interim government. VOA Correspondent Alisha Ryu has details from our East Africa Bureau in Nairobi.

Somalia's Islamists have called on foreign Muslim fighters to join their fight against Ethiopia-backed Somalian government troops.

In Somalia, clashes between Islamist militia and interim government forces continued for the third straight day, despite western diplomatic efforts to stop the fighting and keep the region from sliding into chaos. VOA Correspondent Alisha Ryu reports from our East Africa Bureau in Nairobi.

While much attention is being paid to the fighting in Somalia, the country has other problems as well. Recent flooding has displaced many thousands of people and it's been difficult getting them emergency supplies.

A little more than six months after seizing control of the Somali capital of Mogadishu, Somalia's Islamic Courts Union is enforcing its form of law and order across a wide swath of the east African nation, home to a large majority of the population. But the hard-line Islamist leaders' alleged ties to terrorism, and their expansionist policies, have brought Somalia to the brink of war with neighboring Ethiopia.

The U.S. State Department's top diplomat for Africa says el-Qaida figures are now running the Islamic Courts movement which controls most of Somalia. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer says U.S. diplomats are working to try to prevent the conflict in Somalia from becoming a broader war in the Horn of Africa. VOA's David Gollust reports from the State Department.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has dismissed an ultimatum from Somalia's powerful Islamist movement for Ethiopia to withdraw troops from Somalia.

Nearly a half million people in Somalia are currently in need of assistance due to heavy rains and flooding. But UN officials fear that number could rise sharply without a quick influx of aid.

Officials from Somalia's Islamist movement report heavy clashes between their militias and Ethiopian forces who back Somalia's interim government.

World Vision will fly in emergency supplies to Somalia this Saturday to assist thousands devastated by recent flooding. The international aid agency hopes to reach a total of 120,000 people in Bualle in Somalia's Middle Juba region.