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Date
Location
Result
Belligerents
Islamic Courts Union
ARPCT
Transitional Federal
Alleged:
Government
Foreign Mujahideen
Galmudug
al-Qaeda
Puntland
Eritrea
Alleged:
Uganda[2]
United States
Yusuf Indacade
Mohamed Dhere
Sharif Ahmed
Hassan Aweys
Mohamed Qanyare
Adan Eyrow
Omar Finnish
Mukhtar Robow
Hassan al-Turki
Abdi Qeybdiid
Saleh Nabhan
Barre Hiraale
Sebhat Ephrem
Adde Muse
Meles Zenawi
Strength
5,00010,000 soldiers
6,000[4]
300500 technicals
50030,000 Ethiopian
missiles
Alleged forces:
~4,0005,000 Foreign
Jihadists[3]
~15,00020,000[6])
250 killed
800 wounded[8]
400 wounded[9][10]
15350 defected/deserted
600 defected/deserted
1Origins
2.1Ethiopian involvement
3Timeline
4.1June 4, 2006
4.2June 6, 2006
5.2August 1, 2006
8.1November 1, 2006
9Advance on Baidoa
o
9.1December 2, 2006
9.2December 8, 2006
11See also
12References
Origins[edit]
The rise of the Islamic Courts in Somalia began in the mid-1990s with the alliance of a group of
Muslim legal scholars and business people led by Hassan Aweys (former leader of the AIAI)
and Sharif Ahmed, with two other powerful elements: Yusuf Mohammed Siad Inda'ade the selfdeclared governor of Shabeellaha Hoose, and the militant Islamist group al-Itihaad al-Islamiya led
by Hassan Abdullah Hersi al-Turki, forming the Islamic Courts Union.
Initially these three distinct elements maintained separate leadership, In July 2006, the Union of
Islamic Courts and the AIAI merged to form the Supreme Islamic Courts Council (SICC). By the end
of September Indha'adde's voluntary annexed his warlordship to the SICC, which created a larger
unified organization.
Against them are posed the Transitional Federal Government, and the breakaway region of
Puntland, plus other individual warlords and tribes.
Ethiopian involvement[edit]
Main article: War in Somalia (20062009)
Ethiopian troops invaded Somalian territory on July 20, 2006. [12] Ethiopia maintained it was providing
military assistance to the transitional government.
Somalia's interim government resisted militant advances by the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) forces
north to the last unoccupied city of Baidoa. The fighting intensified into direct confrontations on
December 8 as ICU and Ethiopian troops backed by government forces clashed in Dinsoor and
near Galkayo.
Both the Transitional Government(TFG) and the Islamic Courts Union had taken great pains to avoid
direct confrontation between ICU and TFG forces, preferring until December 8 to attack proxy and
allied forces.
The ICU invasion of Hiran, Southwestern Somalia and Jubaland technically did not violate the
ceasefire as those forces had not submitted territorial control to the government, despite ruling the
territories in their name, and the TFG invasion of Burhakaba attacked tribal militias allied to the ICU,
but was at that point not ICU territory. This mutual following of the letter of the peace agreement,
while ignoring the spirit of the peace agreement, increased tension to a fever pitch, though both
sides seemed unwilling to fire the first shot and be seen as the aggressor.
Differing interpretations of the peace agreement led to a tense situation, as the opponents viewed
their adversaries as not being committed to negotiation.
U.S. sponsorship of a Dec. 6 U.N. Security Council resolution that authorized, over the
Islamists' opposition, the deployment of an African peacekeeping force but omitted a demand for
the withdrawal of the estimated 8,000 Ethiopian troops.
A visit by Army Gen. John Abizaid, head of U.S. Central Command, to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia,
last month for talks with Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.[17]
The McClatchy article went on to cite U.S. politicians have played a part in American policy
surrounding the conflict. Former majority leader in the Republican Party-run House of
Representatives, Dick Armey, has been lobbying for Ethiopia and working to block a vote on a
bipartisan bill (HR 5680) entitled "Ethiopia Freedom, Democracy and Human Rights Advancement
Act of 2006" to cut U.S. security aid to Ethiopia if it failed to halt political repression. The Bush
administration also opposed the bill.[18][19]
United States opposition to the formation of an Islamic Somalia led to the CIA making secret
payments to aid Somali warlords in early 2006 organized under the name Alliance for the
Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism (ARPCT). Between May and June 2006, the Second
Battle of Mogadishu occurred between the ARPCT and the ICU. The result was the driving of the
ARPCT forces from Mogadishu, and the militant rise of the ICU.[20]
Timeline[edit]
June 4, 2006[edit]
The Courts and an alliance of Mogadishu warlords (formally gathering under the title Alliance for the
Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism in February 2006) had fought sporadically for years in
minor turf battles over Mogadishu districts. By March 2006 this had escalated to a decisive street
war. This led to major hostilities escalating in May dubbed the Second Battle of Mogadishu.
The Baidoa government's prime minister, Ali Mohammed Ghedi, demanded that the warlords cease
fighting the ICU, but this command was universally ignored and so Gedi dismissed them from
Parliament.[21]
The battles for each of Mogadishu's districts were bloody and vicious and caused significant
collateral damage, with hundreds killed or wounded in the crossfire. As the months crawled by
however, the Islamic Courts began to gain the upper hand.
By June 4 the ICU had taken Balcad[22] and seized the primary ARPCT base in Mogadishu.[23] The
ICU was poised on the brink of victory.
June 6, 2006[edit]
By June 6 the warlords who had banded together to resist the Courts either retreated to Ethiopia or
surrendered to the Islamic Courts, making the ICU the new masters of Mogadishu [24] and its
important port.[25]
The Islamic Courts had imposed strict law and order over the parts of Mogadishu they controlled
during the battles, and with their final victory law and order was declared to have returned to
Mogadishu for the first time in 15 years. This accomplishment was applauded both internationally
and domestically as a significant achievement, but worries and fears of the ICU's intentions began to
appear both domestically and internationally.
On June 7, 2006, the New York Times declared the US backing of warlords in the Alliance for the
Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism (ARPCT) a failed policy.[26] A Reuters report cited that
the plan had backfired and destabilized the nation. [27]
On June 22, 2006 the ICU and TFG met together in Khartoum, Sudan to work towards a peace
agreement, in which the ICU recognized the "legality" of the TFG and the TFG recognized the
"reality" of the ICU.
On July 1, 2006, a Web-posted message purportedly written by Osama bin Laden urged Somalis to
build an Islamic state in the country and warned western states that his al Qaeda network would fight
against them if they intervened there.[30]
In mid July, Ethiopian forces massed in the town of Baidoa, warning the ICU not to move on the city.
[31]
Ethiopian forces under the command of Captain Hassey Aliow had crossed the Somalian border
into Hiraan numerous times in 2004 and 2005, and had several local allies amongst
the Baadiade and Ujejeen clans.[32]
August 1, 2006[edit]
The ICU moved into the Mudug region in the beginning of August, capturing Adado on 1
August[33] following negotiations with the local clan Sultan.
This draws the ICU into the sphere of influence of Puntland, as Adado borders the important
southern city of Galcayo. Conflict ensues almost immediately after an Islamic Court is founded in
south Galkayo (Puntland disputes ownership of South Galcayo with the local Sacad clan) and
escalates rapidly up to the 9th of August.
The Sacad clan was largely divided between those Sacad who supported the ICU (the Sacad have
their own Islamic Court in the capital) and those who oppose the ICU (led by Mohamed Warsame
Ali "Kiimiko" and Abdi Qeybdiid). The Anti-ICU Sacad unite together and prepare to form their own
state in South Galcayo, in order to resist both Puntland and the ICU.
In order to make good on their promise to restore law and order to Somalia, the ICU began invading
the territory of coastal warlords known to be engaged in piracy. The most infamous pirates in
Somalia operated out of Harardhere and Hobyo, and so these towns were targeted for the antipiracy campaign. Interestingly enough, the most infamous pirates were from the same clan as the
ICU leadership, the Habar Gidir.
Harardere, the most infamous piracy port, was captured on the 13th of August.
leadership. Barre Hiraale was pro-Government and held the position of Defence Minister in the
Transitional Federal Parliament. Hiraale's fear was an ICU invasion in support of Mohamed Roble,
which would lead to division within his own ranks due to partisan Sub-Clan loyalties within the JVA. [35]
Barre Hiraale spoke out against the proposed deployment of peacekeepers, and publicly stated he
would not allow peacekeepers into the country through Kismayo, the proposed point of entry and
resupply. While Somalis had bad experiences generally with peacekeeping missions, the ICU
considered a peacekeeping force to be casus belli to attack the government, of which Barre Hiraale
was a member. Soon after the peacekeeping mission was approved, the ICU began moving their
forces south towards Jubaland. Barre Hiraale's attempt to find a "third way", seemed to have failed.
Anti-ICU protests in Kismayo led to several deaths and a curfew being imposed on the city. These
protests were sparked by the decision by local ICU authorities to ban Khat use in Kismayo.
The local Islamic Sharia court react to an Ethiopian cross-border expedition as a precursor to the
Ethiopian invasion the ICU had been fearing for months, and calls for emergency reinforcements
from Mogadishu and Jihad against Ethiopia are made.
Ethiopian forces had been massed over the other side of the border from Beledweyne since mid
July,[38] and the tension was palpable. Within weeks, thousands of soldiers would be staring over the
border at each other and fingering their triggers.
The ICU captures Bu'alle and Badhadhe from the JVA on October 15, pushing the JVA out of Lower
Juba entirely. Barre Hirale attempted a final push to recapture Kismayo and Bu'alle through mid
October, mustering all of his forces for a final battle near Kismayo where his forces were defeated,
along with a simultaneous attempt to capture Bu'alle. Several of the Marehan subclans had opened
their own negotiations with the ICU, and his position was weakening by the day.
The JVA regrouped their remaining forces in Sakow, though the alliance itself was unravelling.
November 1, 2006[edit]
ICU forces assume control over Hobyo, which is the capital of South Mudug State, part of
Galmudug.
Religious leaders in the northern half of Galkacyo (the half controlled by Puntland) set up an Islamic
Court, which the government of Puntland vows to dismantle or destroy, creating a tense situation as
ICU forces head towards Galmudug-controlled South Galkacyo to protect the new Islamic Court.
Abdi Qebdiid, former member of the ARPCT and now an important figure in Galmudug, vows to
defeat them.
Barre Hiraale returns to Baidoa, as several branches of his Marehan clan set up Islamic courts in
Bardhere and Afmadow and declare their support for the Islamic Courts. As Islamist support north of
Bardhere is very strong, and Bardhere was previously the last bastion of anti-ICU sentiment in Gedo,
the Gedo region is poised to fall into the hands of the Islamic Courts.[40]
Baidoa's military buildup continues to be plagued by division, as 30 more government soldiers along
with their technicals defected to the Islamic Courts [1].
The ICU enacts into law the Prohibition of Khat in all territories they control on November 17, 2006,
due to the concerns of many ICU leaders as to the social effects of Khat use, and in response to
violent protests by Khat vendors in Mogadishu that lead to the death of a 13-year-old boy. This
decision may prove to be counterproductive to the ICU's agenda of restoring law and order, as
prohibition laws historically trend towards increased rather than decreased criminality.
Puntland's president, Adde Musa, signed a deal with the Islamic Court of Galkayo in order to stem
the tide of violence that the town had experienced for over a week. [41] The details of this deal include
the establishment of Sharia as the legal code, and holding a "grand conference" in Garowe to
discuss the future of Puntland. Puntland has much to gain from switching sides over to the Islamic
Courts, as Puntland is in a longstanding dispute with Somaliland over the Sool and Sanaaq regions,
and the Islamic Courts have a dispute with Somaliland over the imprisonment of an important
religious leader.
Advance on Baidoa[edit]
December 2, 2006[edit]
350 soldiers from the Digil and Mirifle clans defected from the ICU to the government.[45] Dinsoor, a
primarily Digil and Mirifle district under Southwestern Somalian administration, defects to the ICU.
[46]
The Digil and Mirifle are a major clan in Somalia, with large populations throughout Bay and
Bakool regions, and the shift in support weakened the government position considerably.
The Digil and Mirifle clans make up the broader Rahanweyn group of clans, and the leader of the
Rahanweyn Resistance Army, Aden Saran-Sor, has been accused of opposing the government
since October 31.[47] If Aden Saran-Sor has joined the ICU, then the RRA and the Rahanweyn clan as
a whole will be divided between ICU supporters and government supporters, with the critical military
support being on the ICU side. The government's base in Baidoa is hosted by Rahanweyn-controlled
Southwestern Somalia, and if Southwestern Somalia falls to the ICU, Baidoa will be entirely
encircled, and local resistance to the capture of Baidoa would be muted if the locals support the ICU.
On December 3, 60 ICU soldiers along with their technicals surrendered to government forces in
Baidoa, dissatisfied by the ICU's extremist policies [3].
On December 6, the United Nations Security Council approved a deployment of IGAD peacekeepers
exempt from the UN arms embargo to protect Baidoa, effectively taking sides in the conflict.
Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti were barred from taking part in the peacekeeping operation, leaving it
up to Uganda, Tanzania and Eritrea. The resolution is primarily aimed at encouraging Uganda to
deploy troops to protect Baidoa, which is a highly controversial issue in Uganda due to the UN arms
embargo and the threats of the ICU to fight any peacekeepers in Somalia [4].
On December 7, 2006, The Eritrean Permanent Mission to the UN officially denied its nation had any
troops in Somalia.[5]
December 8, 2006[edit]
On December 8, the ICU reported heavy fighting with government forces, backed by Ethiopian
troops in the town of Dinsoor, in what many fear would spark an invasion of the heavily fortified city
of Baidoa by the massed ICU forces stationed in Burhakaba.[48] Residents in Baidoa began fleeing
the city, in fear of the fighting spilling over into Baidoa.
The fighting carried over into the next day, with ferocious artillery duels reported across a front line
roughly located at Rama'addey village.
To complicate the situation, Mohammed Dheere, the warlord of Jowhar who had been defeated
almost 6 months previously and fled to Ethiopia, crossed the border into Hiraan with his rebuilt militia
and more than 60 technicals.
Sharif Sheikh Ahmed ended months of speculation on the 10th by formally declaring the ICU's
intention to capture Baidoa. By the 11th, fighting near Dinsoor had settled down to a stable front line
at Safarnooles village. The calm of the 11th was more than likely the preparations for a combined
assault from two directions on Baidoa; from Dinsoor and Burhakaba, and the TFG's preparations to
attempt to repel it.
Reports indicate that the ICU began advancing towards Tyeeglow on December 11, 2006, continuing
the encirclement of Baidoa. From Tyeeglow the ICU has the ability to attack the northern supply
routes to Baidoa with virtual impunity. To entirely encircle Baidoa, the ICU needs to capture Hudur,
Luuk and Wajid, and these towns are all along the road from Tyeeglow.
The ICU's strategy became clear following the battles near Dinsoor, which clearly demonstrated that
the ICU has sufficient firepower to force their way into Baidoa if they chose to. The ICU has chosen
instead to cut off all support to the city and force it to surrender, while simultaneously taking control
of the rest of Bay and Bakool.
On December 20, major fighting broke out around the TFG capital of Baidoa. Thirteen trucks filled
with Ethiopian reinforcements were reported en route to the fighting. However, leaders of both
groups are keeping an option open for peace talks brokered by the EU. [66]
On December 22, nearly 20 Ethiopian tanks were seen heading toward the front line. According to
government sources Ethiopia has 20 T-55 tanks and four attack helicopters in Baidoa. It is not
known if these tanks are taking part in the battle. [67]
On December 23, Ethiopian tanks and further reinforcements arrived in Daynuunay, 30 kilometres
east of Baidoa; prompting ICU forces to vow all-out war despite a commitment to an EU-brokered
peace. Heavy fighting continued in Iidale and Dinsoor.[68]
On December 24, Ethiopia admits that its troops are fighting the Islamists, after stating earlier in the
week that it had only sent several hundred military advisors to Baidoa. Heavy fighting erupted in
border areas, with air strikes and shelling being reported. Eyewitness said Ethiopian troops
bombarded the ICU-held town of Beledweyne. According to Ethiopian Information Minister Berhan
Hailu: "The Ethiopian government has taken self-defensive measures and started counter-attacking
the aggressive extremist forces of the Islamic Courts and foreign terrorist groups." [1]
On December 25, Ethiopian and Somali forces captured Beledweyne, with ICU forces fleeing
Beledweyne at the same time Ethiopian fighter jets bombed two airports. Heavy fighting was also
reported in Burhakaba.[69]
On December 26, the ICU was in retreat on all fronts, losing much of the territory they gained in the
months preceding the Ethiopian intervention. They reportedly fell back to Daynuunay
and Mogadishu.[70]
On December 27, Ethiopian and Somali government forces were reported en route to Somalia's
capital, Mogadishu after capturing the strategic town of Jowhar, 90 km from the capital. The UIC
were in control of little more than the coast. Islamist leaders evacuated many towns without putting
up a fight. Also, the UIC top two commanders, defense chief Yusuf Indade and his deputy Abu
Mansur were away on the Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca.[71]
After the Fall of Mogadishu to the Ethiopian and government forces on December 28, fighting
continued in the Juba River valley, where the UIC retreated, establishing a new headquarters in the
city of Kismayo. Intense fighting was reported on December 31 in the Battle of Jilib and the ICU
frontlines collapsed during the night to artillery fire, causing the ICU to once again go into
retreat, abandoning Kismayo, without a fight and retreating towards the Kenyan border.[72]
See also[edit]
[show]
v
t
e
References[edit]
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
^ Jump up to:a b Somalia premier says foreign extremists fight alongside with Islamists,
Shabelle Media Network.
^ Jump up to:a b Somalia Islamists Discuss Defections CBS News
Jump up^ Fighting erupts in northern Somalia as peace talks falter, says Islamic official;
International Herald Tribune.
^ Jump up to:a b FACTBOX-Somalia's role in Horn of Africa tensions Reuters Cite
error:
Invalid<ref> tag; name "REUTERS-FACTBOX-SOMALIA" defined multiple
times with different content (see the help page).
7.
8.
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^ Jump up to:a b Somalia: Bid to Avert All-Out War, UN Integrated Regional Information
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Jump up^ Islamists claim they killed 203 Ethiopian forces, Shabelle Media Network.
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Jump up^ The Long and Hidden History of the U.S in Somalia Znet
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^ Jump up to:a b Analysis: U.S. may feed conflict in Somalia, experts say McClatchy
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