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Somalia
Foreigners captured, wounded in Somalia: Zenawi
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Somalia
Ethiopia versus the Islamists – What the US military has been up to in the Horn of Africa.
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Somalia
US intelligence quietly backed Ethiopia in war against Somalia
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U.S. Gunship fires on al Qaeda Leader and Operative in Somalia
An AC-130 fires on wanted al Qaeda leader and a ringeader of the 1998 U.S. Embasy bombings in Kenya & Tanzania The United States forces of Combine Joint Task Force Horn of Africa based out of Djibouti have actively weighed in on the fighting in Somalia. CBS News reports an AC-130 gunship has struck at al Qaeda’s command cell in Somalia. The targets were described as “the senior al Qaeda leader in East Africa and an al Qaeda operative wanted for his involvement in the 1998 bombings of two American embassies in Africa.” Abu Taha al-Sudani (or Tariq Abdullah) is…
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Somalia
Somali Journalist on the Union of Islamic Courts: ‘The Nightmare is Over’
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The Battle of Ras Kamboni
The Somalia Battlefield December 25, 2006 to January 3, 2007. Light blue – Ethiopian & TFG advances. Green – ICU territory. Orange – recent clashes. Click image to view. Heavy casualties reported after days of fighting on the Kenyan border Just one day after a Somali military commander proclaimed military operations were over and Ras Kamboni, the al Qaeda and Islamic Courts training and communications hub where Islamic Courts fighters regrouped after being ejected from power, was under government control, reports emerge that the fighting is still ongoing. “Somalia’s Defense Minister Col. Barre “Hirale” Aden Shire said troops had yet…
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Somalia
A Somali commander said major military operations on the Kenyan border are over and Ras Kamboni is under Somali control. A protest broke out in Betelweyn after a Somali Army commander was arrested by Ethiopian forces for refuseding to turn over an Islamic Courts leader. Fighting in Mogadishu claimed one after a militia attacked an Ethiopian patrol.
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Somalia
US sees Somalia as key front in war on terror
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Somalia
Two ICU financiers were captured in Kenya. Seven Oromo Liberation Front Fighters from Ethiopian are being held in Kenya after crossing from Somalia, making the number of foreign fighters captured at 23. Senior ICU leaders are said to be in Yemen for talks. Violent protests in Mogadishu were organized by the ICU.
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al Qaeda, Islamic Courts gather the new Somali Jihad
Zawahiri, Islamist Courts lay the groundwork for the insurgency While the Islamic Courts repeatedly denied any connection to al Qaeda, the evidence to the contrary is overwhelming. Hassan Dahir Aweys, the ‘spiritual leader’ (and in fact the operational leader) of the Islamic Courts is wanted by the U.S. government for his connections with al Qaeda. Sheikh Hassan Turki bragged about al Qaeda’s involvement in Somalia, and Sheikh Yusuf Indohaadde was caught on tape with ‘foreign fighters’. Adan Hashi Ayro trained with al Qaeda in Afghanistan. The three wanted al Qaeda operatives behind the 1998 Kenya and Tanzania US embassy bombings…
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Somalia
Melbourne man killed in Somalia fighting
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Somalia
The Somali Government and Ethiopian Army prepare to assault Ras Kamboni (also see our post from yesterday.) Three were killed when militias battled in Gandarshe, south of Mogadishu. The US has announced a $16 million humanitarian aide package for Somalia.
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Somalia
Interim Somali Government Tries to Stabilize Capital
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Somalia
(Somalia) By dawn the Islamists were gone
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Engaging the Islamic Courts at Ras Kamboni
Satelitte view (clouded) of the southeast corner of the Kenyan-Somali border. Click image to view. Ethiopian and Somali forces battling Islamic Courts remnants on the Kenyan border The Ethiopian armored column and Somali forces pushing southward since the fall of Mogadishu last week appear to have finally reached Ras Kamboni and are engaging a significant element of the remnants of the Islamic Courts. “Government troops backed by Ethiopian soldiers were fighting about 600 Islamic militiamen in the southern tip of Somalia,” reports The Associated Press. “The Somali forces have surrounded the Islamic militiamen ‘from every direction’ in the [sic] southwestern…
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The Rise & Fall of Somalia’s Islamic Courts: An Online History
The Somalia Battlefield December 25, 2006 to January 3, 2007. Light blue – Ethiopian & TFG advances. Green – ICU territory. Orange – recent clashes. Click image to view. Click the map for an animated view of the TFG and Ethiopian operations against the Islamic Courts from December 25 to January 3 The Islamic Courts Courts rise to power mirrored that of Afghanistan’s Taliban in the 1990s, as was their fall. Hassan Dahir Aweys, who is wanted by the U.S. government for involvement of al Qaeda, and his allies shrewdly co-opted indigenous Islamist movements under the guise of restoring order…
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Somalia
US on the alert for terrorists trying for escape by sea from Somalia
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Somalia
Ottawa confirms Canadian connection to Somali border arrests
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Hunting the Islamic Courts on the Kenyan Border
The Somalia Battlefield on 12/29/2006. Light blue – Ethiopian & TFG advances. Green – ICU territory. Orange – recent clashes. Click image to view. Islamic Courts spokesman claims its leaders are still in country Ethiopian armored an air formations continue to pursue the remnants of the Islamic Courts army that has fled the battlefield in southern Somalia. Fighting has been reported near the Kenyan border town of Liboi, where Ethiopian MiGs and Hind helicopters are said to be attacking Islamic Courts fighters. Yesterday, Ethiopian helicopters fired rockets across the Kenyan border after misidentifying the target. No casualties were reported, and…
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Somalia
Ethiopian Troops Leave Security In Mogadishu to City’s Residents, Disarmament Order Is Roundly Ignored
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Somalia
Kenya has deported over 300 Somali refugees fleeing the conflict. Kenya transferred troops to guard the Kenyan-Somali border to prevent Islamic militants from entering the nation. The UIC vows to ‘rise from the ashes.’ UN World Food Programme begins to return to normal operations.
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Somalia
Ethiopian helicopters hit a Kenyan border post while firing on fleeing ICU forces. Two Ethiopian soldiers were killed in Jilib during an attack by an ICU fighter. The new Interior Minister calls for dissolving the Ethio-Somalia border and uniting the two country’s militaries.
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Somalia
(Somalia) From Marine to warlord: The strange journey of Hussein Farrah Aidid
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Somalia
Somalia appeals for foreign peacekeepers
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Pursuing the Islamic Courts
The Somalia Battlefield on 1/2/2007 [No changes]. Light blue – Ethiopian & TFG advances. Green – ICU territory. Orange – recent clashes. Click image to view. Islamic Courts leadership unaccounted for; foreign fighters captured fleeing to Kenya After taking the southern port city of Kismayo, the news has dried up on the pursuit of the remnants of the Islamic Courts and their leaders. The last reports indicated elements of the Islamic Courts were holing up at the island base of Ras Kamboni on the Kenyan border, and Ethiopian forces were headed south to pursue. Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, the former chairman…
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The Islamic Courts Abandons Kismayo
The Somalia Battlefield on 1/1/2007. Light blue – Ethiopian & TFG advances. Green – ICU territory. Orange – recent clashes. Click image to view. Mutinies, defections in the Islamic Courts after a brief battle north of Kismayo Ethiopian forces quickly moved south to pursue the al Qaeda backed Islamic Courts after taking Mogadishu last Friday. Just four days after ejecting the Islamic Courts from the capital, a large armored column punched over 300 miles south to the outskirts of Kismayo. The Ethiopian and Transitional Federal Government forces engaged the beleaguered Islamist militias that were hastily building a network of trenches…
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Somalia
Somali Islamists Arm Criminals and Run
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Somalia
Hunt for al Qaeda men in Mogadishu
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Countdown to Kismayo
The Somalia Battlefield on 12/29/2006. Light blue – Ethiopian & TFG advances. Green – ICU territory. Orange – recent clashes. Click image to view. The Islamic Courts are massing in the south in Kismayo and Ras Kamboni; The Ethiopians are heading southward As the Ethiopian and Transitional Federal Government continue to consolidate their gains in central Somalia and Mogadishu, they have gathered a force south of the capital to pursue the Islamic Courts. The Ethiopian armored force of about 500 vehicles, about 200 tanks, has been reported to be moving southward towards the town of Jilib. “Ethiopian and government forces…
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Somalia
Somalia’s Islamists vow to continue fight
