Islamist insurgents in Somalia have claimed responsibility for twin attacks in the northeast port city of Bossaso that left 20 dead. The presence of the Ethiopian Army inside Somalia remains the most contentious issue in the country’s chaotic political landscape. Armed groups have killed two government troops after they assaulted the troop’s base in Yaqbari […]
Shabaab claimed credit for a series of bombings in Puntland that killed 20 and wounded more than 70 Somalis. “This location [in Bossaso] was a place where Ethiopian and Puntland soldiers go for entertainment, with sinful acts and harmful culture,” according to a Shabaab statement published on the Internet. Shabaab fighters overran a police station […]
A Russian tugboat and its crew were seized off the coast of Somalia. The NATO fleet operating nearby has been informed of the attack. A roadside bomb killed eight civilians and wounded nine others when it exploded near a minibus full of passengers in Mogadishu. Medecins Sans Frontieres suspended its operations in Somalia after a […]
Shabaab and government troops clashed in Dinsor. The Islamic Courts rejected talks with the government. The president of Uganda said his country can deploy more forces to Somalia.
Sheikh Suulay, the spokesman for the Islamic Courts, said Ethiopian withdrawal from Mogadishu is a victory and their forces would still be attacked. The Islamic Courts killed the government spokesman for Mogadishu. African Union troops are deploying throughout the capital.
Clashes in Mogadishu resulted in 17 Somali and 2 Ethiopian solders killed. The Ethiopian Army withdrew its 1,000-man force from a military base east of Beletwein in Hiran province. Heavy fighting between Somali troops and Shabaab terrorists has been reported in Hiran.
Heavy fighting between Ethiopian and Shabaab forces in Mogadishu resulted in 14 killed and 21 wounded. Two Dutch doctors, a journalist, and their driver were killed in an IED attack near Kismayo. Three African Union peacekeepers were wounded in an IED attack in Mogadishu. The spokesman for the pro-Islamic Courts Hawiye Council was released from […]
The African Union warned the Shabaab insurgency is spreading to relatively peaceful areas. “Their strategy seems to be to further weaken the TFG [Transitional Federal Government] by destabilising as many areas as possible. … In the Middle and Lower Juba regions, the al-Shabaab [military wing of the deposed Union of Islamic Courts] are reported to […]
The Transitional Federal Government has moved from Baidoa to Mogadishu. A force of 200 troops from Burundi has arrived in Mogadishu. Seven soldiers and civilians were wounded in an IED attack.
A look at the senior and influential leaders in Somalia’s Islamic Courts and Shabaab.
US Rules Out Military Bases in Africa: Official
Sixteen Somalis were killed during fighting in Mogadishu. Seven Ethiopian troops were killed in an IED attack in Mogadishu. A district commissioner confirmed Shabaab fighters are present in the Bay region. Nigeria will send 500 troops to Somalia.
Al Shabaab spokesman Sheik Mokhtar Robow said foreign aid workers will not be targeted by the terror group and admitted its forces are fighting government troops in the Bay and Bakol regions. Four Somali soldiers were killed and seven wounded in fighting in the town of Dinsor near Baidoa.
Fighting between government forces and Shabaab fighters south of Mogadishu claimed 15 lives; another five were killed inside the capital. Local officilas are fleeing a town near Baidoa due to Shabaab fighters making a push in the region. Security forces have arrested three journalists in Somalia and Puntland.
Mogadishu violence kills 6,500 in past year
Insurgents bombed the home of Baidoa’s police chief; one soldier was killed. Heavy fighting between Shabaab and Somali and Ethiopian forces was reported in Mogadishu. An insurgent group called the Jabhada Islamiga Somaliyeed freed two Somali soldiers. A second group of 100 Burundi peacekeepers arrived in Mogadishu.
Shabaab named Sheikh Mukhtar Abdirahman Abu Zubey the new leader of the Islamist movement; Zubey trained in Afghan camps prior to 2001. At least 10 people were killed and dozens wounded during fighting in Mogadishu. A judge was assassinated in Baidoa. About 100 Burundian soldiers arrived in Mogadishu as part of the African peacekeeping force.
Piracy Revenues Financing Warlords in Somali Insurgency
Ethiopia PM attacks UN on Somalia
Sheikh Abdirahim Ali Mudey, the spokesman for the Islamic courts, said the al Qaeda-backed group is gaining strength. “We will fight as long as a single Ethiopian soldier remains on our country’s soil,” Mudey said. Mortar attacks in Mogadishu killed 12, including three children.
A roadside bomb wounded at 12 Somali soldiers stationed outside the parliament building in Baidoa. Shabaab fighters attacked a military checkpoint in Hiran province. Five civilian were wounded in a mortar attack in Mogadishu.
Bomb wounds 12 soldiers near Somali parliament
Seventeen were killed in attacks in Mogadishu, including 13 in a Shabaab mortar strike. The director of security at Somalia’s National Security Ministry said the government is powerless against the al Qaeda-backed group. “About 80 percent of Somalia is not safe and is not under control of the government,” Nur said. “Islamists are planning to […]
(Somalia) 13 killed in mortar attack
The governor of Hiran province survived an IED attack in Beledweyn. Three were killed in an IED attack in Mogadishu’s Bakara, 10 were killed in clan fighting in the Middle Shabelle region. The president said the southern port city of Kismayo is not under government control.
A policeman was killed and five civilians wounded in a series of clashes between Shabaab and Somali security forces. Initial reports the town of Bulo-Burde in Hiran province fell to Shabaab were incorrect, locals claimed. However former Islmaic Courts fighters are patroling the streets.
Shabaab has taken control of the town of Bulo-Burde in Hiran. Ethiopian forces withdrew from a strategic neighborhood in Mogadishu. Somali police arrested Sheikh Yusuf Mohamed Barrow, a former Islamic Courts leader and now the director of Mogadishu-based Noble Quran Radio.
Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, the former chairman of the al Qaeda-backed Islamic Courts and current chairman of the Alliance For the Re-Liberation of Somalia, rejected talks with the government. The US sought to “encourage the broadest possible engagement with forces that are not associated with terrorism.” Two soldiers were killed in an ambush in the central […]
Ethiopia calls for help in Somalia
US, German warships surround Somalia pirates