(Press TV) — Ethiopian Woyanne army moves toward the capital town of Somalia’s Shabeellaha Dhexe region to fight Islamic Courts Union (ICU) forces in the area.

The soldiers, numbering to thousands, headed for Jowhar some 90 km (55 miles) away from the turbulent Somali capital, Mogadishu, a Press TV correspondent in Somalia reported.

ICU fighters seized the town on Wednesday, without facing any resistance. Upon arrival, the rebels freed prisoners and kept watch over government buildings from potential looters before retreating hours later.

Jowhar, the seat of Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government, went without a proper administration for a second day on Friday, and is awaiting a possible clash between the Ethiopian soldiers and the remaining insurgents anytime within the few next hours.

Crowds of civilians, fearing their lives, started escaping from their homes in the town where the ICU fighters are said to have built strongholds.

On Thursday, Somali tribal leaders were calling for a crisis meeting to find a solution to end the humanitarian disaster in the African nation, urging the Ethiopian Woyanne troops’ dismissal from the country in order to save civilian lives.