One and a half years after the Ethiopian Army defeated the Islamic Courts, its successor is poised for a takeover of much of southern and central Somalia. Shabaab seeks to formally join al Qaeda.
Somali gunmen kidnap two Western journalists: residents
The Islamic Courts has taken control of the southern port city of Kismayo; more than 70 were killed in heavy fighting. Shabaab said the peace agreement signed between the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia and the government “does not concern” the terror group.
UN approves Somalia force for six more months
More than 50 Somalis and Ethiopian troops were killed and 80 were wounded in a series of clashes from Aug. 15-16. Ethiopian troops killed more than 40 Somali civilians in a bus after being ambushed. Thirteen Somalis and Ethiopians were killed after Shabaab forces ambushed Ethiopian troops in Beletwein. Shabaab forces ambushed President Yusuf’s convoy […]
At least 10 people, including Ethiopian soldiers, Shabaab fighters, and civilians, were killed in fighting in southern Somalia after Ethiopian convoys were ambushed. Two Shabaab fighters and six clansmen were killed in clashes in Bakool. The Islamic Courts claimed it mediated between two warring clans in central Somalia. Ethiopia’s senior general and intelligence officer in […]
The Islamic Courts took control of Hudur, the capital of the Bakool region along the Ethiopian border. Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed called on Arab states to provide peace keepers and pressure Ethiopia to withdraw. The US Navy thwarted a pirate attack off the coast of Somalia.
Blast in Somali capital kills 14, mostly women
Kenyan police missed capturing Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, who was behind the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
Twenty-eight have been killed during two days of fighting between Ethiopian forces and the Islamic Courts in Beletwein. The UN special envoy for Somalia denied Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys is the leader of the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia. Aweys said his forces would attack UN peacekeepers and restore order to the country via […]
Ethiopian forces retook the town of Beletwein from Islamic Courts fighters; 16 were killed in the assault. The Islamic Courts vowed to protect foreign aid workers. The Islamic Courts have imposed a curfew on the central town of Johwar.
Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, the new leader of the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia, wants the Ethiopian forces to be “expelled from the country.” The UN envoy called on the Security Council to take “bold, decisive and fast action.” Somali pirates kidnapped 20 Filipinos aboard a Japanese-owned freighter.
Al Qaeda leader Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys has taken control of the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia. Five children were among those killed during fighting in Mogadishu. Ethiopian troops have re-entered Beledweyne. Somali and Ethiopian forces have set up bases in the Lower Shabellle region while the Islamic Courts controls Johwar, the provincial capital.
13 killed in Somalia clashes
Thousands of civilians are fleeing the town of Beletweyne in fear of fighting between Shabaab and a Somali and Ethiopian forces. An Islamic Courts spokesman said the group supports the targeting of aid workers. Aid groups are considering pulling out of Somalia.
Shabaab fighters took over the towns of Bardhere and Burhakaba without any resistance. Ethiopian and Somali forces are conducting operations in Daynile. The Hawiye, which supports the Islamic Courts, claimed Somali soldiers killed eight civilians in Mogadishu.
Aid workers being shot, killed in Somalia
Shabaab spokesman Sheikh Muqtar Robow called on all Islamist groups to converge on Baidoa and attack Ethiopian and government forces. Shabaab troops beheaded government soldiers in a nearby town. Two Somali soldiers were killed in Mogadishu. The DBG aid group suspended operations after one of its employees was murdered.
Shabaab forces seized the town of Deynunay, just 12 miles south of Baidoa, and withdrew after three hours. The Ethiopian military claimed it killed 71 Shabaab and Islamic Courts fighters during recent fighting. Kenya fears it will be drawn into the conflict as security deteriorates in Somalia.
Police and military units clashed in the Lower Shabelle region. Shabaab terrorists killed a senior UN official and wounded two others. The prime minister accused the Islamic Courts of breaking the peace agreement signed last month. The chief of the courts in Hiran resigned after accusing the government of failing to do its job.
Shabaab killed six Somalis, including a government official, in bombing in Mogadishu. Shabaab fighters seized the town of Walaweyn. Muktar Robow, spokesman for al Shabaab, threatened to attack Baidoa if lawmakers support an military operation.
Heavy fighting has been reported in Beletwein after Shabaab fighters ambushed an Ethiopian convoy. A Canadian man who became a high-ranking member of the Islamic Courts was killed during fighting in central Somalia. Four aid workers were kidnapped in Mogadishu.
Thirty-nine Somalis were reported killed during fighting between Shabaab and African Union, Somali, and Ethiopian troops throughout Somalia. Twenty-five of those were reported killed during fighting in the central province of Hiran, including six Shabaab fighters.
Al-Qaeda finds three safe havens for terror training
The Islamic Courts have taken control of Beletwein in central Somalia after Ethiopian forces withdrew. Heavy fighting was reported between Shabaab and Ethiopian troops in Guri El. Shabaab ambushed a convoy of a senior police commander in Baidoa.
Somali Guantanamo Bay detainee Mohammed Sulaymon Barre plans on filing a habeas corpus patition in the US courts. Nine police officers were killed after Shabaab terrorists overran a police station in Mogadishu. More than 2,100 have been killed in fighting in Somalia this year.
Hassan Dahir Aweys criticized Saudi Arabia for backing the peace deal between the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS) and the Somali government. The deputy leader of the ARS rejected al Qaeda’s criticism of the peace accord. The African Union said Nigeria would deploy forces to Somalia. Four Europeans were kidnapped from a yacht […]
Al Qaeda urges Somalis to fight UN
Senior al Qaeda leader Hassan Dahir Aweys said he was taking control of the opposition front called the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia. Three Somali soldiers were killed in a bombing in Mogadishu. Ten Somalis were wounded at a bombing in a theater in Baidoa. A Somali peace activist was killed and the leader […]
Two policemen were killed in an attack that targeted President Abdullahi Yusuf’s convoy in Mogadishu. A senior Somali military officer resigned after claiming Ethiopian military officers interfered with his command. The provincial government and security forces are reported to have withdrawn from Beledweyne in Hiran.