The Battle of Bandiradley in Somalia began on December 23, 2006, when Galmudug and Ethiopian forces, along with faction leader Abdi Qeybdid, fought Islamic Courts Union (ICU) militants defending Bandiradley. The fighting pushed the Islamists out of Bandiradley and over the border south into Adado district, Galgadud region, by December 25.[2]
The battle has roots in the long-standing Somali Civil War. The areas of Galgudud and Mudug were drawn into the conflict arising between the state of Puntland, and the areas coming under the control of the ICU. While local leaders tried to organize into the autonomous state of Galmudug, over time it was forced to side with the forces of Puntland and Ethiopia in order to repel the ICU.[citation needed]
The borders of Galgadud and Mudug regions were under dispute with Ethiopia following the August 1982 border clashes. The towns of Balanbale and Goldogob had been under Ethiopian occupation from that time up until June 1988 when all troops were to pull back 9 miles from the disputed borders, and Ethiopia granted back the towns to Somalia.[3]
On March 7–8, 1999, Ethiopia claimed it had made a cross-border incursion into Balanbale searching for members of Al-Itihaad al-Islamiya (AIAI) who had reportedly kidnapped a person and stolen medical supplies, and denied reports of looting. Allegations from that time also claim Ethiopia was the supplier of various Somali warlords, while Eritrea was arming other warlords.[4][5]
Prelude to battle
On August 14, 2006, local tribal leaders as well as wishing autonomy from the state of Galmudug, organized Ethio-Puntland Militias and put Abdi Qeybdid in charge of them. [6][citation needed]
On November 12, the ICU took the town of Bandiradley.[7][citation needed]
On November 26, thousands of ICU troops were reported deploying in Abudwaq, within 15km (9.3mi) of the Ethiopian border.[1]
On November 28, Ethiopian forces in the Galkayo, Mudug area were estimated to be about 500-strong, with over 100 vehicles including tanks. There was an exchange of gunfire and missiles. Afterwards, the ICU held a rally in Bandiradley, at which ICU chairman Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed accused the Ethiopians of firing 12 missiles at the Islamic Courts Union.[11][citation needed]
On December 1, in Galkayo, it was reported 9 clerics of the Islamic Tabliq sect had been arrested under the orders of Colonel Abdi Qeybdiid.[12][citation needed]
On December 7–8, the militia of warlord Abdi Qeybdid took part in skirmishes against forces of the ICU near the small settlement of Sadeh Higlo between Bandiradley and Galkayo.[13][citation needed] This rapidly led to an exchange of shelling between Ethiopian and ICU troops.
Hundreds of Ethiopian troops and tanks took up positions near Bandiradley with militiamen from the northeastern semi-autonomous region of Puntland. Puntland forces claimed they had been provoked by rocket and mortar fire. ICU forces stated Ethiopian troops "started firing missiles toward our positions." At least one ICU fighter was killed in the exchange.[14]
On the same day hundreds of Ethiopian troops also took up position near Dinsor, a town nearly 1000km south of Bandiradley and the ICU held a rally of over 5,000 people in Mogadishu to protest the UN decision to send a peacekeeping force to Somalia[14]
On December 16, it was reported a local Islamic court named Imamu Shahfici was set up in Abudwaq. It urged Islamists to resist the Ethiopians[15][citation needed]
Further combat was kept in abeyance until the general outbreak of hostilities on December 20.[citation needed]
Just prior to the battle, on December 22, Ethiopian troops departed Balanbale where they had been in occupation for the past three months.[citation needed] This was reportedly done at the urging of the tribal elders, who did not wish fighting to break out between the ICU and Ethiopia in their town.[17][citation needed]
On December 22, Ethiopian troops were said to be amassing in Galkayo for what might turn into a second front of the war near Puntland.[18][citation needed]
Battle
The following day, 500 Ethiopian troops and 8 tanks were reported to be heading towards Bandiradley.[19][citation needed] Islamist fighters retreated from their positions.[citation needed] They were pursued south to the area between Galinsoor and Bandiradley, where the Islamists were defeated.[20][citation needed] The ICU forces were further pursued to Adado in Galguduud, which they abandoned late on December 25, 2006.[citation needed]
Aftermath
The ICU abandoned the towns of Dhuusamareb[21] and Abudwaq without fighting. In the wake of their withdrawal from Abudwaq, militias set up checkpoints and began firing their weapons.[22]
Related Research Articles
Galkayo is the third-largest city in Somalia which serves as the capital of the north-central Mudug region. The city is divided into two administrative areas separated by a loose boundary.
The Ethiopian occupation of Somalia, also called the Ethiopian invasion of Somalia or the Ethiopian intervention in the Somali Civil War, was an armed conflict in Somalia that lasted from 2006 to 2009. It began when military forces from Ethiopia, supported by the United States, invaded Somalia to depose the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) and install the Transitional Federal Government (TFG). The conflict continued after the invasion when an anti-Ethiopian insurgency emerged and rapidly escalated. During 2007 and 2008, the insurgency recaptured the majority of territory lost by the ICU. At the start of 2009 Ethiopian troops withdrew from Somalia, but became re-involved several years later to counter the growing strength of Al-Shabaab.
The 2006 Islamic Courts Union offensive is the period in the Somali Civil War that began in May 2006 with the Islamic Courts Union's (ICU) conquest of Mogadishu from the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism (ARPCT) and continued with further ICU expansion in the country. Following the outbreak of the war on December 21, 2006; by December 24, direct Ethiopian intervention in the conflict in support of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) was no longer denied by the Ethiopian government. The Eritrean government denied any involvement despite Ethiopian claims to the contrary.
The Battle of Baidoa began on 20 December 2006 when the Somali transitional federal government forces (TFG) allied with Ethiopian forces stationed there attacked advancing Islamic Courts Union (ICU) forces along with 500 alleged Eritrean troops and mujahideen arrayed against them.
The Battle of Beledweyne occurred on December 24 to December 25, 2006, when Ethiopian troops seized that Somalian town from Islamic Courts Union fighters, according to some news agencies. Beledweyne is 100 km north of Baidoa, the seat of Transitional Federal Government of Somalia.
Galmudug, officially Galmudug State of Somalia, is a Federal Member State in central Somalia, with its capital at Dhusamareb. It is bordered to the north by the Puntland state of Somalia, to the west by the Somali Region in Ethiopia, to the east by Indian Ocean and to the south by the Hirshabelle state of Somalia.
The fall of Mogadishu occurred on December 28, 2006, when the militaries of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and Ethiopian troops entered the Somali capital unopposed. It came after a swift string of TFG and Ethiopian military victories against the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), which had its headquarters in Mogadishu before it fled south.
The transitional federal government (TFG) was the government of Somalia between 2004 and 2012. Established 2004 in Djibouti through various international conferences, it was an attempt to restore national institutions to the country after the 1991 collapse of the Siad Barre government and the ensuing Somali Civil War.
Yusuf Ahmed Hagar (Dabageed) (Somali: Yuusuf Axmed Xagar Dabageed) is a Somali politician and current Vice President of Hirshabelle State. He was governor of the Hiran region of Somalia. He supports the Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG), and was militarily supported by Ethiopia in the War in Somalia (2006–2009).
After two decades of violence and civil war and after the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia captured Mogadishu and Kismayo, the TFG attempted to disarm the militias of the country in late 2006. According to the UN/World Bank's Joint Needs Assessment (JNA) coordination secretariat, "the total estimated number of militias [militia members] to be demobilized is 53,000." In 2005, they estimated that "there are 11–15,000 militia people controlling Mogadishu ."
Yusuf Mohammed Siad Indhacade, aka "Inda'ade" was a Somali and former Minister. In 2011 he was a General in the Somali National Army. He hails from the Ayr sub-clan, part of the Habar Gidir, which is a branch of the Hawiye clan. For a short period he was Somali Minister of Defence (Somalia).
The timeline of events in the War in Somalia during 2006 is set out below.
The timeline of events in the War in Somalia during 2007 is set out below.
The Battle of Kismayo began on August 20, 2008 when Ogaden clan fighters took the battle to Ethiopian forces in Kismayo and their protectorate clan, the Marehan clan. Fighters began an offensive to conquer the Southern Somali port of Kismayo from pro-government militias. Three days of fighting reportedly killed 89 people and injured 207 more. The Ogaden clan led by Ahmed Madoobe took the town, at the expense of the Marehan clan who were up to that point kept in the city by the Ethiopian army. After the retreat of the Ethiopian army, the Marehan militia led by Barre Hiiraale were seen fleeing the city in all directions before eventually succumbing to Ras Kaambooni on August 22.
A series of battles in Hiraan, Shabeellaha Dhexe and Galgudug, between rebels of al-Shabaab and Hizbul Islam and Somali government forces and ICU militants loyal to the government, erupted during spring 2009. The fighting led to al-Shabaab capturing major government strongholds and Ethiopian forces re-entering Somalia and setting up bases in Hiraan. There was a halt in fighting during a government offensive in Mogadishu, which started on May 22.
Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a (ASWJ) is a Somalia-based paramilitary group consisting of moderate Sufis opposed to radical Salafism. The group opposes hardline capital punishment, stonings, and limb amputations advocated by extremist interpretations of Islam, as well as laws banning music and khat. The group seeks to protect religious shrines from demolition.
The Surre, is a Somali clan, a sub clan of the major Somali Dir clan, The Surre inhabit in central and southern Somalia. And also can be found in Somaliland, Ethiopia and Kenya.
Ahmed Duale Gelle was the 5th president of Galmudug State of Somalia, in office from 3 May 2017 to 2 February 2020. Before he became Galmudug’s president he was a businessman and former federal parliament member.
On 14 August 2006, Galmudug declared autonomy in central Somalia.
This is a 2016 timeline of events in the Somali Civil War (2009–present).
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
Islamic Courts Union 
Ethiopia 
Galmudug 
