The U.S. and Ethiopia are planning to interdict terrorists seeking a safe haven in Somalia. The Islamic Courts claim they haven’t threatened Ethiopia. The ICU is also “infuriated” by the UN withdrawal of foreign staff from southern and central Somalia.
Somali refugees in Kenya could reach 80,000
UN temporarily pulls international staff out of Somalia after threats
Local clerics in semi autonomous Somaliland demand Sharia law. Reporters sans Frontières states the Islamic Courts have imposed a “draconian charter” on the press in Mogadishu. Kenya has reinforced the border. The prime minister of Ethiopia has vowed to defend the country from the ICU.
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Islamic Courts, Ethiopian troops dance in south central Somalia Somalia. Cities in red indicate ICU controlled territory. Click map to view. As the Islamic Courts Union presses forward with consolidating power in southern and central Somalia, the chance of a battle between the army of the Islamic Courts and Ethiopian troops currently in country has […]
Anti-Islamic demonstrations continue for the second day in Kismayo, as Colonel Bare Hirale vows to retake the port city. Clashes are imminent in the city the Islamist Court militia took without casualties two weeks ago. The Islamic Court’s laws and arrests, reminiscent of the Taliban’s legal system, are raising international concern.
Somali Islamic Military leader Aden Ayro has al Qaeda ties
Anti-Islamist Protest in Kismayo, Somalia
Kenya sounds warning note after Islamic militia move
The Islamic Courts army is now on the Kenyan border. The ICU commander of Hiran province has threatened Ethiopia with war if their troops enter the country. The ICU has officially established shariah courts in Mogadishu and appointed leaders.
“Islamists threaten Somaliland from within” – via the economy
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Militia Advances Closer to Somalia Base
The Islamic Courts takes control of the town of Afmadow in the Lower Jubba region. Members of the Lower Juba Alliance threaten to retake the port city of Kismayo. Kenya is reconsidering its support of the transitional government. An alleged video of an ICU clreic being tortured in Somaliland leads to protests and threats from […]
The Islamic Courts withdraws from a town bordering Ethiopia as Ethiopian Army units move in. Ethiopian troops are deployed on the outskirts of Baidoa. The transitional government is receiving arms from Ethiopia. The provincial capital of the middle Juba region has been captured by the ICU.
Peace accord with ICU invald, says Somali government
Somali Islamists gaining ground
President Yusuf tells the defense minister to abandon all hope of recovering Kismayo and orders his militias to push to Baidoa. “A convoy of more than 156 [Ethiopian] war vehicles” is said to have arrived in Baidoa. Yusuf’s government still believes it can negotiate with the Islamic Courts Union. An interview with wanted terrorist and […]
The Islamic Courts continues its conquest of Somalia. The Lower Shabelle region and the towns of Kalaber and Jawil are now under the control of the ICU. Kenyan troops have been placed on high alert all along the Somali border.
Uganda is prepared to send troops to Somalia. Aweys is looking to destroy the tribal culture. Ahmed dismisses claims al Qaeda and the Islamic Courts are in league. Three suspects in the Baidoa suicide bombing, including a cleric, are arrested. The Islamic Courts demands their release and has shut down HornAfkik radio in Kismayo.
NWFP Governor Ali Jan Orakzai recommends expanding the Waziristan Accord to other tribal agencies, as the Taliban and al Qaeda continue to hit government targets Governor Ali Jan Orakzai in 2004, when he was a general in the Pakistani Army. Click picture to view. As we reported just two days after the signing of the […]
Somalia: Islamist leader dismisses govt’s al Qaeda accusations
Sheikh Hassan Turki flaunts the involvement of “foreign fighters” in Somalia as Shariah law is enforced in Kismayo Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and Sheik Yusuf Indohaadde during a news briefing, Saturday, June 17, 2006. AP photograph, click to view. Al-Qaeda’s involvement in the rise of the Islamic Courts has been a well know fact for […]
Ethiopia claims it has not deployed troops inside Somalia. Residents of Kismayo continue to riot despite a curfew, as the ICU bans khat in the city. Cinemas and sporting events have also been shut down in the city.
About 300 to 400 Ethiopian troops moved into Baidoa after the Islamic Courts seized Kismayo. Defense minister Bare Hirale is said to be awaiting reinforcements from Ethiopia to counterstrike at Kismayo. The transitional government pleads for the arms embargo to be lifted. Twenty women were arrested by the ICU for protesting in Kismayo, while Hassan […]
The strategic southern port city of Kismayo is taken by the Islamic Courts, Baidoa is now in the crosshairs Somalia. Cities in red indicate ICU controlled territory. Click map to view. The Islamic Courts have further consolidated their grip on power in souther Somalia. Just one day after Barre Adan Shire, (or Bare Hirale) the […]
The Islamic Courts has taken the strategic port city of Kismayo. UN relief agencies have fled the Wajid district in the southern Bakol region, fearing fighting. Thirty inmates escaped from a jail run by the Islamic Courts.
The Islamic Courts will open a ‘jihad office’ in Mogadishu. The ICU is advancing towards the strategic port city of Kismayo. The U.S. has negotiated with ‘moderate’ Sheikh Sharif Ahmed.