Wikis
Map
The timeline of events in the War in Somalia during 2007 is set out below.
| 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[1]) | 218 | 8 | 601 | 1,823 (8,636[2]) |
| Sources: SomaliNet *The number includes policemen, militiamen and
intelligence personnel |
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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.[3]
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.[4]
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.[5]
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 miles) 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."[6]
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.[7] 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.[8]
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.[9]
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. [10]
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.[11 ]
A return to normality in the capital was furthered by the re-opening of the Mogadishu airport. [12]
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 Liboi, 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.[13 ] 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.[14 ] 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.[15 ][16 ]
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. [17]
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. [18][19 ] [20]
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. [21]
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."[22 ] 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. [23]
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.
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. [24]
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.[25 ]
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.[26]
On January 8, 2007 as the Battle of Ras Kamboni 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. [27] 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. [28]
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.[29] 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.[30] One attack was made well inland at Hayo (or Xayo, approx. Lat 0º28’ N, Long 41º49’ E), a village halfway between Afmadow and Dhobley.[31 ] It was also reported that the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower had been moved into striking distance. [32] Other named US Navy vessels joining the maritime cordon included the USS Anzio and the amphibious landing ship USS Ashland. [33]
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. [34] In Afmadow province, Ethiopia launched airstrikes against targets near Afmadow and Dhobley. [35]
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. [36] 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.[37 ]
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. [38]
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 Le Monier, the large American base camp established in Djibouti following 9/11.[39][40 ]
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. [41]
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.[42 ] At least four more AC-130 airstrikes were said to have hit Ras Kamboni.[43 ] 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. [44] A second planned attack was reportedly called off after losing track of the target.[45]
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. [46]
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. [47]
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.[48 ] There were reports that the fighting was sparked by a parking dispute involving an armored vehicle.[49 ]
According to Oxfam, a British-based aid agency, 70 herdsmen were killed in recent air raids targeting Islamic militants.[50 ]
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. [51] 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. [52]
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. [53]
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.[54 ][55 ]
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. [56]
In Garissa Kenya, police arrested 7 Somalis, suspected of being fleeing Islamic militiamen heading towards Nairobi. One was wounded. 10 others escaped. [57]
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 grenades 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.[58 ] 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.[59 ] [60]
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.[61]
On January 17, 2007, conflicting reports emerged over whether Sheikh Sharif Ahmed had been arrested near the Dadaab refugee camp in the Garissa district of Kenya.[62 ] 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.[63]
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. [64]
The US ambassador to Kenya, Michael Ranneberger, said the US pledged $40 million to support the deployment of the IGASOM peacekeeping force for Somalia.[65 ]
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.[66 ]
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.[67 ]
On January 22, Malawi 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.[68 ]
On January 23, 2007, Ethiopia began withdrawing from Mogadishu and all other areas in Somalia.[69 ]
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.[70] Also on that day, Nigeria pledged a battalion (a force between 770 and 1,100 troops) to join the Somali peacekeeping mission.[71 ]
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.[72 ]
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." [73]
The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower 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.[74]
Also on February 1, Burundi committed to the peacekeeping mission, pledging up to 1,000 troops.[75 ]
On February 2, the United Nations Security Council welcomed the advent of the African Union and IGAD-led peacekeeping mission.[76 ]
On February 9, a gathering of 800 Somali demonstrators in north Mogadishu, 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. [77] 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.[78 ] 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.[79]
An explosion at a ceremony in the southern Somalian port city of Kismayo has killed at least four people and injured 24 others, including senior military officers and regional leaders, witness have said. General Adbi Mohamed, the recently appointed Somali military chief, was reportedly among the injured.[80]
Mortar attacks in two areas of Mogadishu have killed at least five people and injured several others, a day after a pro-Islamic courts group said it would step up violence.[81]
On February 15, in Houston, Texas, 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 Kenyan 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. [82]
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. [83]
On February 16, Uganda announced it would soon deploy 1,500 well-seasoned troops under the command of Major General Levi Karuhanga. The troops had been training for two years in preparation for the mission.[84 ]
Elsewhere in Somalia on this day:
On February 18, 2007 Mogadishu witnessed its first car bomb, with four fatalities.[89 ]
In an ambush in Mogadishu 1 TFG policeman was killed.[90]
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.[91 ][92 ]
A district commissioner was killed in Mogadishu.[93]
In various attacks in Mogadishu 5 people were killed, including a government-allied militia commander.[94]
A Ugandan vanguard of an AU peace force to help the interim government flies into Baidoa. Five days later 350 Ugandan troops land at Mogadishu amid heavy fighting.[95]
In fighting in Mogadishu 2 insurgents and 1 civilian were killed.
At least nine Somalis are killed when a rocket fired at AU troops hits a restaurant, inflicting the first casualties on the peacekeepers, with two wounded.[95]
In an ambush in Mogadishu 2 TFG policemen were killed.
In fighting in Mogadishu 7 civilians were killed.
Insurgents drag soldiers' bodies through Mogadishu, during heavy fighting between them and Ethiopian and government forces. At least 16 people are killed including 5 soldiers and 65 are wounded. At the end of the day a cease fire was implemented but heavy fighting with more casualties continued six days later.[96]
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 over Mogadishu. An Islamic group claims responsibility for the attack.
Huge explosion in an Ethiopian military base in Mogadishu, Ethiopian soldiers respond with indiscriminate fire killing one civilian.
Unknown gunmen kill the Somali military official Darud Bier in a mosque of Kismayo.
Combats between insurgents and Somali police in Beledweyne, two police men injured.
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.
Islamic insurgents shot down an Ethiopian Mi-24 military helicopter in Mogadishu.
A truce brokered by influential Hawiye-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.[97 ]
Amnesty International 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, Ethiopian 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.[98 ]
At least 165 people have been killed in Mogadishu since April 17, in combats between Ethiopian military forces and Somali insurgents.
A car bomb exploded outside the Ambassador Hotel in Mogadishu, killing 11 people.
A suicide microbus bomb killed 6 people in an Ethiopian military base in Afgoi, 30 km south of Mogadishu.
A missile hit a hospital ward, in Mogadishu, packed with civilians wounded in fighting between Islamic insurgents and Ethiopian troops allied to the Somali government. [99]
Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Ghedi 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 Islamists fighting the transitional government, denies that the transitional government is in control of the volatile capital.[100 ]
Clashes between U.S. backed-Ethiopian forces and fighters aligned with the Islamic 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.[101 ]
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”.[102]
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 TFG soldier is killed in an ambush in Mogadishu.
Two Kenyan policemen that had been kidnapped by Islamist fighters were found murdered on the border with Somalia after the arrest of scores of suspected Somali Islamists trying to enter Kenya.[103]
In fighting in Bargal 12 Islamist insurgents are 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.
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.[104]
In Mogadishu an army officer was killed and a second injured when their vehicle was hit by a roadside explosion.[104]
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.[105][106]
In a separate attack two Somalis working for the International Medical Corps relief agency were killed late Wednesday in El-Berde.[105]
Two TFG soldiers and two civilians were killed when insurgents attacked a military patrol in Mogadishu's Bakara market.[107]
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.[108]
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 [109]
Seven people including two police officers were killed in Mogadishu. [110]
Heavily armed insurgents attacked a military base and a police station with mortars and heavy machine guns. At least three civilians died. [111] [112]
2 journalists are killed in Mogadishu.[113]
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. [114]
Fighting across Mogadishu killed 31 civilians and injured another 60 civilians. [115]
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. [116]
A roadside bomb in northern Mogadishu killed three police officers and wounded a large number of civilians. [117]
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. [118]
Attacks in Mogadishu killed two civilians and injured four others. [119]
Fighting between two sub-clans in North-western Somalia left at least 16 people dead and 30 wounded. [120]
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. [121]
A landmine detonated outside of Mogadishu killing two civilians. Other violence in Somalia left nine civilians and a Somalia TFG soldier wounded. [122]
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. [123]
Fighting in Huriwa district killed 7 insurgents and 1 TFG government police officer. [124]
A roadside bomb in Mogadishu killed two students and an elderly civilian. [125]
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. [126]
A roadside bomb south of Mogadishu claimed the life of one Somali soldier and two businessmen were shot and killed in Bakara market. [127]
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. [128]
Fighting in Galgadud region killed one civilian and three other civilians were killed in Mogadishu. [129]
Heavy fighting in the Bakara market killed 2 Somali soldiers and 2 insurgents but claimed the lives of four civilians in the cross-fire. [130]
A roadside bomb meant for a passing TFG convoy killed three civilians. No one was hurt or killed in the convoy. [131]
Fighting in Mogadishu killed 12 civilians and injured many more in different hot-spots. No known government or insurgent casualties. [132]
A WHO officer was shot and killed by two insurgents. [133]
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.[134] Somalia's interior minister, Mohamed Mohamud Guled, ridiculed the meeting and the opposition forces, saying "We are really close to eradicating them."[135]
Insurgents attacked police by SOS hospital killing four police officers and three civilians> [136]
Fighting in Bakara market killed 1 civilian and injured two others. [137]
A lone gunman shot and killed clan elder Mohamud Hassan and a security official in Bakara market. [138]
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. [139]
Artillery clash between Somaliland separatists and Puntland forces in Sool killed two civilians. [140]
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. [141]
In fighting in Mogadishu 3 TFG soldiers were killed.[142]
Fighting in northern Mogadishu killed four soldiers and in southern Mogadishu insurgents shot dead two TFG government officials. [143]
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. [144]
In Bakara market insurgents tossed grenades at a Somali government patrol and shot dead one soldier and two civilians. [144]
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.[145]
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. [146]
One Colonel in the TFG government was killed in Bakara market and three other civilians were killed in other incidents in Mogadishu. [147]
Troops in Afgoya shot and killed civilians looking for food. [148]
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. [149]
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. [150]
Insurgents attacked a Somali Army General in south Mogadishu and successfully assassinated him, a bodyguard and their military driver. [152]
A Somali security official was killed in Mogadishu, witnesses said Sunday, as Islamists insurgents brought into their ranks an 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. [153]
A suicide bomber attacked a checkpoint in Baidoa killing 3 Ethiopian soldiers.[154]
A nighttime mortar exchange in Mogadishu killed three people hiding in a restaurant and sent seven other civilians to hospital. [155]
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. [156]
A police sub-commander and two bodyguards were assassinated in Mogadishu and a civilian was killed in a grenade attack. [157]
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. [158]
17 civilians are killed in heavy fighting in Mogadishu.[159]
Fighting overnight in Northern Mogadishu killed seven Ethiopian soldiers throughout northern mogadishu as well as two armed men, and six civilians. [160]
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. [161]
Fighting at Mogadishu docks killed two civilians, and injured 6 others along with three Ugandan peacekepers. [162]
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.[163]
An explosion in a central Somali town left four civilians dead and 15 wounded. [164]
Two Somali soldiers were killed and eight others wounded in two separate bombings.[165]
Nine civilians and seven Ethiopian soldiers are killed in fighting in Mogadishu.[166] [167]
Fighting in Marka killed four government troops in an inter-governmental clash. [168]
Ethiopian soldiers opened fire on demonstrators in Mogadishu killing three and in other incidents across the city two more civilians were killed. [169]
Fighting in Mogadishu has killed one insurgent. [170]
Two civilians were killed in various attacks across Mogadishu [171]
Two pirates were killed off of Somalia's coast when they tried to attack a North Korean cargo vessel. [171]
In various reported clashes 5 Ethiopian and 1 TFG soldier and 5 civilians are killed.
On November 8, heavy fighting between Ethiopian forces and armed men erupted on Thursday, resulting in the death of several people, including Ethiopian soldiers. The body of an Ethiopian soldier was dragged on the streets by civilians. This sparked reprisal attacks the following day.[172]
On November 9, Ethiopian soldiers were firing cannon shells into an area of the south of the city where insurgent militia men were thought to be based. Most of the 40 dead were civilians, killed by shells fired into markets and residential areas.[173]
On November 10, More than twenty additional corpses were found in some parts of Mogadishu. Most of these corpses were combinations of women and elderly people killed by the Ethiopian troops.[174]
On November 11, two TFG soldiers were killed in an ambush while patrolling the vegetable market in Bakara district in Mogadishu. The attack sparked a gun battle between insurgents and some government forces arrived at the scene to rescue their comrades.[175]
A landmine exploded in Northern Somalia killing 10 civilians. [176]
On November 16, the chief of TFG intelligence was killed and the next day insurgents attacked Ugandan troops in the K-4 neighbourhood. One insurgent was confirmed to be killed in the fighting with Ugandan soldiers. One TFG policeman and a civilian were also killed in an IED attack on the same day.
A landmine explosion and subsequent gun attack in Mogadishu killed 5 civilians and injured dozens. [177]
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. [178]
Attacks in Mogadishu have killed three civilians. [179]
Insurgents attacks a Ethiopian army patrol in Mogadishu and two Ethiopians were killed along with two civilians in the 15 minute fire-fight, including one university student. [180]
Fighting in the capital killed 15 civilians and an undisclosed number of Ethiopian soldiers and insurgents. [181]
Two policemen and three civilians are killed in fighting in Mogadishu.[182]
In Mogadishu a huge battle left 10 civilians dead and 15 wounded. [183]
In Beltwein an ambush has left 2 soldiers and 1 insurgent dead. [184]
An attack on a police roadblock in the capital has left 2 civilians dead and wounded 5 others. [185]
Fighting between two sub-clans north of the capital have killed 10 people and wounded dozens. [186]
Three Somali soldiers and two civilians are killed in fighting in Mogadishu.[187]
In mortar bombardment in Mogadishu 19 civilians are killed.[188]
Insurgents took control of Ba'da village in central Somalia after killing one TFG soldier. <refhttp://www.garoweonline.com/artman2/publish/Somalia_27/Somalia_Insurgent_attacks_kill_wound_people_in_Baidoa_and_Beletwein.shtml</ref>
In fighting in Mogadishu 2 civilians are killed. Twelve soldiers, including one Ethiopian, were wounded by a road-side bomb in Baidoa.[189] [190]
At least three civilians are killed in fighting in Mogadishu.[191]
In mortar bombardment in Mogadishu 12 civilians are killed.[192]
A running gun battle killed five civilians as stray mortar shells from both side struck civilian residential complexes in Northern Mogadishu. [193]
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. [194]
In fighting in Mogadishu's notorious Bakara market one civilian is killed.[195]
Mohamed Muhiyadin Ali, spokesman for Mogadishu Mayor Mohamed Dheere, was killed in a road-side bombing in the capital.[196]
In mortar bombardment in Mogadishu 8 civilians are killed.[197]
A landmine explosion planted by insurgents in Southern Mogadishu has killed a TFG Colonel and his bodyguard. [198]
Several nations and organizations are involved with the war in Somalia.
Here is a brief summary.
The African Union has pledged troops to assist the TFG under the AMISOM peacekeeping mission.
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.[199 ] Ethiopia opened an embassy in Mogadishu next to the presidential palace on May 27, 2007.[200 ] 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.[201]
Kenya has sent forces to secure its border with Somalia and maybe a middle man between the TFG and former leaders of the ICU.
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 between February 2007 and May 2007.[202]
The United States has 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."[203]
Somali Prime Minister Gedi declared one of the key objectives of the offensive on Kismayo was the capture of three alleged Al-Qaeda 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),[204 ] based out of Bahrain [205] is patrolling off the Somali coast to prevent terrorists launching an "attack or to transport personnel, weapons or other material," said Commander Kevin Aandahl.[206 ] 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. [207]
| War in Somalia (2006–2009) | ||
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| Background | Events | Key players |
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Military:
Political: |
Timeline: 2006
Timeline: 2007
Timeline: 2008 Timeline: 2009 Continuation of the conflict: |
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   | Ethiopia Plans to Pull Troops From Somalia - The New York Times > Log In |
| | Weapons Raids in Somalia After Violent Night - The New York Times > Log In |
| | Islamists Abandon Final Stronghold in Somalia - Somalia Orders Islamists to Turn in Weapons - New York Times |
| | Navy searching for terrorists trying to flee Somalia - - Navy News, benefits, careers, entertainment, photos, promotions - Navy Times HOME |
| | U.S. airstrike targets al-Qaida in Somalia - New strikes on al-Qaida in Somalia - Somalia- msnbc.com |
| | Ethiopian troops unlikely to withdraw from Somalia - Latest News - SomaliNet |
| | Somalia: Gunmen shot at Kenyan helicopter - Latest News - SomaliNet |
| | Clashes mar Somali talks, Oxfam says raids kill 70 - Somali govt troops capture Islamist refuge: govt - washingtonpost.com |
| | Thousands Flee Somalia Fighting - WBBM 780 - Chicago's #1 source for local news, traffic and weather - * |
| | U.S. Special Forces Engaged in Operations on the Ground in Somalia - This Blotter Has Been Removed From the Site - The Blotter |
| | Truck attacked in Somalia, many wounded - Truck attacked in Somalia, many wounded : thewest.com.au |
| | Somalia: Clashes kill one in Mogadishu - Latest News - SomaliNet |
| | British help hunt al-Qa'ida in Somalia - British help hunt al-Qa'ida in Somalia | The Australian |
| | Kenya tightens border with Somalia - Kenya tightens border with Somalia - Mail & Guardian Online: The smart news source |
| | Somalia's Islamists Vow to Heed al-Qaida - Somalia's Islamists Vow to Heed al-Qaida - washingtonpost.com |
| | Somalia: Deadly battle in Somali capital - BBC NEWS | Africa | Gun battle mars Somali peace deal |
| | Ramage, Bunker Hill keeping an eye on Somalia - - MarineCorpsTimes.com |
| | Protests hit Somali border town - BBC NEWS | Africa | Protests hit Somali border town |
| | Net tightens on Somali Islamists - BBC NEWS | Africa | Net tightens on Somali Islamists |
| | Ethiopians to stay on in Somalia - BBC NEWS | Africa | Ethiopians to stay on in Somalia |
| | Explosion kills one soldier in Somalia capital - Latest News - SomaliNet |
| | Kenya: Seven Islamic militia vehicles destroyed in battle - Latest News - SomaliNet |
| | Ambush attack kills government soldier in Somalia capital - Latest News - SomaliNet |
| | Official: 2nd U.S. Attack in Somalia Called Off - FOXNews.com - Official: 2nd U.S. Attack in Somalia Called Off - International News | News of the World | Middle East News | Europe News |
| | Report: U.S. Kills Qaeda Bomber In Somalia - Somalia: Al Qaeda Bomber Killed By U.S. - CBS News |
| | U.S. warplanes from newly dispatched carrier flying missions over Somalia - U.S. warplanes from newly dispatched carrier flying missions over Somalia - The China Post |
| | Somalia: Govt. closes Radio stations in Mogadishu - Latest News - SomaliNet |
| | Reports say U.S. targeted al Qaeda suspects in Somalia - Business News, Financial and Investing News & More | Reuters.co.uk |
| | Navy tries to block fleeing jihadists from Somalia - - Air Force News, pay & benefits, careers, entertainment, photos - Air Force Times HOME |
| | Battle for Somalia nears Kenya border - residents - Reuters AlertNet - Kenya on alert as Somalia fighting nears border |
| | Ethiopia begins Somali pullout - Al Jazeera English - AJE |
| | Ethiopian soldier dies in Somalia - BBC NEWS | Africa | Ethiopian soldier dies in Somalia |
| | Military Official Reports Second US Air Strike in Somalia - Military Official Reports Second US Air Strike in Somalia |
| | Qaadisiya.com - WELCOME TO QAADISIYA.COM |
| | Malawi to send peacekeepers to Somalia - ReliefWeb » Document » Malawi to send peacekeepers to Somalia |
| | Nigeria to send peacekeeping battalion to Somalia - Reuters.com - World News, Financial News, Breaking US & International News |
| | Burundi joins Somalia peace force - BBC NEWS | Africa | Burundi joins Somalia peace force |
| | Peacekeeping protests in Somalia - BBC NEWS | Africa | Peacekeeping protests in Somalia |
| | Off to Somalia - Uganda: Off to Somalia |
| | US Citizen Charged with Training to Fight Jihad in Somalia - Times Record News : Wichita Falls, Texas News Business, Homes, Jobs, Cars, & Information |
| | Weapons, explosives confiscated in Kismayo - Garowe Online - Home |
| | One wounded as Somali troops evacuate compound - Garowe Online - Home |
| | Somalia: Car blast kills four in Mogadishu - Latest News - SomaliNet |
| | Sixteen killed as mortar blasts hit Mogadishu - News - Africa: Sixteen killed as mortar blasts hit Mogadishu |
| | U.S. Used Base in Ethiopia to Hunt Al Qaeda in Africa - The New York Times > Log In |
| | Somalia: Fears of resumption of conflict in Mogadishu; 400 civilians killed and thousands fleeing - Somalia: Fears of resumption of conflict in Mogadishu; 400 civilians killed and thousands fleeing | Amnesty International |
| | Somali PM Claims Victory in Mogadishu - Somali PM Claims Victory in Mogadishu |
| | Ethiopian presence a tinderbox - Al-Ahram Weekly | Region | Ethiopian presence a tinderbox |
| | Ethiopia opens embassy in chaotic Somali capital - ABC News - ABC News |
| | UN mission in Somalia focuses on displaced persons - People's Daily Online -- UN mission in Somalia focuses on displaced persons |
| | Somali gunmen attack Ethiopians - BBC NEWS | Africa | Somali gunmen attack Ethiopians |
| | Somali Opposition Groups Rally - 13 Sept 07 - YouTube - Somali opposition groups ally - 13 Sept 07 |
| | Somalia Government Ridicules Opposition Gathering in Eritrea - Somalia Government Ridicules Opposition Gathering in Eritrea |
| | SomaliNet - SomaliNet - Somalia's largest and most complete site |
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