2007 timeline of the War in Somalia
Encyclopedia
The timeline of events in the War in Somalia during 2007 is set out below.
African and Arab League
countries have called on Ethiopia to withdraw its troops from Somalia, but these troops practically constitute the military might of the Interim Government whose head, Ali Mohamed Gedi, insists the Ethiopian troops stay in Somalia until he no longer needs them.
In a move to curb resistance against the come-back of the Interim government, after the take-over of Mogadishu on Friday, Ali Mohammed Gedi swiftly announced the introduction of martial law
, but such a measure, taken on the background of what is seen as foreign occupation, is already sparking the organization of guerrilla warfare
in the capital.
On December 31, 2006, Sharif Sheik Ahmed, chairman of the Islamic Courts Union, along with other senior ICU officials in the port city of Kismayu about 500 km (310.7 mi) south of Mogadishu, urged Islamist supporters across the country to initiate an insurgency to wage guerrilla war against the Ethiopian troops backing the Somali transitional government. Ahmed issued the statement after the Muslim Eid prayers on Saturday: "I call on the Islamic Courts fighters, supporters and every true Muslim to start an insurgency against the Ethiopian troops in Somalia. We are telling the Ethiopians in Somalia that they will never succeed in their mission. By Allah, they will fail... We will not allow the Ethiopian troops to stay peacefully in Somalia."
Two Ethiopian soldiers were killed and three injured by one gunman in the town of Jilib. The suspected Islamist gunman was killed along with two Somalis later in the day.
Kenya sealed its Somali border with helicopters, soldiers, and police in order to prevent Islamists from entering. During the course of the day Ethiopian helicopters accidentally bombed a Kenyan border post at Har Har, but did not cause any casualties. The Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf also met with Mwai Kibaki
in Mombasa, Kenya.
Prime minister Meles Zenawi said Ethiopia is not able to stay in Somalia because of the high economic burden that would come with a prolonged troop investment. A call for peacekeepers has been made but many countries are reluctant to intervene without a clear mission and are wary of what happened in prior peacekeeping missions.
On January 2, 2007, US Marines
operating out of Lamu
, Kenya
, were said to be assisting Kenyan forces patrolling the border with Somalia with the interception of Islamists.
A return to normality in the capital was furthered by the re-opening of the Mogadishu airport.
, in Garissa
district to Kiunga
, Lamu
district. Reports said ICU troops were split across Afmadow and Badade districts, and possibly concentrated at the former Al-Ittihad Al-Islamiya (AIAI) stronghold of Ras Kamboni
. TFG and Ethiopian forces reported taking district capital Afmadow (January 2), and Dhobley along the Kenyan border (January 3), and were presently en route to Badade, the district capital just north of Ras Kamboni
. In Nairobi, up to ten of the twenty Somali Members of Parliament in Kenya who were alleged to have ties to the Islamic Courts were taken into custody. One report said five were taken into custody. Another report said ten.
Unknown gunmen but thought to be Somali Islamists fired shots at a Kenyan security helicopter patrolling near the border with Somalia. The helicopter was flying over the southeastern Kenyan border town of Hulugho. The report did not say if the aircraft was damaged but said gunmen fired smalls arms from the region of Ras Kamboni, the base for the fleeing Islamists.
In Mogadishu, TFG militias set up checkpoints in the city. At one checkpoint, a group of militia apparently attempted to extort money from the driver of an oil tanker truck. In the ensuing argument, a rocket was fired at the vehicle, injuring at least 2 or 3 people. The vehicle had been carrying dozens of passengers who disembarked before the rocket attack.
On January 5, 2007, TFG Defense Minister Col. Barre Aden Shirre Hiiraale announced: "Today we will launch a massive assault on the Islamic courts militias. We will use infantry troops and fighter jets... They have dug huge trenches around Ras Kamboni but have only two options: to drown in the sea or to fight and die." Fighting continued January 6 in the jungles south of Kismayo near the Kenyan border, where it was reported the Islamists were holding out armed with over 100 technicals
.
The battle at Ras Kamboni was fought over January 5–12, 2007. During the operations, a US airstrike hit Badmadow Island in an attempt to kill Al Qaeda operatives embedded within ICU forces, and a series of Ethiopian airstrikes occurred to the north in Afmadow district.
Clashes broke out between Somali protesters and Ethiopian soldiers in the border town of Beledweyne after a town official was arrested for refusing to hand over a leading member of the Islamic Courts Union. Three people were reportedly injured.
A small skirmish has broken out in the Somali capital Mogadishu between Somali militiamen and the Ethiopian forces killing at least two persons and wounding two others. The clashes came after armed militiamen attacked military vehicles belonged to Ethiopian troops passing in front of the Sahafi hotel in southern Mogadishu. Both the dead and the injured were Somalis. The dead persons were a 13-year-old girl and a TFG soldier who died when his hand grenade accidentally exploded and one of the wounded was an old man who was in serious condition.
raged, TFG President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed
entered Mogadishu for the first time since being elected. It was announced the government would be relocated to Villa Somalia
, in Mogadishu, from its interim location at Baidoa. Prof. Ibrahim Hassan Addow, representative of the ICU, speaking from Yemen
, said the Islamic Courts were ready to enter negotiations with the Transitional Federal Government
. However, TFG President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed
categorically refused to hold peace talks at this stage.
On January 8 it was reported that an AC-130 gunship belonging to the United States military had attacked suspected Al-Qaeda operatives in Southern Somalia. Most casualties were said to be Islamic fighters. The aircraft flew out of its base in Djibouti
. Many bodies were spotted on the ground, but the identity of the dead or wounded was not yet established. The targeted leaders were tracked by the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as they headed south from Mogadishu starting on December 28. One attack was made well inland at Hayo (or Xayo, approx. Lat 0º28’ N, Long 41º49’ E), a village halfway between Afmadow
and Dhobley. It was also reported that the aircraft carrier
USS Dwight D. Eisenhower
had been moved into striking distance. Other named US Navy vessels joining the maritime cordon included the USS Anzio
and the amphibious landing ship USS Ashland
.
On January 8, 2007, to the north of Ras Kamboni, elsewhere in Badhadhe province, an Ethiopian force intercepted Islamist forces in the area of the Kenyan border town of Amuma, Garissa
district. Seven vehicles were destroyed. A platoon of Kenyan border police were in the area to enforce the border closure. In Afmadow province, Ethiopia launched airstrikes against targets near Afmadow and Dhobley.
On January 9, 2007, seven Pakistani members of the Tabliq (Tablighi Jamaat
) were arrested in Mogadishu near the Presidential Palace of Villa Somalia
, causing a local protest. Ethiopian and Somali troops were attacked in Mogadishu for the second time in a week with one soldier reportedly being killed and others wounded. A young girl was also wounded in the attack.
An insurgent attack on government barrack began at 7:30pm, Tuesday, near KM4 (Kilometer 4 Street), which resulted in one soldier dead and six wounded. The firefight lasted an hour.
On January 9 it was reported U.S. special forces and CIA operatives are working with Ethiopian troops on the ground in operations inside Somalia, and have been involved in numerous missions since the beginning of the war. US forces have been operating from Galkayo within Somalia, and from Camp Lemonnier, an American camp established in Djibouti following 9/11.
On January 10, 2007, due to the barrack attack, significant street fighting broke out in Mogadishu stretching from dawn to afternoon in a multi-party daylight clash between troops of the national government, Ethiopian soldiers, Islamic insurgents and local militias. Government soldiers cordoned off areas of the city and began a house-to-house search for weapons. At Medina hospital, 15 people, including three government soldiers, had been admitted for gunshot wounds over the past 24 hours, and patients overflowed the hospital's 65 beds. At least one TFG soldier was reported to be dead at the end of the day.
On January 10, chief of staff to the Somali president, Abdirizak Hassan, stated that the US claimed Al Qaeda suspect Fazul Abdullah Mohammed
, one of the FBI's most wanted terrorists, was killed in the AC-130 attack on January 8, as detailed by a US intelligence report. Earlier, a US military official reported that Ethiopian forces
provided the targeting information needed for the attack. The official also said that five to 10 people were killed in the airstrikes. However, a Somali official countered that US airstrikes killed 31 civilians. At least four more AC-130 airstrikes were said to have hit Ras Kamboni. Somali politician Abdirashid Mohamed Hidig
toured the area and spoke of 50 killed in the attacks. He said additional targets hit include Hayo, Garer, Bankajirow and Badmadowe. The U.S. government denied the additional attacks were made by the US. Ethiopian aircraft are also known to be operating in the combat area. The verification of the death of Mohammed followed private comments made by US Defence Department
officials that further airstrikes were possibly being planned. A second planned attack was reportedly called off after losing track of the target.
On January 11, the American ambassador to Kenya said that the US claimed Al Qaeda suspect Fazul Abdullah Mohammed
was actually still alive and that none of the Al Qaeda members were killed in the air attack but some members of the ICU were killed.
Up to seven people were killed when the militiamen of clan leader Mohamed Afrah Qanyare
fought members of a rival clan who were guarding the presidential palace. All of the dead were said to be Qanyare's fighters. There were reports that the fighting was sparked by a parking dispute involving an armored vehicle.
According to Oxfam
, a British-based aid agency, 70 herdsmen were killed in recent air raids targeting Islamic militants.
On January 12, TFG Defense Minister Barre Aden Shirre Hiiraale announced Ras Kamboni had fallen to the Somali government and Ethiopian forces after five days of heavy fighting. Remnants of the Islamist forces were being pursued into the nearby forests and fighting would continue. A small team of US forces investigated the site of the US gunship attack to search for information about the identity and fate of the targeted individuals.
In fighting in Mogadishu 8 Islamist fighters are killed.
On January 13, nine people were ambushed and killed in Biyo Adde, 50 km northeast of Jowhar
. Revenge by a sub-clan was cited as the motive.
Multiple attacks against Ethiopian and Somali government troops broke out in the capital with reports of one dead government soldier and three others who had their weapons confiscated after an unknown group of militiamen attacked a police station in the Huriwa district. Another attack on a convoy of Ethiopian and government soldiers happened in the former Islamic Courts stronghold of Ifka Halane in Mogadishu.
At least 13 were killed and 12-18 wounded in a militia clash between the Murasade and Hawdle tribes in Goobo
, between Hiran and Galgadud regions. Government forces were dispatched to the town.
In Garissa
Kenya
, police arrested 7 Somalis, suspected of being fleeing Islamic militiamen heading towards Nairobi. One was wounded. 10 others escaped.
On January 15, a gun battle lasting at least an hour killed at least two people in Eimiska, a northeastern neighborhood of Mogadishu. Attackers in two pickup trucks fired rocket propelled grenade
s at an Ethiopian and government convoy. One man known to have been killed was thought to be deaf and therefore did not respond when soldiers ordered him to go back. The same day, the TFG closed the radio stations for Shabelle Radio, Horn Afrik, IQK, and the television station Al-Jazeera in Mogadishu without explanation.
On January 15, it was reported a British SAS
team was also on the ground at the Kenyan border looking for the fleeing Al Qaeda suspects.
had been arrested near the Dadaab refugee camp in the Garissa
district of Kenya
. Also today, a U.S. official in a press conference said she believed the U.S. AC-130 raid had killed eight soldiers of Aden Hashi Farah Ayro, head of an Islamist militia. Ayro is believed to have been wounded in the attack and perhaps killed.
Also on that day, the Assistant Deputy Secretary of Defense for African affairs, Theresa Whelan, clarifed the airstrike conducted on January 8 was not the work of the CJTF-HOA, but of another force which she did not specify. The target of the strike was confirmed to be Aden Hashi Farah Ayro, who was believed wounded or possibly dead, while eight members of his group were killed in the attack.
The US ambassador to Kenya
, Michael Ranneberger
, said the US pledged $40 million to support the deployment of the IGASOM
peacekeeping force for Somalia.
On the same day, the AMISOM mission was formally defined and approved by the African Union
at the 69th meeting of the Peace and Security Council.
agreed to send a half-battalion to a battalion (ranging widely anywhere between approximately 400 to 1,200 troops) for a peacekeeping mission to Somalia.
and all other areas in Somalia.
pledged a battalion
(a force between 770 and 1,100 troops) to join the Somali peacekeeping mission.
On January 25, 2007 an Ethiopian soldier was killed and another seriously injured in Karamiyo, one of the last towns to fall to the Ethiopians. It is estimated that more than 3,000 Islamist gunmen have gone into hiding.
was withdrawn by the US and redeployed to the Persian Gulf
. Other ships of its carrier strike group
, the USS Bunker Hill
and the USS Ashland
remain off the coast of Somalia.
Also on February 1, Burundi
committed to the peacekeeping mission, pledging up to 1,000 troops.
welcomed the advent of the African Union
and IGAD-led peacekeeping mission.
, where Islamist support was strongest, burned U.S., Ethiopian, and Ugandan flags in protest of the proposed peacekeeping mission. A masked representative of the resistance group, the Popular Resistance Movement in the Land of the Two Migrations, said Ethiopian troops would be attacked in their hotels; the same group had made a video warning peace-keepers to avoid coming to Somalia. By this date, Uganda
, Nigeria
, Ghana
, Malawi
and Burundi
had committed to the peacekeeping mission, but the total force was about half of the proposed 8,000-strong force. Uganda had pledged 1,400 troops and some armored vehicles for a mission lasting up to 9 months, and the AU had pledged $11.6 million.
, U.S. citizen Daniel Joseph Maldonado (Daniel Aljughaifi) was charged with "training from a foreign terrorist organization and conspiring to use an explosive device outside the United States." He had been extradited by Kenya
n authorities after he fled there. In the charges, it was alleged he took part in training at camps near Kismayo and Jilib
where members of Al-Qaeda
were present and was willing to become a suicide bomber if he became wounded.
In Mogadishu, a mortar and rocket barrage killed at least one person and wounded more than 10. At least five mortar rounds were fired at the Mogadishu seaport. Three landed on the adjacent beach where a teenage boy was killed and others were wounded. Another mortar round landed in the Black Sea neighborhood of Mogadishu. Ethiopian troops, barracked in the old Somali National University campus, responded with a rocket counterattack. Six others were wounded around the city in scattered mortar attacks. It was the first night of violence after two mostly peaceful days in the city.
Levi Karuhanga
. The troops had been training for two years in preparation for the mission.
Elsewhere in Somalia on this day:
On February 18, 2007 Mogadishu witnessed its first car bomb, with four fatalities.
In an ambush in Mogadishu 1 TFG policeman was killed.
On February 20, a series of mortar attacks left 16 dead and 42 wounded. The total wounded in mortar attacks in the capital since the beginning of the insurgency exceeded 90.
In various attacks in Mogadishu 5 people were killed, including a government-allied militia commander.
In fighting in Mogadishu 2 insurgents and 1 civilian were killed.
A cargo plane, with 11 people on board, was 2007 Mogadishu TransAVIAexport Airlines Il-76 crash
over Mogadishu. An Islamic group claims responsibility for the attack.
Combats between insurgents and Somali police in Beledweyne
, two police men injured.
-clan elders between the government and the Council of Islamic Courts failed to stop fighting that has left the streets of Mogadishu
strewn with dead bodies.
feared resumption of the indiscriminate attacks that have taken place in the recent days in Mogadishu
, resulting in the killing of over 400 civilians. The organization demanded Somalia
’s President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed
, Ethiopia
n Prime Minister Meles Zenawi
, and all armed groups to ensure that their forces strictly abide by international humanitarian law and take all necessary measures to protect civilians.
since April 17, in combats between Ethiopian military forces and Somali insurgents.
, killing 11 people.
A suicide microbus bomb killed 6 people in an Ethiopian military base in Afgoi, 30 km south of Mogadishu
.
, packed with civilians wounded in fighting between Islam
ic insurgents and Ethiopia
n troops allied to the Somali
government.
of Somalia's transitional government is claiming victory over insurgents in Mogadishu. But a former member of parliament, Omar Hashi, now in exile in Eritrea
and allied with some Islam
ists fighting the transitional government, denies that the transitional government is in control of the volatile capital.
n forces and fighters aligned with the Islam
ic Courts Union in the capital Mogadishu
are being described as some of the heaviest fighting in the city's history. Humanitarian Crisis Worsens in Somalia: Over three hundred people had been killed over the past two weeks. This comes just three weeks after another series of battles claimed at least a thousand lives.
Human Rights Watch
documented how Kenya
and Ethiopia
had turned the region into Africa’s own version of Guantanamo Bay, replete with kidnappings, extraordinary renditions, secret prisons and large numbers of “disappeared”.
A roadside bomb hits a convoy of Ugandan peacekeepers in Mogadishu, killing four and wounding five Ugandan soldiers. A child is also killed in the attack.
A US warship attacked a village in northeastern Somalia, killing 8 Islamist insurgents.
At least 3 people were killed in several shooting attacks in Mogadishu
.
A suicide truck bomb exploded in front of Somali prime minister's house, killing 7 people and injuring dozens.
An Ethiopian military convoy was attacked by a roadside bomb in the north of Mogadishu
.
In fighting between rival army units in Kismayo 6 people were killed.
In Mogadishu an army officer was killed and a second injured when their vehicle was hit by a roadside explosion.
Two Ethiopian soldiers were killed and two wounded in a roadside bombing in Mogadishu, another two people were killed earlier in the week in Mogadishu and 5 civilians were killed and 8 wounded in a grenade attack on a Somalia military convoy which was passing near Mogadishu’s Bakara market yesterday.
In a separate attack two Somalis working for the International Medical Corps relief agency were killed late Wednesday in El-Berde.
Two TFG soldiers and two civilians were killed when insurgents attacked a military patrol in Mogadishu's Bakara market.
40 heavily armed fighters attacked an Ethiopian base close to the Somali capital, Mogadishu.
At least four people die in the fighting, with heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades.
Four Ethiopian soldiers were killed after their base close to the volatile Somali capital Mogadishu came under rocket and machine-gun attack from Islamists. Also six people are killed by a remote controlled bomb in Mogadishu.
At least nine Somali nomads were killed in El Bur district, central Somalia, on Thursday by armed clan militiamen, witnesses and elders said
Seven people including two police officers were killed in Mogadishu.
Heavily armed insurgents attacked a military base and a police station with mortars and heavy machine guns. At least three civilians died.
Fighting erupted in a remote village west of the Somali port city of Kismayo on Tuesday between clan fighters who battled in the same village last week, residents said. Fighters loyal to the Ogaden and Galje'l clans fought each other using rifles and other light weapons. At least 11 fighters were killed and 17 other people wounded in the second round of warfare, elders in Buur Gaabo village said by telephone.
Fighting across Mogadishu killed 31 civilians and injured another 60 civilians.
Assailants believed to be members of armed groups opposed to Somalia's transitional government and its Ethiopian allies have killed four police officers in the capital, Mogadishu, in continued fighting described by human rights organisations as mostly affecting civilians.
A roadside bomb in northern Mogadishu killed three police officers and wounded a large number of civilians.
At least one person was reported dead Friday in a small village in southern Somalia after tens of people rushed on a building where an aid agency was distributing food, witnesses said. The United Nations' WFP aid agency was distributing food to refugee families in Kuntuwarey, a town in Lower Shabelle region. Some of the refugees had fled increasing violence in the capital Mogadishu between government troops and insurgents.
Attacks in Mogadishu killed two civilians and injured four others.
Fighting between two sub-clans in North-western Somalia left at least 16 people dead and 30 wounded.
In another high profile assassination, Moallim Harun Moallim Yusuf was gunned down near his home yesterday evening. Moallim Yusuf was a clan elder renowned for negotiating peaceful settlements between warring clans over the past 17 years of civil war.
A landmine detonated outside of Mogadishu killing two civilians. Other violence in Somalia left nine civilians and a Somalia TFG soldier wounded.
Gunmen shot and killed a Somali soldier south of Mogadishu at the Yaaqshiid's Fagah intersection and an Ethiopian convoy in Mogadishu was attacked killed 1 Ethiopian soldier and injuring 10 other people.
Fighting in Huriwa district killed 7 insurgents and 1 TFG government police officer.
A roadside bomb in Mogadishu killed two students and an elderly civilian.
A police officer received financial reward after shooting dead an insurgent that was about to toss a grenade. Police officers at a north Mogadishu substation killed three insurgents and captured two and one police officer was killed along with two civilians in several explosions in the Bakara market.
A roadside bomb south of Mogadishu claimed the life of one Somali soldier and two businessmen were shot and killed in Bakara market.
Insurgents attacked a government station but withdrew after the Somali soldiers were reinforced by Ethiopian soldiers. Two Somali soldiers and two civilians were killed in the fighting.
Fighting in Galgadud region killed one civilian and three other civilians were killed in Mogadishu.
Heavy fighting in the Bakara market killed 2 Somali soldiers and 2 insurgents but claimed the lives of four civilians in the cross-fire.
A roadside bomb meant for a passing TFG convoy killed three civilians. No one was hurt or killed in the convoy.
Fighting in Mogadishu killed 12 civilians and injured many more in different hot-spots. No known government or insurgent casualties.
A WHO officer was shot and killed by two insurgents.
In fighting in Mogadishu 5 TFG soldiers were killed.
An opposition government, consisting of members of the former Islamic Courts Union (ICU) and other Somali elements met and formed in Asmara
, Eritrea
. Somalia's interior minister, Mohamed Mohamud Guled, ridiculed the meeting and the opposition forces, saying "We are really close to eradicating them."
Insurgents attacked police by SOS hospital killing four police officers and three civilians>
Fighting in Bakara market killed 1 civilian and injured two others.
A lone gunman shot and killed clan elder Mohamud Hassan and a security official in Bakara market.
An insurgent tried to kidnap a child of a government official in Kismayu and in the resulting firefight killed two civilians before dying of his injuries. A third civilian was shot to death by soldiers. The boy was released unharmed.
Artillery clash between Somaliland separatists and Puntland forces in Sool killed two civilians.
A Somali intelligence official was gunned down in Mogadishu Saturday evening by two suspected insurgents, sources said. The two attackers escaped after using pistols to kill Abdullahi Odohow at a small market in Yaaqshiid district. Odohow, who was a senior official with the Somali national security agency, did not have armed guards with him at the time of the fatal attack. Elsewhere one police officer was killed in an explosion in Bakara market.
In fighting in Mogadishu 3 TFG soldiers were killed.
Fighting in northern Mogadishu killed four soldiers and in southern Mogadishu insurgents shot dead two TFG government officials.
Insurgents attacked the district commander in Huriwa district killing the commander and wounding his second-in-command. A police counter attack killed 3 insurgents and four fellow officers.
In Bakara market insurgents tossed grenades at a Somali government patrol and shot dead one soldier and two civilians.
Insurgents attacked three police stations and two Ethiopian bases in Mogadishu which led to the death according to some reports of 100 insurgents and 45 Somali soldiers and policemen. Three civilians were killed also.
Fighting overnight at a Mogadishu sub-station killed 2 TFG police officers and three civilians even though government forces claimed no police had been killed.
One Colonel in the TFG government was killed in Bakara market and three other civilians were killed in other incidents in Mogadishu.
Troops in Afgoya shot and killed civilians looking for food.
Local police engaged unidentified militiamen in southern Somalia Monday night in a two-hour long battled that killed at least two fighters, sources said. The port town of Marka, provincial capital of Lower Shabelle, was relatively quiet all day Tuesday as people largely stayed inside their homes for fear of more armed clashes. Last night's attack erupted around 1am local time at the town's southern checkpoint where police defended themselves from the militiamen. Five others, including police officers, were wounded in the gun fight.
In fighting in Mogadishu a policeman and an insurgent were killed. An explosion in Bakaar marketplace killed three civilians and an Ethiopian soldier was killed while on patrol.
Insurgents attacked a Somali Army General in south Mogadishu and successfully assassinated him, a bodyguard and their military driver.
A Somali security official was killed in Mogadishu, witnesses said Sunday, as Islamists insurgents brought into their ranks a battle-tested Afghan-trained commander. Gunmen shot dead Ahmed Hareed, a district official for Somali National Security Agency, overnight in the south of the lawless capital, the latest in a string of attacks targeting government employees and sympathisers.
A suicide bomber attacked a checkpoint in Baidoa killing 3 Ethiopian soldiers.
A nighttime mortar exchange in Mogadishu killed three people hiding in a restaurant and sent seven other civilians to hospital.
Somali soldiers exchanged gunfire with TFG militiamen in Kismayo over an illegal checkpoint resulting in the death of 1 soldier, wounding of two civilians and the arrest of one gunman.
A police sub-commander and two bodyguards were assassinated in Mogadishu and a civilian was killed in a grenade attack.
In Bossasso after a day-long stand-off gunfire erupted killing two suspected Islamic insurgents in Puntland and injuring four police officers, resulting in one of them dying in hospital.
17 civilians are killed in heavy fighting in Mogadishu.
Fighting overnight in Northern Mogadishu killed seven Ethiopian soldiers throughout northern mogadishu as well as two armed men, and six civilians.
Fighting between rival government forces in Lower Shabelle killed three soldiers and wounded three others. Reinforcements began to arrive however a vehicle roll-over in Wanla Weyn resulted in the deaths of six more government soldiers.
Fighting at Mogadishu docks killed two civilians, and injured 6 others along with three Ugandan peacekepers.
At least 15 civilians, including women and children, were killed in a bus explosion in Mogadishu's northern district of Yaqshiid. The explosion occurred when the bus drove over an IED (improvised explosive device) or landmine while traveling to the Suuqa Holaha district in northern Mogadishu on Wednesday.
An explosion in a central Somali town left four civilians dead and 15 wounded.
Two Somali soldiers were killed and eight others wounded in two separate bombings.
Nine civilians and seven Ethiopian soldiers are killed in fighting in Mogadishu.
Fighting in Marka killed four government troops in an inter-governmental clash.
Ethiopian soldiers opened fire on demonstrators in Mogadishu killing three and in other incidents across the city two more civilians were killed.
Two civilians were killed in various attacks across Mogadishu
Two pirates were killed off of Somalia's coast when they tried to attack a North Korean cargo vessel.
In various reported clashes 5 Ethiopian and 1 TFG soldier and 5 civilians are killed.
A landmine exploded in Northern Somalia killing 10 civilians.
A landmine explosion and subsequent gun attack in Mogadishu killed 5 civilians and injured dozens.
A governor's convoy was attacked in central Somalia killing 2 soldiers and wounding 2 others. The insurgents that set up the roadblock attack were able to get away from pursuing soldiers.
Insurgents attack an Ethiopian army patrol in Mogadishu and two Ethiopians were killed along with two civilians in the 15 minute fire-fight, including one university student.
Fighting in the capital killed 15 civilians and an undisclosed number of Ethiopian soldiers and insurgents.
Two policemen and three civilians are killed in fighting in Mogadishu.
In Mogadishu a huge battle left 10 civilians dead and 15 wounded.
In Beltwein an ambush has left 2 soldiers and 1 insurgent dead.
An attack on a police roadblock in the capital has left 2 civilians dead and wounded 5 others.
Fighting between two sub-clans north of the capital have killed 10 people and wounded dozens.
Three Somali soldiers and two civilians are killed in fighting in Mogadishu.
In mortar bombardment in Mogadishu 19 civilians are killed.
Insurgents took control of Ba'da village in central Somalia after killing one TFG soldier.
In fighting in Mogadishu 2 civilians are killed. Twelve soldiers, including one Ethiopian, were wounded by a road-side bomb in Baidoa.
At least three civilians are killed in fighting in Mogadishu.
In mortar bombardment in Mogadishu 12 civilians are killed.
A running gun battle killed five civilians as stray mortar shells from both side struck civilian residential complexes in Northern Mogadishu.
In Baidoa a regional judge was shot dead and in an attack on a police officer's home one soldier was killed and two soldiers and two young children were lightly wounded.
In fighting in Mogadishu's notorious Bakara market one civilian is killed.
Mohamed Muhiyadin Ali, spokesman for Mogadishu Mayor Mohamed Dheere, was killed in a road-side bombing in the capital.
In mortar bombardment in Mogadishu 8 civilians are killed.
A landmine explosion planted by insurgents in Southern Mogadishu has killed a TFG Colonel and his bodyguard.
Here is a brief summary.
has pledged troops to assist the TFG under the AMISOM peacekeeping
mission.
Nobody knows for sure how many Ethiopian troops are stationed in Somalia, and nobody knows how many Somalis have been killed as a result of the Ethiopian military intervention in Somalia. Ethiopia opened an embassy in Mogadishu
next to the presidential palace on May 27, 2007. According to Human Rights Watch, Ethiopian forces backing the Somali transitional government violated the laws of war by widely and indiscriminately bombarding highly populated areas of Mogadishu with rockets, mortars and artillery. Its troops on several occasions specifically targeted hospitals and looted them of desperately needed medical equipment. Human Rights Watch also documented cases of Ethiopian forces deliberately shooting and summarily executing civilians.
Since June 15, 2007 a UN mission in Somalia focused on the needs of the hundreds of the displaced Somalis. Deadly clashes have forced 490,00 Somalis to flee Mogadishu
between February 2007 and May 2007.
On February 23, 2007, the New York Times reported that the US government has been secretly training Ethiopian soldiers, for several years, in camps near the Ethiopia-Somalia border. Many of these soldiers participated in the Ethiopian invasion of Somalia. The Times quoted unnamed US government officials who said the training program and other support for Ethiopia's government began after a failed CIA effort to arm and finance Somali "warlords."
members, suspects wanted for the 1998 United States embassy bombings
in East Africa: Fazul Abdullah Mohammed
, Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan and Abu Taha al-Sudani.
The United States Fifth Fleet's multinational maritime task force, Combined Task Force 150
(CTF-150), based out of Bahrain is patrolling off the Somali coast to prevent terrorists launching an "attack or to transport personnel, weapons or other material," said Commander Kevin Aandahl. The announcement did not say what particular ships comprised the cordon, but the task force includes vessels from Canada, France, Germany, Pakistan, the UK and the US. US ships of CTF-150 include the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer
USS Ramage
and the Ticonderoga-class cruiser
USS Bunker Hill
.
| Month | Ethiopian soldiers |
Somali soldiers* |
Other soldiers** |
Insurgents | Civilians |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4 | 3 | None | 25 | 70 |
| February | None | 2 | None | 4 | 30 |
| March–April | 37 | 13 | 1 | 429 | 1,212 |
| May | None | 1 | 5 | None | 1 |
| June | 2 | 7 | 2 | 13 | 19 |
| July | 11 | 23 | None | None | 60 |
| August | 5 | 32 | None | 11 | 69 |
| September | None | 80 | None | 106 | 55 |
| October | 18 | 27 | None | 11 | 79 |
| November | 16 | 9 | None | 1 | 123 |
| December | None | 21 | None | 1 | 55 |
| TOTAL | 93 (500) | 218 | 8 | 601 | 1,823 (8,636) |
| Sources: SomaliNet ---- **Other soldiers killed: 2  Kenyan, 6  Ugandan |
|||||
January 1, 2007
On January 1, Islamists abandoned their last stronghold in Kismayo. After their departure, looters took to the streets, but order was restored shortly. The Islamists are reportedly retreating toward the Kenyan border. Kenya has boosted security at the border to prevent them from entering their territory.African and Arab League
Arab League
The Arab League , officially called the League of Arab States , is a regional organisation of Arab states in North and Northeast Africa, and Southwest Asia . It was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945 with six members: Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan , Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. Yemen joined as a...
countries have called on Ethiopia to withdraw its troops from Somalia, but these troops practically constitute the military might of the Interim Government whose head, Ali Mohamed Gedi, insists the Ethiopian troops stay in Somalia until he no longer needs them.
In a move to curb resistance against the come-back of the Interim government, after the take-over of Mogadishu on Friday, Ali Mohammed Gedi swiftly announced the introduction of martial law
Martial law
Martial law is the imposition of military rule by military authorities over designated regions on an emergency basis— only temporary—when the civilian government or civilian authorities fail to function effectively , when there are extensive riots and protests, or when the disobedience of the law...
, but such a measure, taken on the background of what is seen as foreign occupation, is already sparking the organization of guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and...
in the capital.
On December 31, 2006, Sharif Sheik Ahmed, chairman of the Islamic Courts Union, along with other senior ICU officials in the port city of Kismayu about 500 km (310.7 mi) south of Mogadishu, urged Islamist supporters across the country to initiate an insurgency to wage guerrilla war against the Ethiopian troops backing the Somali transitional government. Ahmed issued the statement after the Muslim Eid prayers on Saturday: "I call on the Islamic Courts fighters, supporters and every true Muslim to start an insurgency against the Ethiopian troops in Somalia. We are telling the Ethiopians in Somalia that they will never succeed in their mission. By Allah, they will fail... We will not allow the Ethiopian troops to stay peacefully in Somalia."
January 2, 2007
- 2 Ethiopian, 1 insurgent, 2 civilians killed
Two Ethiopian soldiers were killed and three injured by one gunman in the town of Jilib. The suspected Islamist gunman was killed along with two Somalis later in the day.
Kenya sealed its Somali border with helicopters, soldiers, and police in order to prevent Islamists from entering. During the course of the day Ethiopian helicopters accidentally bombed a Kenyan border post at Har Har, but did not cause any casualties. The Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf also met with Mwai Kibaki
Mwai Kibaki
Mwai Kibaki is the current and third President of the republic of Kenya.Kibaki was previously Vice President of Kenya for ten years from 1978–1988 and also held cabinet ministerial positions, including a widely acclaimed stint as Minister for Finance , Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for...
in Mombasa, Kenya.
Prime minister Meles Zenawi said Ethiopia is not able to stay in Somalia because of the high economic burden that would come with a prolonged troop investment. A call for peacekeepers has been made but many countries are reluctant to intervene without a clear mission and are wary of what happened in prior peacekeeping missions.
On January 2, 2007, US Marines
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
operating out of Lamu
Lamu
-Threats to Lamu:In a 2010 report titled Saving Our Vanishing Heritage, Global Heritage Fund identified Lamu as one of 12 worldwide sites most "On the Verge" of irreparable loss and damage, citing insufficient management and development pressure as primary causes.- See also :* Juma and the Magic...
, Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
, were said to be assisting Kenyan forces patrolling the border with Somalia with the interception of Islamists.
January 3, 2007
Ethiopian aircraft and attack helicopters struck the town of Doble (Dhoobley), Afmadow province, not far from the Kenyan border. The strikes were presumably to hit ICU elements attempting to cross the border. Fighting tailed off after midnight.A return to normality in the capital was furthered by the re-opening of the Mogadishu airport.
January 4, 2007
Unconfirmed reports said six Kenyan herders were killed by Ethiopian aircraft that crossed over the border of Somalia. Cordoning off the border, 20 Kenyan tanks were dispatched to patrol the frontier stretching between LiboiLiboi
Liboi is a town in North Eastern Province of Kenya. It is located 18 kilometres west of the Somali border, and is an important border crossing point to Somalia. Liboi is located along the A3 road, 75 kilometres east of Dadaab and 175 kilometres east of Garissa, the provincial and district capital...
, in Garissa
Garissa
Garissa is a city in the North Eastern Province of Kenya. It is the capital of both the province and Garissa District.-Overview:Garissa is located at and has a population of 65,881 inhabitants . The Tana River flows through the city....
district to Kiunga
Kiunga
Kiunga may mean:Places:*Kiunga, Kenya, and the nearby Kiunga Marine National Reserve*Kiunga, Papua New GuineaFish:*the genus Kiunga with the species Kiunga ballochi and Kiunga bleheri...
, Lamu
Lamu
-Threats to Lamu:In a 2010 report titled Saving Our Vanishing Heritage, Global Heritage Fund identified Lamu as one of 12 worldwide sites most "On the Verge" of irreparable loss and damage, citing insufficient management and development pressure as primary causes.- See also :* Juma and the Magic...
district. Reports said ICU troops were split across Afmadow and Badade districts, and possibly concentrated at the former Al-Ittihad Al-Islamiya (AIAI) stronghold of Ras Kamboni
Ras Kamboni
Ras Kamboni is a town in the Badhaadhe district of Lower Juba region, Somalia, which lies on a peninsula near the border with Kenya. American officials have said that it has served as a training camp for extremists with connections to Al-Qaeda; al-Sharq al-Awsat reported in May 1999 that al-Qaeda...
. TFG and Ethiopian forces reported taking district capital Afmadow (January 2), and Dhobley along the Kenyan border (January 3), and were presently en route to Badade, the district capital just north of Ras Kamboni
Ras Kamboni
Ras Kamboni is a town in the Badhaadhe district of Lower Juba region, Somalia, which lies on a peninsula near the border with Kenya. American officials have said that it has served as a training camp for extremists with connections to Al-Qaeda; al-Sharq al-Awsat reported in May 1999 that al-Qaeda...
. In Nairobi, up to ten of the twenty Somali Members of Parliament in Kenya who were alleged to have ties to the Islamic Courts were taken into custody. One report said five were taken into custody. Another report said ten.
Unknown gunmen but thought to be Somali Islamists fired shots at a Kenyan security helicopter patrolling near the border with Somalia. The helicopter was flying over the southeastern Kenyan border town of Hulugho. The report did not say if the aircraft was damaged but said gunmen fired smalls arms from the region of Ras Kamboni, the base for the fleeing Islamists.
In Mogadishu, TFG militias set up checkpoints in the city. At one checkpoint, a group of militia apparently attempted to extort money from the driver of an oil tanker truck. In the ensuing argument, a rocket was fired at the vehicle, injuring at least 2 or 3 people. The vehicle had been carrying dozens of passengers who disembarked before the rocket attack.
January 5, 2007
On January 5, 2007, Sheikh Farah Moallim Mohamud became the highest-ranking member of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) to be captured by the Ethiopian-Somalian forces. He was apprehended near Beledweyne then later released because of the general amnesty offered to Islamists who surrendered to the government.On January 5, 2007, TFG Defense Minister Col. Barre Aden Shirre Hiiraale announced: "Today we will launch a massive assault on the Islamic courts militias. We will use infantry troops and fighter jets... They have dug huge trenches around Ras Kamboni but have only two options: to drown in the sea or to fight and die." Fighting continued January 6 in the jungles south of Kismayo near the Kenyan border, where it was reported the Islamists were holding out armed with over 100 technicals
Technical (fighting vehicle)
A technical is a type of improvised fighting vehicle, typically a civilian or military non-combat vehicle, modified to provide an offensive capability similar to a military gun truck...
.
Battle of Ras Kamboni
- 16 insurgents, 44 civilians killed
The battle at Ras Kamboni was fought over January 5–12, 2007. During the operations, a US airstrike hit Badmadow Island in an attempt to kill Al Qaeda operatives embedded within ICU forces, and a series of Ethiopian airstrikes occurred to the north in Afmadow district.
January 6, 2007
On January 6, a crowd of more than 100 rioters gathered near Tarabunka square in Mogadishu. They protested the presence of Ethiopian troops as well as the plans to disarm the populace. Prime Minister Ghedi issued a decision to postpone the disarmament for an indefinite amount of time.January 7, 2007
- 1 Somali soldier, 1 civilian killed
Clashes broke out between Somali protesters and Ethiopian soldiers in the border town of Beledweyne after a town official was arrested for refusing to hand over a leading member of the Islamic Courts Union. Three people were reportedly injured.
A small skirmish has broken out in the Somali capital Mogadishu between Somali militiamen and the Ethiopian forces killing at least two persons and wounding two others. The clashes came after armed militiamen attacked military vehicles belonged to Ethiopian troops passing in front of the Sahafi hotel in southern Mogadishu. Both the dead and the injured were Somalis. The dead persons were a 13-year-old girl and a TFG soldier who died when his hand grenade accidentally exploded and one of the wounded was an old man who was in serious condition.
January 8, 2007
On January 8, 2007 as the Battle of Ras KamboniBattle of Ras Kamboni
The Battle of Ras Kamboni was a battle in the 2006-2007 Somali War fought by the Islamic Courts Union and affiliated militias against Ethiopian and the Somali Transitional Federal Government forces for control of Ras Kamboni , a town near the Kenyan border which once served as a training camp for...
raged, TFG President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed
Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed
Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed is a veteran Somali politician. He is one of the founders of the Somali Salvation Democratic Front, as well as the Puntland State of Somalia, where he served as the autonomous region's first President...
entered Mogadishu for the first time since being elected. It was announced the government would be relocated to Villa Somalia
Villa Somalia
Villa Somalia is the presidential palace of Somalia, which sits on high ground near the shores of the Indian Ocean in Mogadishu, with access to both the harbor and airport....
, in Mogadishu, from its interim location at Baidoa. Prof. Ibrahim Hassan Addow, representative of the ICU, speaking from Yemen
Yemen
The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....
, said the Islamic Courts were ready to enter negotiations with the Transitional Federal Government
Transitional Federal Government
The Transitional Federal Government is the current internationally recognized government of the Republic of Somalia. It was established as one of the Transitional Federal Institutions of government as defined in the Transitional Federal Charter adopted in November 2004 by the Transitional...
. However, TFG President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed
Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed
Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed is a veteran Somali politician. He is one of the founders of the Somali Salvation Democratic Front, as well as the Puntland State of Somalia, where he served as the autonomous region's first President...
categorically refused to hold peace talks at this stage.
Djibouti
Djibouti , officially the Republic of Djibouti , is a country in the Horn of Africa. It is bordered by Eritrea in the north, Ethiopia in the west and south, and Somalia in the southeast. The remainder of the border is formed by the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden at the east...
. Many bodies were spotted on the ground, but the identity of the dead or wounded was not yet established. The targeted leaders were tracked by the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as they headed south from Mogadishu starting on December 28. One attack was made well inland at Hayo (or Xayo, approx. Lat 0º28’ N, Long 41º49’ E), a village halfway between Afmadow
Afmadow
Afmadow is a city in southern Somalia, located in the middle of the Juba region and bordered by Kenya, Badhadhe, Kismayo, Jamame, Jilib, Hagar, Bardhere and Elwaq in Somalia, 620 km south of the capital Mogadishu. It is home to a wide variety of wild animals, including the Big Five game. The...
and Dhobley. It was also reported that the aircraft carrier
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
USS Dwight D. Eisenhower
USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69)
USS Dwight D. Eisenhower is an aircraft carrier currently in service with the United States Navy. Commissioned in 1977, the ship is the second of the ten Nimitz-class supercarriers currently in service, and is the first ship named after the thirty-fourth President of the United States, Dwight D....
had been moved into striking distance. Other named US Navy vessels joining the maritime cordon included the USS Anzio
USS Anzio (CG-68)
USS Anzio is a guided missile cruiser of the United States Navy, named for the site of a beachhead invasion of Italy by Allied troops from 22 January to 23 May 1944. It was laid down by the Litton-Ingalls Shipbuilding Corporation at Pascagoula, Mississippi on 21 August 1989, launched on 2...
and the amphibious landing ship USS Ashland
USS Ashland (LSD-48)
USS Ashland is a Whidbey Island-class dock landing ship of the United States Navy. She was the secondNavy ship to be named for Ashland, the home of Henry Clay, in Lexington, Kentucky.Ashland was laid down on 4 April 1988,...
.
On January 8, 2007, to the north of Ras Kamboni, elsewhere in Badhadhe province, an Ethiopian force intercepted Islamist forces in the area of the Kenyan border town of Amuma, Garissa
Garissa
Garissa is a city in the North Eastern Province of Kenya. It is the capital of both the province and Garissa District.-Overview:Garissa is located at and has a population of 65,881 inhabitants . The Tana River flows through the city....
district. Seven vehicles were destroyed. A platoon of Kenyan border police were in the area to enforce the border closure. In Afmadow province, Ethiopia launched airstrikes against targets near Afmadow and Dhobley.
January 9, 2007
- 1 Ethiopian soldier killed
On January 9, 2007, seven Pakistani members of the Tabliq (Tablighi Jamaat
Tablighi Jamaat
Tablighi Jamaat is a religious movement which was founded in 1926 by Muhammad Ilyas al-Kandhlawi in India. The movement primarily aims at Tablighi spiritual reformation by working at the grass roots level, reaching out to Muslims across all social and economic spectra to bring them closer to...
) were arrested in Mogadishu near the Presidential Palace of Villa Somalia
Villa Somalia
Villa Somalia is the presidential palace of Somalia, which sits on high ground near the shores of the Indian Ocean in Mogadishu, with access to both the harbor and airport....
, causing a local protest. Ethiopian and Somali troops were attacked in Mogadishu for the second time in a week with one soldier reportedly being killed and others wounded. A young girl was also wounded in the attack.
An insurgent attack on government barrack began at 7:30pm, Tuesday, near KM4 (Kilometer 4 Street), which resulted in one soldier dead and six wounded. The firefight lasted an hour.
On January 9 it was reported U.S. special forces and CIA operatives are working with Ethiopian troops on the ground in operations inside Somalia, and have been involved in numerous missions since the beginning of the war. US forces have been operating from Galkayo within Somalia, and from Camp Lemonnier, an American camp established in Djibouti following 9/11.
January 10, 2007
- 1 Somali soldier killed
On January 10, 2007, due to the barrack attack, significant street fighting broke out in Mogadishu stretching from dawn to afternoon in a multi-party daylight clash between troops of the national government, Ethiopian soldiers, Islamic insurgents and local militias. Government soldiers cordoned off areas of the city and began a house-to-house search for weapons. At Medina hospital, 15 people, including three government soldiers, had been admitted for gunshot wounds over the past 24 hours, and patients overflowed the hospital's 65 beds. At least one TFG soldier was reported to be dead at the end of the day.
On January 10, chief of staff to the Somali president, Abdirizak Hassan, stated that the US claimed Al Qaeda suspect Fazul Abdullah Mohammed
Fazul Abdullah Mohammed
Fazul Abdullah Mohammed was a member of al-Qaeda, and the leader of its presence in East Africa as of November 2009. Mohammed was born in Moroni, Comoros Islands and had Kenyan as well as Comorian citizenship...
, one of the FBI's most wanted terrorists, was killed in the AC-130 attack on January 8, as detailed by a US intelligence report. Earlier, a US military official reported that Ethiopian forces
Military of Ethiopia
The Ethiopian National Defense Force is the military of Ethiopia. Civil direction of the military is carried out through the Ministry of Defense, which oversees the ground forces, air force, as well as the Defense Industry Sector. The current defense minister is Siraj Fergessa. . Size of the ENDF...
provided the targeting information needed for the attack. The official also said that five to 10 people were killed in the airstrikes. However, a Somali official countered that US airstrikes killed 31 civilians. At least four more AC-130 airstrikes were said to have hit Ras Kamboni. Somali politician Abdirashid Mohamed Hidig
Abdirashid Mohamed Hidig
Abdirashid Mohamed Hidig is a Somali political and a Member of Parliament in the Transitional Federal Parliament of Somalia. There are 275 members of the Somali parliament...
toured the area and spoke of 50 killed in the attacks. He said additional targets hit include Hayo, Garer, Bankajirow and Badmadowe. The U.S. government denied the additional attacks were made by the US. Ethiopian aircraft are also known to be operating in the combat area. The verification of the death of Mohammed followed private comments made by US Defence Department
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
officials that further airstrikes were possibly being planned. A second planned attack was reportedly called off after losing track of the target.
January 11, 2007
Unknown Somali fighters launched grenades into Hotel Ambassador in Mogadishu, exchanging gunfire with Somali and Ethiopian troops positioned inside the hotel. One of the wounded soldiers is in critical condition and is a personal body guard of Gen. Ali Madobe, the Somali national police chief.On January 11, the American ambassador to Kenya said that the US claimed Al Qaeda suspect Fazul Abdullah Mohammed
Fazul Abdullah Mohammed
Fazul Abdullah Mohammed was a member of al-Qaeda, and the leader of its presence in East Africa as of November 2009. Mohammed was born in Moroni, Comoros Islands and had Kenyan as well as Comorian citizenship...
was actually still alive and that none of the Al Qaeda members were killed in the air attack but some members of the ICU were killed.
January 12, 2007
- 8 insurgents killed
Up to seven people were killed when the militiamen of clan leader Mohamed Afrah Qanyare
Mohamed Afrah Qanyare
Mohamed Afrah Qanyare , is a Somali politician who was based to the south of Mogadishu Dayniile neighborhoods.Somali PM one of the political Flexible activity Mohamed Qanyare Afrah- United Somali Congress :...
fought members of a rival clan who were guarding the presidential palace. All of the dead were said to be Qanyare's fighters. There were reports that the fighting was sparked by a parking dispute involving an armored vehicle.
According to Oxfam
Oxfam
Oxfam is an international confederation of 15 organizations working in 98 countries worldwide to find lasting solutions to poverty and related injustice around the world. In all Oxfam’s actions, the ultimate goal is to enable people to exercise their rights and manage their own lives...
, a British-based aid agency, 70 herdsmen were killed in recent air raids targeting Islamic militants.
On January 12, TFG Defense Minister Barre Aden Shirre Hiiraale announced Ras Kamboni had fallen to the Somali government and Ethiopian forces after five days of heavy fighting. Remnants of the Islamist forces were being pursued into the nearby forests and fighting would continue. A small team of US forces investigated the site of the US gunship attack to search for information about the identity and fate of the targeted individuals.
In fighting in Mogadishu 8 Islamist fighters are killed.
January 13, 2007
- 9 civilians killed
On January 13, nine people were ambushed and killed in Biyo Adde, 50 km northeast of Jowhar
Jowhar
Jowhar is the capital town of the Shabeellaha Dhexe region of Somalia . Along with Baidoa, it used to form the joint administrative capital of the Transitional Federal Government, which captured it from the Islamic Courts Union....
. Revenge by a sub-clan was cited as the motive.
January 14, 2007
- 13 civilians killed
Multiple attacks against Ethiopian and Somali government troops broke out in the capital with reports of one dead government soldier and three others who had their weapons confiscated after an unknown group of militiamen attacked a police station in the Huriwa district. Another attack on a convoy of Ethiopian and government soldiers happened in the former Islamic Courts stronghold of Ifka Halane in Mogadishu.
At least 13 were killed and 12-18 wounded in a militia clash between the Murasade and Hawdle tribes in Goobo
Goobo
-References:*...
, between Hiran and Galgadud regions. Government forces were dispatched to the town.
In Garissa
Garissa
Garissa is a city in the North Eastern Province of Kenya. It is the capital of both the province and Garissa District.-Overview:Garissa is located at and has a population of 65,881 inhabitants . The Tana River flows through the city....
Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
, police arrested 7 Somalis, suspected of being fleeing Islamic militiamen heading towards Nairobi. One was wounded. 10 others escaped.
January 15, 2007
- 1 Somali soldier, 1 civilian killed
On January 15, a gun battle lasting at least an hour killed at least two people in Eimiska, a northeastern neighborhood of Mogadishu. Attackers in two pickup trucks fired rocket propelled grenade
Rocket propelled grenade
A rocket-propelled grenade is a shoulder-fired, anti-tank weapon system which fires rockets equipped with an explosive warhead. These warheads are affixed to a rocket motor and stabilized in flight with fins. Some types of RPG are reloadable while others are single-use. RPGs, with the exception of...
s at an Ethiopian and government convoy. One man known to have been killed was thought to be deaf and therefore did not respond when soldiers ordered him to go back. The same day, the TFG closed the radio stations for Shabelle Radio, Horn Afrik, IQK, and the television station Al-Jazeera in Mogadishu without explanation.
On January 15, it was reported a British SAS
Special Air Service
Special Air Service or SAS is a corps of the British Army constituted on 31 May 1950. They are part of the United Kingdom Special Forces and have served as a model for the special forces of many other countries all over the world...
team was also on the ground at the Kenyan border looking for the fleeing Al Qaeda suspects.
January 17, 2007
On January 17, 2007, conflicting reports emerged over whether Sheikh Sharif AhmedSharif Ahmed
Sharif Sheikh Ahmed is the current President of Somalia and former Commander in Chief of the Islamic Courts Union .-Biography:...
had been arrested near the Dadaab refugee camp in the Garissa
Garissa
Garissa is a city in the North Eastern Province of Kenya. It is the capital of both the province and Garissa District.-Overview:Garissa is located at and has a population of 65,881 inhabitants . The Tana River flows through the city....
district of Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
. Also today, a U.S. official in a press conference said she believed the U.S. AC-130 raid had killed eight soldiers of Aden Hashi Farah Ayro, head of an Islamist militia. Ayro is believed to have been wounded in the attack and perhaps killed.
Also on that day, the Assistant Deputy Secretary of Defense for African affairs, Theresa Whelan, clarifed the airstrike conducted on January 8 was not the work of the CJTF-HOA, but of another force which she did not specify. The target of the strike was confirmed to be Aden Hashi Farah Ayro, who was believed wounded or possibly dead, while eight members of his group were killed in the attack.
The US ambassador to Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
, Michael Ranneberger
Michael Ranneberger
Michael E. Ranneberger is a former United States Ambassador to Kenya. He was confirmed by congress on June 29, 2006 and began field duties on August 11, 2006. He left his post in May, 2011. He was also responsible for U.S. relations with Somalia. Mr. Ranneberger served as the Senior Representative...
, said the US pledged $40 million to support the deployment of the IGASOM
IGASOM
The African Union Mission in Somalia is an active, regional peacekeeping mission operated by the African Union with the approval of the United Nations in Somalia...
peacekeeping force for Somalia.
January 19, 2007
On January 19, 2007 the pro-Islamic Courts Union website Qaadisiya.com featured a video describing the reformation of the ICU into the Popular Resistance Movement in the Land of the Two Migrations (PRM). On January 24, Sheikh Abdikadir was announced to be commander of the PRM in the Banadir region.On the same day, the AMISOM mission was formally defined and approved by the African Union
African Union
The African Union is a union consisting of 54 African states. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established on 9 July 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity...
at the 69th meeting of the Peace and Security Council.
January 22, 2007
On January 22, MalawiMalawi
The Republic of Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast, and Mozambique on the east, south and west. The country is separated from Tanzania and Mozambique by Lake Malawi. Its size...
agreed to send a half-battalion to a battalion (ranging widely anywhere between approximately 400 to 1,200 troops) for a peacekeeping mission to Somalia.
January 23, 2007
On January 23, 2007, Ethiopia began withdrawing from MogadishuMogadishu
Mogadishu , popularly known as Xamar, is the largest city in Somalia and the nation's capital. Located in the coastal Benadir region on the Indian Ocean, the city has served as an important port for centuries....
and all other areas in Somalia.
January 24, 2007
On January 24, the U.S. admitted to have made a second airstrike, but did not confirm the exact date or location of the strike. Also on that day, NigeriaNigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
pledged a battalion
Battalion
A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...
(a force between 770 and 1,100 troops) to join the Somali peacekeeping mission.
January 25, 2007
- 1 Ethiopian soldier killed
On January 25, 2007 an Ethiopian soldier was killed and another seriously injured in Karamiyo, one of the last towns to fall to the Ethiopians. It is estimated that more than 3,000 Islamist gunmen have gone into hiding.
January 31, 2007
On January 31, the PRM released a video warning African Union peacekeepers to avoid coming to Somalia, claiming "Somalia is not a place where you will earn a salary - it is a place where you will die."February 1, 2007
The USS Dwight D. EisenhowerUSS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69)
USS Dwight D. Eisenhower is an aircraft carrier currently in service with the United States Navy. Commissioned in 1977, the ship is the second of the ten Nimitz-class supercarriers currently in service, and is the first ship named after the thirty-fourth President of the United States, Dwight D....
was withdrawn by the US and redeployed to the Persian Gulf
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...
. Other ships of its carrier strike group
Carrier Strike Group
A carrier strike group is an operational formation of the United States Navy. It is composed of roughly 7,500 personnel, an aircraft carrier, at least one cruiser, a destroyer squadron of at least two destroyers and/or frigates, and a carrier air wing of 65 to 70 aircraft...
, the USS Bunker Hill
USS Bunker Hill (CG-52)
USS Bunker Hill is a Ticonderoga class guided missile cruiser laid down by Litton-Ingalls Shipbuilding Corporation at Pascagoula, Mississippi on 11 January 1984, launched on 11 March 1985 and commissioned on 20 September 1986...
and the USS Ashland
USS Ashland (LSD-48)
USS Ashland is a Whidbey Island-class dock landing ship of the United States Navy. She was the secondNavy ship to be named for Ashland, the home of Henry Clay, in Lexington, Kentucky.Ashland was laid down on 4 April 1988,...
remain off the coast of Somalia.
Also on February 1, Burundi
Burundi
Burundi , officially the Republic of Burundi , is a landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and south, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Its capital is Bujumbura...
committed to the peacekeeping mission, pledging up to 1,000 troops.
February 2, 2007
On February 2, the United Nations Security CouncilUnited Nations Security Council
The United Nations Security Council is one of the principal organs of the United Nations and is charged with the maintenance of international peace and security. Its powers, outlined in the United Nations Charter, include the establishment of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of...
welcomed the advent of the African Union
African Union
The African Union is a union consisting of 54 African states. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established on 9 July 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity...
and IGAD-led peacekeeping mission.
February 9, 2007
On February 9, a gathering of 800 Somali demonstrators in north MogadishuMogadishu
Mogadishu , popularly known as Xamar, is the largest city in Somalia and the nation's capital. Located in the coastal Benadir region on the Indian Ocean, the city has served as an important port for centuries....
, where Islamist support was strongest, burned U.S., Ethiopian, and Ugandan flags in protest of the proposed peacekeeping mission. A masked representative of the resistance group, the Popular Resistance Movement in the Land of the Two Migrations, said Ethiopian troops would be attacked in their hotels; the same group had made a video warning peace-keepers to avoid coming to Somalia. By this date, Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
, Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
, Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
, Malawi
Malawi
The Republic of Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast, and Mozambique on the east, south and west. The country is separated from Tanzania and Mozambique by Lake Malawi. Its size...
and Burundi
Burundi
Burundi , officially the Republic of Burundi , is a landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and south, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Its capital is Bujumbura...
had committed to the peacekeeping mission, but the total force was about half of the proposed 8,000-strong force. Uganda had pledged 1,400 troops and some armored vehicles for a mission lasting up to 9 months, and the AU had pledged $11.6 million.
February 15, 2007
On February 15, in Houston, TexasTexas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, U.S. citizen Daniel Joseph Maldonado (Daniel Aljughaifi) was charged with "training from a foreign terrorist organization and conspiring to use an explosive device outside the United States." He had been extradited by Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
n authorities after he fled there. In the charges, it was alleged he took part in training at camps near Kismayo and Jilib
Jilib
Jilib is a town in Somalia, with an estimated population of approximately 45,000. It is located on the main road from Mogadishu south to Kismayo and is the most populous town in the Middle Juba Region.The Islamic Courts Union was defeated there in the Battle of Jilib December 2006 January 2007...
where members of Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
were present and was willing to become a suicide bomber if he became wounded.
In Mogadishu, a mortar and rocket barrage killed at least one person and wounded more than 10. At least five mortar rounds were fired at the Mogadishu seaport. Three landed on the adjacent beach where a teenage boy was killed and others were wounded. Another mortar round landed in the Black Sea neighborhood of Mogadishu. Ethiopian troops, barracked in the old Somali National University campus, responded with a rocket counterattack. Six others were wounded around the city in scattered mortar attacks. It was the first night of violence after two mostly peaceful days in the city.
February 16, 2007
On February 16, Uganda announced it would soon deploy 1,500 well-seasoned troops under the command of Major GeneralMajor General
Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...
Levi Karuhanga
Levi Karuhanga
Levi Karuhanga is a Ugandan general and the first commander of the African Union Mission to Somalia . -References:...
. The troops had been training for two years in preparation for the mission.
Elsewhere in Somalia on this day:
- MogadishuMogadishuMogadishu , popularly known as Xamar, is the largest city in Somalia and the nation's capital. Located in the coastal Benadir region on the Indian Ocean, the city has served as an important port for centuries....
- one man was killed after being robbed for his mobile phone, and a worker at the LibyaLibyaLibya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
n embassy was also shot and later died of his wounds. A former Defense Ministry compound, which had been occupied by civilians, was cleared and re-occupied by Somali troops. One man was injured after he pulled a gun on the troops. - Baardheere - a gunman attacked two MSFMédecins Sans Frontières' , or Doctors Without Borders, is a secular humanitarian-aid non-governmental organization best known for its projects in war-torn regions and developing countries facing endemic diseases. Its headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland...
Spain staff. MSF doctors and staff are in the town working to reopen the largest hospital, which had been closed for the past decade. The workers were uninjured. Local tribal leaders pledged their support for the work of MSF in the region. - Kismayo - Deputy police commander Abdi Gaab announced that the police force of 1,500 police members securing the city had confiscated a collection of arms, including heavy rounds and explosives.
February 18, 2007
- 1 Somali soldier, 4 insurgents killed
On February 18, 2007 Mogadishu witnessed its first car bomb, with four fatalities.
In an ambush in Mogadishu 1 TFG policeman was killed.
February 20, 2007
- 16 civilians killed
On February 20, a series of mortar attacks left 16 dead and 42 wounded. The total wounded in mortar attacks in the capital since the beginning of the insurgency exceeded 90.
February 27, 2007
- 5 civilians killed
In various attacks in Mogadishu 5 people were killed, including a government-allied militia commander.
March 6, 2007
- 2 insurgents, 1 civilian killed
In fighting in Mogadishu 2 insurgents and 1 civilian were killed.
March 23, 2007
Truce between Ethiopian military forces and tribal clans in Mogadishu.A cargo plane, with 11 people on board, was 2007 Mogadishu TransAVIAexport Airlines Il-76 crash
2007 Mogadishu TransAVIAexport Airlines Il-76 crash
On March 23, 2007, a TransAVIAexport Airlines Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft crashed on the outskirts of Mogadishu, Somalia, during the 2007 Battle of Mogadishu. The plane was carrying repair equipment and humanitarian aid. According to a spokesperson for the transport ministry of Belarus, the aircraft...
over Mogadishu. An Islamic group claims responsibility for the attack.
March 26, 2007
Huge explosion in an Ethiopian military base in Mogadishu, Ethiopian soldiers respond with indiscriminate fire killing one civilian.March 27, 2007
Unknown gunmen kill the Somali military official Darud Bier in a mosque of Kismayo.Combats between insurgents and Somali police in Beledweyne
Beledweyne
Beledweyne is a city in central Somalia. It is the capital of the Hiraan province, and is located in the central valley of the Shebelle river near the Ogaden, some 206 miles north of Mogadishu, the nation's capital. The Shebelle river divides the town into east and west...
, two police men injured.
March 29, 2007
At least 30 people died in south and north Mogadishu in violent fighting between Ethiopian forces and Somali insurgents. Ethiopian helicopters attacked rebel positions, while the insurgents were calling on the people of the city over the mosque loudspeakers to resist the Ethiopians. Among the killed were 15 Ethiopian soldiers, the rest were civilians.March 30, 2007
Islamic insurgents shot down an Ethiopian Mi-24 military helicopter in Mogadishu.April 1, 2007
A truce brokered by influential HawiyeHawiye
The Hawiye is a Somali clan. Members of the clan primarily live in central and southern Somalia, in the Ogaden and the North Eastern Province , and in smaller numbers in other countries. Like many Somalis, Hawiye members trace their ancestry to Irir Samaale...
-clan elders between the government and the Council of Islamic Courts failed to stop fighting that has left the streets of Mogadishu
Mogadishu
Mogadishu , popularly known as Xamar, is the largest city in Somalia and the nation's capital. Located in the coastal Benadir region on the Indian Ocean, the city has served as an important port for centuries....
strewn with dead bodies.
April 4, 2007
Amnesty InternationalAmnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
feared resumption of the indiscriminate attacks that have taken place in the recent days in Mogadishu
Mogadishu
Mogadishu , popularly known as Xamar, is the largest city in Somalia and the nation's capital. Located in the coastal Benadir region on the Indian Ocean, the city has served as an important port for centuries....
, resulting in the killing of over 400 civilians. The organization demanded Somalia
Somalia
Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...
’s President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed
Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed
Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed is a veteran Somali politician. He is one of the founders of the Somali Salvation Democratic Front, as well as the Puntland State of Somalia, where he served as the autonomous region's first President...
, Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
n Prime Minister Meles Zenawi
Meles Zenawi
Meles Zenawi Asres is the Prime Minister of Ethiopia. Since 1985, he has been chairman of the Tigrayan Peoples' Liberation Front , and is currently head of the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front .Meles was born in Adwa, Tigray in Northern Ethiopia, to an Ethiopian father from...
, and all armed groups to ensure that their forces strictly abide by international humanitarian law and take all necessary measures to protect civilians.
April 21, 2007
At least 165 people have been killed in MogadishuMogadishu
Mogadishu , popularly known as Xamar, is the largest city in Somalia and the nation's capital. Located in the coastal Benadir region on the Indian Ocean, the city has served as an important port for centuries....
since April 17, in combats between Ethiopian military forces and Somali insurgents.
April 24, 2007
A car bomb exploded outside the Ambassador Hotel in MogadishuMogadishu
Mogadishu , popularly known as Xamar, is the largest city in Somalia and the nation's capital. Located in the coastal Benadir region on the Indian Ocean, the city has served as an important port for centuries....
, killing 11 people.
A suicide microbus bomb killed 6 people in an Ethiopian military base in Afgoi, 30 km south of Mogadishu
Mogadishu
Mogadishu , popularly known as Xamar, is the largest city in Somalia and the nation's capital. Located in the coastal Benadir region on the Indian Ocean, the city has served as an important port for centuries....
.
April 25, 2007
A missile hit a hospital ward, in MogadishuMogadishu
Mogadishu , popularly known as Xamar, is the largest city in Somalia and the nation's capital. Located in the coastal Benadir region on the Indian Ocean, the city has served as an important port for centuries....
, packed with civilians wounded in fighting between Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic insurgents and Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
n troops allied to the Somali
Somalia
Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...
government.
April 26, 2007
Prime Minister Ali Mohammed GhediAli Mohammed Ghedi
Ali Mohamed Ghedi was the Prime Minister of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia from 2004 to 2007. He was relatively unknown in political circles upon his appointment as prime minister in November 2004. He is affiliated with the Abgaal subclan of Mogadishu's Hawiye clan, one of...
of Somalia's transitional government is claiming victory over insurgents in Mogadishu. But a former member of parliament, Omar Hashi, now in exile in Eritrea
Eritrea
Eritrea , officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa. Eritrea derives it's name from the Greek word Erethria, meaning 'red land'. The capital is Asmara. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast...
and allied with some Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ists fighting the transitional government, denies that the transitional government is in control of the volatile capital.
April 28, 2007
Clashes between U.S. backed-EthiopiaEthiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
n forces and fighters aligned with the Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic Courts Union in the capital Mogadishu
Mogadishu
Mogadishu , popularly known as Xamar, is the largest city in Somalia and the nation's capital. Located in the coastal Benadir region on the Indian Ocean, the city has served as an important port for centuries....
are being described as some of the heaviest fighting in the city's history. Humanitarian Crisis Worsens in Somalia: Over three hundred people had been killed over the past two weeks. This comes just three weeks after another series of battles claimed at least a thousand lives.
May 3, 2007
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
documented how Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
and Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
had turned the region into Africa’s own version of Guantanamo Bay, replete with kidnappings, extraordinary renditions, secret prisons and large numbers of “disappeared”.
May 16, 2007
- 4 Ugandan soldiers, 1 civilian killed
A roadside bomb hits a convoy of Ugandan peacekeepers in Mogadishu, killing four and wounding five Ugandan soldiers. A child is also killed in the attack.
June 2, 2007
- 3 civilians killed
A US warship attacked a village in northeastern Somalia, killing 8 Islamist insurgents.
At least 3 people were killed in several shooting attacks in Mogadishu
Mogadishu
Mogadishu , popularly known as Xamar, is the largest city in Somalia and the nation's capital. Located in the coastal Benadir region on the Indian Ocean, the city has served as an important port for centuries....
.
June 3, 2007
- 7 civilians, 1 insurgent killed
A suicide truck bomb exploded in front of Somali prime minister's house, killing 7 people and injuring dozens.
An Ethiopian military convoy was attacked by a roadside bomb in the north of Mogadishu
Mogadishu
Mogadishu , popularly known as Xamar, is the largest city in Somalia and the nation's capital. Located in the coastal Benadir region on the Indian Ocean, the city has served as an important port for centuries....
.
June 22, 2007
- 7 Somali soldiers killed
In fighting between rival army units in Kismayo 6 people were killed.
In Mogadishu an army officer was killed and a second injured when their vehicle was hit by a roadside explosion.
June 26, 2007
- 2 Ethiopian soldiers, 9 civilians killed
Two Ethiopian soldiers were killed and two wounded in a roadside bombing in Mogadishu, another two people were killed earlier in the week in Mogadishu and 5 civilians were killed and 8 wounded in a grenade attack on a Somalia military convoy which was passing near Mogadishu’s Bakara market yesterday.
In a separate attack two Somalis working for the International Medical Corps relief agency were killed late Wednesday in El-Berde.
July 29, 2007
- 2 Somali soldiers, 2 civilians killed
Two TFG soldiers and two civilians were killed when insurgents attacked a military patrol in Mogadishu's Bakara market.
July 31, 2007
- 1 Somali soldier, 3 civilians killed
40 heavily armed fighters attacked an Ethiopian base close to the Somali capital, Mogadishu.
At least four people die in the fighting, with heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades.
August 1, 2007
- 4 Ethiopian soldiers, 6 civilians killed
Four Ethiopian soldiers were killed after their base close to the volatile Somali capital Mogadishu came under rocket and machine-gun attack from Islamists. Also six people are killed by a remote controlled bomb in Mogadishu.
August 9, 2007
- 9 civilians killed
At least nine Somali nomads were killed in El Bur district, central Somalia, on Thursday by armed clan militiamen, witnesses and elders said
- 2 Somali police officers, 5 civilians killed
Seven people including two police officers were killed in Mogadishu.
August 10, 2007
- 3 civilians killed, 3 TFG government officials, 2 Somali soldiers killed
Heavily armed insurgents attacked a military base and a police station with mortars and heavy machine guns. At least three civilians died.
August 14, 2007
- 11 clan-based government militiamen killed.
Fighting erupted in a remote village west of the Somali port city of Kismayo on Tuesday between clan fighters who battled in the same village last week, residents said. Fighters loyal to the Ogaden and Galje'l clans fought each other using rifles and other light weapons. At least 11 fighters were killed and 17 other people wounded in the second round of warfare, elders in Buur Gaabo village said by telephone.
- 31 civilians killed
Fighting across Mogadishu killed 31 civilians and injured another 60 civilians.
August 15, 2007
- 4 Somali police officers
Assailants believed to be members of armed groups opposed to Somalia's transitional government and its Ethiopian allies have killed four police officers in the capital, Mogadishu, in continued fighting described by human rights organisations as mostly affecting civilians.
August 16, 2007
- 3 Somali police officers
A roadside bomb in northern Mogadishu killed three police officers and wounded a large number of civilians.
August 17, 2007
- 2 civilians killed
At least one person was reported dead Friday in a small village in southern Somalia after tens of people rushed on a building where an aid agency was distributing food, witnesses said. The United Nations' WFP aid agency was distributing food to refugee families in Kuntuwarey, a town in Lower Shabelle region. Some of the refugees had fled increasing violence in the capital Mogadishu between government troops and insurgents.
August 18, 2007
- 2 civilians killed
Attacks in Mogadishu killed two civilians and injured four others.
- 12 civilians, 4 government militia killed
Fighting between two sub-clans in North-western Somalia left at least 16 people dead and 30 wounded.
August 19, 2007
- 1 civilian killed
In another high profile assassination, Moallim Harun Moallim Yusuf was gunned down near his home yesterday evening. Moallim Yusuf was a clan elder renowned for negotiating peaceful settlements between warring clans over the past 17 years of civil war.
August 21, 2007
- 2 civilians killed
A landmine detonated outside of Mogadishu killing two civilians. Other violence in Somalia left nine civilians and a Somalia TFG soldier wounded.
August 22, 2007
- 1 Ethiopian soldier, 1 Somali soldier killed
Gunmen shot and killed a Somali soldier south of Mogadishu at the Yaaqshiid's Fagah intersection and an Ethiopian convoy in Mogadishu was attacked killed 1 Ethiopian soldier and injuring 10 other people.
August 24, 2007
- 7 insurgents killed, 1 TFG Somali police officer killed
Fighting in Huriwa district killed 7 insurgents and 1 TFG government police officer.
August 26, 2007
- 3 civilians killed
A roadside bomb in Mogadishu killed two students and an elderly civilian.
August 28, 2007
- 1 Somali police officer, 4 insurgents, 2 civilians killed
A police officer received financial reward after shooting dead an insurgent that was about to toss a grenade. Police officers at a north Mogadishu substation killed three insurgents and captured two and one police officer was killed along with two civilians in several explosions in the Bakara market.
September 1, 2007
- 1 Somali soldiers, 2 civilians killed
A roadside bomb south of Mogadishu claimed the life of one Somali soldier and two businessmen were shot and killed in Bakara market.
September 2, 2007
- 2 Somali soldiers, 2 civilians killed
Insurgents attacked a government station but withdrew after the Somali soldiers were reinforced by Ethiopian soldiers. Two Somali soldiers and two civilians were killed in the fighting.
September 3, 2007
- 4 civilians killed
Fighting in Galgadud region killed one civilian and three other civilians were killed in Mogadishu.
September 5, 2007
- 4 civilians killed, 2 Somali soldiers and 2 insurgents killed
Heavy fighting in the Bakara market killed 2 Somali soldiers and 2 insurgents but claimed the lives of four civilians in the cross-fire.
September 9, 2007
- 3 civilians killed
A roadside bomb meant for a passing TFG convoy killed three civilians. No one was hurt or killed in the convoy.
September 10, 2007
- 12 civilians killed
Fighting in Mogadishu killed 12 civilians and injured many more in different hot-spots. No known government or insurgent casualties.
September 11, 2007
- 1 UN official killed
A WHO officer was shot and killed by two insurgents.
September 13, 2007
- 5 Somali soldiers killed
In fighting in Mogadishu 5 TFG soldiers were killed.
An opposition government, consisting of members of the former Islamic Courts Union (ICU) and other Somali elements met and formed in Asmara
Asmara
Asmara is the capital city and largest settlement in Eritrea, home to a population of around 579,000 people...
, Eritrea
Eritrea
Eritrea , officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa. Eritrea derives it's name from the Greek word Erethria, meaning 'red land'. The capital is Asmara. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast...
. Somalia's interior minister, Mohamed Mohamud Guled, ridiculed the meeting and the opposition forces, saying "We are really close to eradicating them."
September 14, 2007
- 4 Somali police officers, 3 civilians killed
Insurgents attacked police by SOS hospital killing four police officers and three civilians>
September 15, 2007
- 1 civilian killed
Fighting in Bakara market killed 1 civilian and injured two others.
September 16, 2007
- 1 Somali soldier, 1 civilian killed
A lone gunman shot and killed clan elder Mohamud Hassan and a security official in Bakara market.
- 1 insurgent, 3 civilians killed
An insurgent tried to kidnap a child of a government official in Kismayu and in the resulting firefight killed two civilians before dying of his injuries. A third civilian was shot to death by soldiers. The boy was released unharmed.
September 17, 2007
- 2 Somali civilians
Artillery clash between Somaliland separatists and Puntland forces in Sool killed two civilians.
September 22, 2007
- 1 Somali intelligence officer, 1 police officer killed
A Somali intelligence official was gunned down in Mogadishu Saturday evening by two suspected insurgents, sources said. The two attackers escaped after using pistols to kill Abdullahi Odohow at a small market in Yaaqshiid district. Odohow, who was a senior official with the Somali national security agency, did not have armed guards with him at the time of the fatal attack. Elsewhere one police officer was killed in an explosion in Bakara market.
September 23, 2007
- 3 Somali soldiers killed
In fighting in Mogadishu 3 TFG soldiers were killed.
September 24, 2007
- 4 Somali soldiers, 2 TFG government officials killed
Fighting in northern Mogadishu killed four soldiers and in southern Mogadishu insurgents shot dead two TFG government officials.
September 26, 2007
- 5 TFG Somali police, 3 insurgents killed
Insurgents attacked the district commander in Huriwa district killing the commander and wounding his second-in-command. A police counter attack killed 3 insurgents and four fellow officers.
September 27, 2007
- 1 Somali soldier, 2 civilians killed
In Bakara market insurgents tossed grenades at a Somali government patrol and shot dead one soldier and two civilians.
September 29, 2007
- 45 Somali soldiers, 100 insurgents, 4 civilians killed
Insurgents attacked three police stations and two Ethiopian bases in Mogadishu which led to the death according to some reports of 100 insurgents and 45 Somali soldiers and policemen. Three civilians were killed also.
- 2 TFG police officers, 3 civilians killed
Fighting overnight at a Mogadishu sub-station killed 2 TFG police officers and three civilians even though government forces claimed no police had been killed.
September 30, 2007
- 1 Somali soldier, 3 civilians killed
One Colonel in the TFG government was killed in Bakara market and three other civilians were killed in other incidents in Mogadishu.
- 5 civilians killed
Troops in Afgoya shot and killed civilians looking for food.
October 2, 2007
- 2 insurgents killed
Local police engaged unidentified militiamen in southern Somalia Monday night in a two-hour long battled that killed at least two fighters, sources said. The port town of Marka, provincial capital of Lower Shabelle, was relatively quiet all day Tuesday as people largely stayed inside their homes for fear of more armed clashes. Last night's attack erupted around 1am local time at the town's southern checkpoint where police defended themselves from the militiamen. Five others, including police officers, were wounded in the gun fight.
October 4, 2007
- 1 Somali soldier, 1 insurgent killed, 3 civilians, 1 Ethiopian soldier killed
In fighting in Mogadishu a policeman and an insurgent were killed. An explosion in Bakaar marketplace killed three civilians and an Ethiopian soldier was killed while on patrol.
October 7, 2007
- 3 Somali soldiers killed
Insurgents attacked a Somali Army General in south Mogadishu and successfully assassinated him, a bodyguard and their military driver.
- 1 Somali soldier killed
A Somali security official was killed in Mogadishu, witnesses said Sunday, as Islamists insurgents brought into their ranks a battle-tested Afghan-trained commander. Gunmen shot dead Ahmed Hareed, a district official for Somali National Security Agency, overnight in the south of the lawless capital, the latest in a string of attacks targeting government employees and sympathisers.
October 11, 2007
- 3 Ethiopian soldiers, 1 insurgent killed
A suicide bomber attacked a checkpoint in Baidoa killing 3 Ethiopian soldiers.
October 16, 2007
- 3 civilians killed
A nighttime mortar exchange in Mogadishu killed three people hiding in a restaurant and sent seven other civilians to hospital.
October 17, 2007
- 1 Somali soldier killed
Somali soldiers exchanged gunfire with TFG militiamen in Kismayo over an illegal checkpoint resulting in the death of 1 soldier, wounding of two civilians and the arrest of one gunman.
October 18, 2007
- 3 Somali soldiers, 1 civilian killed
A police sub-commander and two bodyguards were assassinated in Mogadishu and a civilian was killed in a grenade attack.
October 19, 2007
- 1 Puntland police officer, 2 insurgents killed
In Bossasso after a day-long stand-off gunfire erupted killing two suspected Islamic insurgents in Puntland and injuring four police officers, resulting in one of them dying in hospital.
October 21, 2007
- 17 civilians killed
17 civilians are killed in heavy fighting in Mogadishu.
- 7 Ethiopian soldiers, 2 insurgents, 6 civilians killed
Fighting overnight in Northern Mogadishu killed seven Ethiopian soldiers throughout northern mogadishu as well as two armed men, and six civilians.
October 22, 2007
- 9 Somali soldiers dead
Fighting between rival government forces in Lower Shabelle killed three soldiers and wounded three others. Reinforcements began to arrive however a vehicle roll-over in Wanla Weyn resulted in the deaths of six more government soldiers.
October 23, 2007
- 2 civilians dead
Fighting at Mogadishu docks killed two civilians, and injured 6 others along with three Ugandan peacekepers.
October 25, 2007
- 15 civilians killed
At least 15 civilians, including women and children, were killed in a bus explosion in Mogadishu's northern district of Yaqshiid. The explosion occurred when the bus drove over an IED (improvised explosive device) or landmine while traveling to the Suuqa Holaha district in northern Mogadishu on Wednesday.
- 4 civilians dead
An explosion in a central Somali town left four civilians dead and 15 wounded.
October 26, 2007
- 2 Somali soldiers killed
Two Somali soldiers were killed and eight others wounded in two separate bombings.
October 27, 2007
- 7 Ethiopian soldiers, 11 civilians killed, 2 insurgents killed
Nine civilians and seven Ethiopian soldiers are killed in fighting in Mogadishu.
- 2 Somali soldiers killed, 2 TFG policemen killed
Fighting in Marka killed four government troops in an inter-governmental clash.
October 28, 2007
- 5 civilians killed
Ethiopian soldiers opened fire on demonstrators in Mogadishu killing three and in other incidents across the city two more civilians were killed.
October 31, 2007
- 2 civilians killed
Two civilians were killed in various attacks across Mogadishu
- 2 pirates killed
Two pirates were killed off of Somalia's coast when they tried to attack a North Korean cargo vessel.
November 1, 2007-November 6, 2007
- 5 Ethiopian, 1 Somali soldier, 5 civilians killed
In various reported clashes 5 Ethiopian and 1 TFG soldier and 5 civilians are killed.
November 14, 2007
- 10 civilians killed
A landmine exploded in Northern Somalia killing 10 civilians.
November 18, 2007
- 5 civilians killed
A landmine explosion and subsequent gun attack in Mogadishu killed 5 civilians and injured dozens.
November 21, 2007
- 2 Somali soldiers killed
A governor's convoy was attacked in central Somalia killing 2 soldiers and wounding 2 others. The insurgents that set up the roadblock attack were able to get away from pursuing soldiers.
November 26, 2007
- 2 Ethiopian soldiers, 2 civilians killed
Insurgents attack an Ethiopian army patrol in Mogadishu and two Ethiopians were killed along with two civilians in the 15 minute fire-fight, including one university student.
November 29, 2007
- 15 civilians killed
Fighting in the capital killed 15 civilians and an undisclosed number of Ethiopian soldiers and insurgents.
December 1, 2007
- 2 Somali policemen, 3 civilians killed
Two policemen and three civilians are killed in fighting in Mogadishu.
December 3, 2007
- 10 civilians killed
In Mogadishu a huge battle left 10 civilians dead and 15 wounded.
December 5, 2007
- 2 Somali soldiers, 1 insurgent killed
In Beltwein an ambush has left 2 soldiers and 1 insurgent dead.
December 10, 2007
- 2 civilians killed
An attack on a police roadblock in the capital has left 2 civilians dead and wounded 5 others.
December 11, 2007
- 7 Somali militiamen, 3 civilians killed
Fighting between two sub-clans north of the capital have killed 10 people and wounded dozens.
December 12, 2007
- 3 Somali soldiers, 2 civilians killed
Three Somali soldiers and two civilians are killed in fighting in Mogadishu.
December 13, 2007
- 19 civilians killed
In mortar bombardment in Mogadishu 19 civilians are killed.
December 15, 2007
- 1 Somali soldier killed
Insurgents took control of Ba'da village in central Somalia after killing one TFG soldier.
December 17, 2007
- 4 civilians killed, 3 Somali soldiers and 1 insurgent killed.
In fighting in Mogadishu 2 civilians are killed. Twelve soldiers, including one Ethiopian, were wounded by a road-side bomb in Baidoa.
December 19, 2007
- 3 civilians killed
At least three civilians are killed in fighting in Mogadishu.
December 20, 2007
- 12 civilians killed
In mortar bombardment in Mogadishu 12 civilians are killed.
December 23, 2007
- 5 civilians killed
A running gun battle killed five civilians as stray mortar shells from both side struck civilian residential complexes in Northern Mogadishu.
December 24, 2007
- 1 civilians killed, 1 Somali soldier killed
In Baidoa a regional judge was shot dead and in an attack on a police officer's home one soldier was killed and two soldiers and two young children were lightly wounded.
December 27, 2007
- 1 civilian killed
In fighting in Mogadishu's notorious Bakara market one civilian is killed.
December 29, 2007
- 1 civilian killed
Mohamed Muhiyadin Ali, spokesman for Mogadishu Mayor Mohamed Dheere, was killed in a road-side bombing in the capital.
December 31, 2007
- 8 civilians killed
In mortar bombardment in Mogadishu 8 civilians are killed.
- 2 Somali soldiers killed
A landmine explosion planted by insurgents in Southern Mogadishu has killed a TFG Colonel and his bodyguard.
Foreign involvement
Several nations and organizations are involved with the war in Somalia.Here is a brief summary.
African Union
The African UnionAfrican Union
The African Union is a union consisting of 54 African states. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established on 9 July 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity...
has pledged troops to assist the TFG under the AMISOM peacekeeping
Peacekeeping
Peacekeeping is an activity that aims to create the conditions for lasting peace. It is distinguished from both peacebuilding and peacemaking....
mission.
Ethiopia
Ethiopia forces actively assisted the TFG in ousting the ICU from its position of military control of Somalia. They have pledged to leave as rapidly as possible and does not appear to be coordinated with planned African Union troop arrivals.Nobody knows for sure how many Ethiopian troops are stationed in Somalia, and nobody knows how many Somalis have been killed as a result of the Ethiopian military intervention in Somalia. Ethiopia opened an embassy in Mogadishu
Mogadishu
Mogadishu , popularly known as Xamar, is the largest city in Somalia and the nation's capital. Located in the coastal Benadir region on the Indian Ocean, the city has served as an important port for centuries....
next to the presidential palace on May 27, 2007. According to Human Rights Watch, Ethiopian forces backing the Somali transitional government violated the laws of war by widely and indiscriminately bombarding highly populated areas of Mogadishu with rockets, mortars and artillery. Its troops on several occasions specifically targeted hospitals and looted them of desperately needed medical equipment. Human Rights Watch also documented cases of Ethiopian forces deliberately shooting and summarily executing civilians.
Kenya
Kenya has sent forces to secure its border with Somalia and maybe a middle man between the TFG and former leaders of the ICU.United Nations
Promises humanitarian relief.Since June 15, 2007 a UN mission in Somalia focused on the needs of the hundreds of the displaced Somalis. Deadly clashes have forced 490,00 Somalis to flee Mogadishu
Mogadishu
Mogadishu , popularly known as Xamar, is the largest city in Somalia and the nation's capital. Located in the coastal Benadir region on the Indian Ocean, the city has served as an important port for centuries....
between February 2007 and May 2007.
United States
The United States had assisted Somali, Ethiopian and Kenyan forces with intelligence, advisors and limited military strikes from bases in those countries and from Djibouti. They have offered money to support a peace keeping force. The involvement of the United States is part of their War on Terrorism and specifically Al-Qaeda.On February 23, 2007, the New York Times reported that the US government has been secretly training Ethiopian soldiers, for several years, in camps near the Ethiopia-Somalia border. Many of these soldiers participated in the Ethiopian invasion of Somalia. The Times quoted unnamed US government officials who said the training program and other support for Ethiopia's government began after a failed CIA effort to arm and finance Somali "warlords."
US intervention against Al Qaeda
Somali Prime Minister Gedi declared one of the key objectives of the offensive on Kismayo was the capture of three alleged Al-QaedaAl-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
members, suspects wanted for the 1998 United States embassy bombings
1998 United States embassy bombings
The 1998 United States embassy bombings were a series of attacks that occurred on August 7, 1998, in which hundreds of people were killed in simultaneous truck bomb explosions at the United States embassies in the East African capitals of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya. The date of the...
in East Africa: Fazul Abdullah Mohammed
Fazul Abdullah Mohammed
Fazul Abdullah Mohammed was a member of al-Qaeda, and the leader of its presence in East Africa as of November 2009. Mohammed was born in Moroni, Comoros Islands and had Kenyan as well as Comorian citizenship...
, Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan and Abu Taha al-Sudani.
The United States Fifth Fleet's multinational maritime task force, Combined Task Force 150
Combined Task Force 150
Combined Task Force 150 is a multinational coalition naval task force working under the 25 nation coalition of Combined Maritime Forces and is based in Bahrain established to monitor, inspect, board, and stop suspect shipping to pursue the "War on Terrorism" and in the Horn of Africa region ...
(CTF-150), based out of Bahrain is patrolling off the Somali coast to prevent terrorists launching an "attack or to transport personnel, weapons or other material," said Commander Kevin Aandahl. The announcement did not say what particular ships comprised the cordon, but the task force includes vessels from Canada, France, Germany, Pakistan, the UK and the US. US ships of CTF-150 include the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer
Arleigh Burke class destroyer
The Arleigh Burke class of guided missile destroyers is the United States Navy's first class of destroyer built around the Aegis combat system and the SPY-1D multi-function phased array radar. The class is named for Admiral Arleigh "31-Knot" Burke, the most famous American destroyer officer of...
USS Ramage
USS Ramage (DDG-61)
USS Ramage is an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer of the United States Navy. The ship is named for Vice Admiral Lawson P...
and the Ticonderoga-class cruiser
Ticonderoga class cruiser
The Ticonderoga class of missile cruisers is a class of warships in the United States Navy, first ordered and authorized in FY 1978. The class uses phased-array radar and was originally planned as a class of destroyers...
USS Bunker Hill
USS Bunker Hill (CG-52)
USS Bunker Hill is a Ticonderoga class guided missile cruiser laid down by Litton-Ingalls Shipbuilding Corporation at Pascagoula, Mississippi on 11 January 1984, launched on 11 March 1985 and commissioned on 20 September 1986...
.
See also
- War in Somalia (2006–2009)
- 2006 timeline of the War in Somalia2006 timeline of the War in SomaliaThe timeline of events in the War in Somalia during 2006 is set out below.-Battle of Baidoa:On December 20, first major hostilities broke out on many sides around Baidoa. Heavy shooting broke out between Somali government troops and Islamists southeast of Baidoa where the Islamists claimed to have...
- 2008 timeline of the War in Somalia2008 timeline of the War in SomaliaThis sets forth a timeline of the War in Somalia during 2008.5 February* Bosaso bombings. 25 Ethiopian civilians killed2 March* Missile attack on Dobley. 6 Somali civilians killed19–20 April...
- 2009 timeline of the War in Somalia2009 timeline of the War in SomaliaThe timeline of events in the War in Somalia during January 2009 is set out below. From the beginning of February the timeline of events in the War in Somalia is set out following the conclusion of the previous phase of the civil war.- Casualties :-January 1, 2009:*9 civilians killed, 1 TFG...
- War in Somalia (2009–)War in Somalia (2009–)The 2009–present phase of the Somali Civil War is concentrated in southern Somalia. It began in early February 2009, with the conflict between, on the one hand, the forces of the Somali Transitional Federal Government assisted by African Union peacekeeping troops, and on the other, various militant...