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Somalia
African Union ready for Somalia mission, struggles in Darfur
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The Impending Baidoa Showdown
The Islamic Courts and the transitional government are due to clash in central Somalia Islamic Courts controlled cities and towns marked in red. Click map to view. The showdown in the central Somali town of Baidoa, where the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) has established its capital since the rise of the Islamic Courts, appears to be coming to a head. The Islamic Courts Union (ICU) have moved into the town of Buurhakaba after the TFG and Ethiopian forces occupying the town inexplicably retreated without a fight. Hassan Turki has openly declraed the intentions of the Islamic Courts and “announced his…
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Somalia
Ethiopia says “technically” at war with Somali Islamists
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Somalia
Somalia: Why Islamic Courts can’t win war against government
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Somalia
Ethiopia: Profile of Somalia’s Islamist Courts
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Somalia
Ethiopia to fight if Somali Islamists attack govt
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Somalia
Defence lines dug as Somalia stand-off worsens
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Somalia
ICU leader Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys is encouraging Ethiopians to revolt. Unnamed ICU members are saying an attack on Baidoa is imminent. Over 6,000 Ethiopian troops are supporting the TFG and 2,000 Eritrian troops are supporting the ICU. The ICU may begin executing Ethiopian “spies,” ala the Taiban.
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Somalia
Somalia™s Islamist leader urges Ethiopians to revolt
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Somalia
Five killed as violence rocks Somalia
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Somalia
Somalia: Islamists block key road between Mogadishu and Baidoa
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Somalia
Somalia: JVA militia commander may have been killed by Islamists
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Somalia
TFG troops take control of Burhakaba after clashing with the ICU, and possibly Ethiopian troops. In Jawil on the Ethiopian border, the ICU has set up shop. Women have been banned from swimming at the main beach in Mogadishu.
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Somalia
Somalia: Islamic Court Bans Women From Mogadishu Beach
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A New Terrorist Haven
In the October 30th issue of The Weekly Standard, Daveed Gartenstein-Ross of the Counterterrorsim Blog and I have an article on the rise of the Islamic Courts Union in Somalia. The article is reprinted in full below. A New Terrorist Haven The frightening advance of Islamists in Somalia. by Daveed Gartenstein-Ross & Bill Roggio 10/30/2006, Volume 012, Issue 07 Islamic Court Militia cheers during the handing over of weapons by the rivall militia in Mogadishu, Thursday, July 13, 2006. (AP Photo / Mohamed Sheikh Nor.) Click image to view. WHEN FIGHTERS from the radical Islamic Courts Union (ICU) seized Mogadishu,…
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Somalia
Ethiopia Publicly Acknowledges having A Military Presence In Somalia
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Somalia
Diplomats meet in Kenya to push Somali peace talks
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Somalia
Somalia: Sheik Aweys denies he sent 30 Islamists to Somaliland
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Somalia
Canadian Somalis may be joining militias
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Somalia
Rumors abound over a possible coup against the transitional government. Clashes between Col. Hirale’s militia and the Islamic Courts are expected in Bu’ale. Talks between the ICU and former Somali military officers over fighting Ethiopia are ongoing. Islamic Courts supporter in Somaliland burned copies of a newpaper critical of the group.
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Somalia
The Islamic Courts have opened 4 “centers for jihad registration” in the Hiran region. The ICU shut down the “Mogadishu-based Bariga Afrika radio station… because the station ‘divides the community.’” Two carloads of the popular stimulant khat were burned near Kismayo.
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Somalia’s Islamic Courts Defends Kismayo
Islamic Courts repulse an attack on Kismayo, continues to consolidate gains Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and Sheik Yusuf Indohaadde during a news briefing, Saturday, June 17, 2006. AP photograph, click to view. Colonel Bare Hirale, the defense minister in the transitional government and leader of the Juba Valley Alliance, has made good on his pledge to attempt to retake the key port city of Kismayo after abandoning the city almost a month ago. The Islamic Courts militia and Hirale’s forces clashed in Bu’aale on Friday, then outside of Kismayo on Saturday. “The fighting on the town’s outskirts lasted for two…
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Somalia
The U.S. and Ethiopia are planning to interdict terrorists seeking a safe haven in Somalia. The Islamic Courts claim they haven’t threatened Ethiopia. The ICU is also “infuriated” by the UN withdrawal of foreign staff from southern and central Somalia.
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Somalia
Somali refugees in Kenya could reach 80,000
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Somalia
UN temporarily pulls international staff out of Somalia after threats
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Somalia
Local clerics in semi autonomous Somaliland demand Sharia law. Reporters sans Frontières states the Islamic Courts have imposed a “draconian charter” on the press in Mogadishu. Kenya has reinforced the border. The prime minister of Ethiopia has vowed to defend the country from the ICU.
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Somalia
Somalia: Hopes for the Somali Passport to Function in Emirates After Long Period of Ban
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Somalia
Somalia: Aid Agencies Ordered to Vacate Their Food Stockrooms in Mogadishu
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The Advance of Somalia’s Islamic Courts
Islamic Courts, Ethiopian troops dance in south central Somalia Somalia. Cities in red indicate ICU controlled territory. Click map to view. As the Islamic Courts Union presses forward with consolidating power in southern and central Somalia, the chance of a battle between the army of the Islamic Courts and Ethiopian troops currently in country has escalated. Forces from the transitional government, accompanied by Ethiopian army units are said to have occupied the town of Burhakaba, which is situated on the road to Mogadishu. The Islamic Courts Union troops retreated from Burkakaba without a shot. An Islamic Courts force retook the…
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Somalia
Anti-Islamic demonstrations continue for the second day in Kismayo, as Colonel Bare Hirale vows to retake the port city. Clashes are imminent in the city the Islamist Court militia took without casualties two weeks ago. The Islamic Court’s laws and arrests, reminiscent of the Taliban’s legal system, are raising international concern.
