Tag Archives: Somalia

More than 20 people were killed during clashes between Shabaab and Somali troops in Mogadishu. Shabaab warned Somalis not to use African Union-run hospitals. The chairman of a human rights group escaped Shabaab’s custody.

Twelve people were killed in heavy fighting between Shabaab fighters and Somali and African Union forces in Mogadishu. Pirates released Puntland’s Minister of Ports & Marine Transport after holding him captive for several hours; two of his bodyguards were killed during the kidnapping.

Three people were killed during mortar exchanges between Shabaab and African Union forces in Mogadishu. Unconfirmed reports claim that a helicopter fired on pirate skiffs off the coast of Warsheekh. Somali pirates kidnapped 20 Filipino sailors and hijacked their ship.

The African Union claims it is in control of 45 percent of Mogadishu. Shabaab has banned M

Sheikh Mukhtar Robow Abu Mansour, Shabaab’s deputy leader, denied there was a dispute between him and Shabaab’s top leader, Sheikh Mukhtar Abu Zubeyr. Robow also declared that Osama bin Laden was “our leader.”

Hizbul Islam met with Sheikh Robow, a former Shabaab leader who quit the group, to discuss a merger. Uganda is willing to deploy 20,000 troops to Somalia; South Africa will not send troops. AMISOM denied reports that soldiers are missing. Shabaab forces withdrew from Beledweyne as Ethiopian forces entered the region.

Thirteen people were killed during clashes between Somali and Shabaab fighters in Mogadishu. A Somali soldier killed a politician in Mogadishu.

Ten Somalis were killed in clashes in Mogadishu. Uganda threatened to remove its forces from Somalia after a UN report criticized the African nation of committing massacres. Infighting has been reported between two of Shabaab’s top leaders.

Nine Somalis were killed in heavy fighting in the Bakara market after Shabaab attacked African Union forces in the capital. Shabaab arrested 17 young men in Beledweyne for violating sharia orders.

Interpol’s secretary general warned that Somalia may be a bigger al Qaeda threat than Afghanistan in the near future. “For us, we believe that ‘the Afghanistan’ in the next five to 10 years will be Somalia and those parts of Africa (countries in the north and west),” Ronald Noble said.

The government of the Puntland region said a Voice of America report serves to “appease Al Shabaab.” Shabaab’s spokesman said the UN meeting on Somalia was a failure. Kenya sentenced 11 Somali pirates each to five years in jail.

Eleven Somalis were killed in mortar attacks in Mogadishu. Shabaab kidnapped a journalist and burned a large amount of Somali money. Merger talks between Hizbul Islam and al Shabaab are on hold but will continue.

Ahlu Sunna Waljamaca said some top Somali officials are members of Shabaab. The US military denied its helicopters carried out a strike on a Shabaab safehouse in the town of Merca yesterday. The US has announced it would improve ties with the semi-autonomous regions of Puntland and Somaliland.

Unidentified helicopter gunships fired at a house today in the southern coastal town of Marka, which has been a haven for Shabaab for the past few years. After “Islamic forces” returned fire, the helicopters flew away. No casualties have been reported.

Ahlu Sunna Waljamaca, a moderate Sufi Islamist group, will no longer cooperate with the government after failing to receive cabinet positions. “We shall continue fighting against the al Shabaab and Hizbul Islam to keep our controlled areas peaceful,” the group’s spokesman said.

Thirty people were killed and more than 75 were wounded in fighting in Mogadishu; most were killed by mortar fire from African Union forces. The African Union has pleaded with the United Nations to increase funding for the Somalia mission to support 20,000 troops.

Nineteen people were killed and 71 more were wounded in the latest round of fighting in the Somali capital of Mogadishu. Shabaab announced a new offensive “to eliminate the invading Christians and their apostate government.”

Prime Minister Sharmake resigned after a long-running feud with President Sharif. Ten people were killed in fighting in Mogadishu. Puntland police arrested the imam of the Salahudiin Mosque and another person in Galkayo for propagating “terrorist ideology.”