Tag Archives: Somalia

Seventeen people were killed in clashes between the Islamic Courts and Somali and Ethiopian forces throughout Somalia. The US ambassador to Somalia has met with Sheikh Shaif Ahmed, the leader of the Islamic Courts, in Nairobi, Kenya to discuss the peace agreement.

Shabaab fighters reportedly attacked Ethiopian bases inside Ethiopia. Ethiopian troops have withdrawn from the towns of Jawil and Kalabeyrka in Hiran. Shabaab mortared the Mogadishu airport as Somalia’s president prepared to depart for Ethiopian.

Shabaab killed nine Somalis just one day after the peace agreement with the Somali government was inked. Shabaab claimed an Ethiopian officer defected. Two Somali men were detained in the UK for terrorism-related charges, while two Somalis were released after a three-month detention in Sweden.

Hassan Dahir Aweys and Hassan Abdullah Hersi al Turki, two senior al Qaeda leaders in the Islamic Courts, rejected the terms of the cease-fire agreement signed by Sheikh Sharif Ahmed. “We don’t see that as a peace deal, we see it as a trap,” Aweys said, noting his faction was conducting the attacks in Somalia. […]

The Somali government and the Islamic Courts-backed Alliance for the Reliberation of Somalia signed a truce that will begin in 30 days and last for 90 days. Fourteen Ethiopian soldiers were killed in fighting north of Mogadishu on Sunday. Islamic Courts fighters attacked the Speaker of Parliament’s home in Baidoa; his secretary was killed.

Nasteh Dahir Farah, a reporter for the BBC and The Associated Press, has been killed by unknown gunmen in the town of Kismayo, 500 km south of Mogadishu. He was shot several times in the chest as he walked home from an Internet cafe late Saturday night. Fresh fighting between Ethiopian-backed government forces and Islamic […]

Four Kenyan soldiers were killed after Islamic Courts fighters seized a vehicle near the town of Liboi along the southern border. Three Somalis were killed killed and three were wounded after Islamic Courts fighters threw a hand grenade into a cinema in the town of Galkaio. The prime minister flew to Djibouti for talks with […]

The Islamic Courts captured the island town of Kudha in southern Somalia near the Kenyan border. The Islamic Courts captured a member of parliament as he traveled between Baidoa and Mogadishu. He was later released. Negotiations in Djibouti have been postponed.

Hassan Dahir Aweys said Sheikh Sharif Ahmed will be replaced as leader of the Reliberation of Somalia Alliance, the front group for the Islamic Courts. “He sullied the laws of the group,” Aweys said. Somali pirates hijacked two more ships in the Gulf of Aden.

The Panama-flagged cargo ship MV Amiya Scan has been seized by Somalian pirates and is now docked at a port in Bargal. This is the third high-profile vessel hijacking off the coast of Somali since last month. The president of Somalia’s semiautonomous northern region of Puntland has sacked the region’s police chief, Colonel Abdiaziz Ga’amey.

Islamist insurgents attacked African Union peacekeepers in Mogadishu sparking fierce clashes that killed at least 13 Somalis, most of them civilians. Unidentified gunmen shot and injured the commissioner of Guri-el district in the Galgadudu region. An airstrike in a southern, remote area of Somalia may have been launched by US forces Sunday night.

Ethiopian soldiers have established a new military base at Yaqbariweyne in the lower Shabelle region in southern Somalia. UN monitors have accused Ugandan peacekeepers of selling arms to Muslim fighters battling the Somali transitional government and Ethiopian soldiers in Somalia. Gunmen attacked clan elders inlcuding the mayor of Guri Ceel in Dhuusa Mareeb, Galgaduud region, […]

Islamic Courts leader Hassan Dahir Aweys said he wants to create an Islamic Republic in Somalia. The Islamic Courts and the clan controlling Kismayo may have entered into a secret pact to fight the government and the Ethiopians. The Islamic Courts and pirates are fighting in the town of Hobyo. Five Ugandan soldiers were wounded […]

The government is preparing to retake the coastal district of Harardheere in the Mugub region from Shabaab. Shabaab fighters killed five Somali soldiers in an attack on a base outside Mogadishu. Three Ethiopian and two Somali soldiers were killed in a bombing in Mogadishu. Two Italian aid workers were kidnapped.

Shabaab fighters took control of the towns of Jilib, Dinsoor, and Bal’ad. Three militia fighters were killed and three more were wounded during the fighting in Jilib. Four Ethiopian soldiers were killed in an IED attack in Mogadishu. Four Ethiopian soldiers and three Shabaab fighters were wounded in a firefight after the attack.

Ethiopian troops have deployed in northern Mogadishu after a string of attacks on convoys. Burundi said it would send more troops in June. The Somali government is optimistic about talks with the Islamists; Hassan Dahir Aweys said talks are “a waste of time.”

Shabaab attacked an Ethiopian convoy in Mogadishu and a Somali and Ethiopian convoy in Baidoa. Casualties are not yet known in either event. The Islamic Courts Union is regrouping in the Gedo region.

Four Somali troops were killed in an ambush on an convoy transporting Somalia’s internal affairs minister traveling outside Mogadishu. Four Ethiopian soldiers were killed in an IED attack in Mogadishu. Negotiations between the Islamic Courts and the government have been delayed.

Eight Somali soldiers were killed and six were wounded during an IED attack on their convoy in Baidoa. Two police and two civilians were killed during an IED attack in Mogadishu. Ethiopian troops pulled out of the town of Bulo-Burte. The Islamic Courts have retaken the town of Johwar.

Ethiopia rejected claims by Amnesty International that Ethiopian troops slaughter and rape Somali civilians, saying it is propaganda from Shabaab. Three Ethiopian troops were killed in an attack in Mogadishu. Somalia’s president requested that France send soldiers and naval forces to help secure the country.

Sheik Sharif Ahmed, the leader of the Islamic Courts Union, said the killing of Shabaab leader Aden Hashi Ayro would derail negotiations. Three Ethiopian soldiers were killed in a bombing in Mogadishu. Ethiopian troops have established bases near Jowhar, where the Islamic Courts have been active. A Somali elder in Puntland was arrested after criticizing […]

Islamic Courts fighters lobbed a hand grenade at a police commander of the Horsed village; three civilians were wounded. Ethiopian soldiers have begun house-to-house search operations in areas near the Warshadaha toll road in Mogadishu. The leader of the African Union urged member countries to provide more troops to Somalia.