Fall of Kismayo | |||||||
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Part of the War in Somalia (2006–2009) | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Transitional Federal Government (TFG) Ethiopia | Islamic Courts Union Pro-Islamist Militias Foreign Mujahideen | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
TFG: Barre Adan Shire Hiiraale | Sharif Sheik Ahmed Yusuf Hassan |
The fall of Kismayo occurred on January 1, 2007, when the troops of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and Ethiopian forces entered the Somali city of Kismayo unopposed. It came after the Islamic Courts Union's forces faltered and fled in the Battle of Jilib, abandoning their final stronghold.
The city of Kismayo had been the capital of the autonomous state of Jubaland under the administration of the Juba Valley Alliance (JVA) since the late 1990s. The JVA suffered the loss of Kismayo in September 2006 to an array of ICU forces with 130 technicals. [1] [2]
In December 2006, after the Fall of Mogadishu, much of the Islamists began a retreat towards Kismayo. According to the New York Times, when the Battle of Jilib began on December 31, 2006, clan elders within Kismayo demanded the ICU leave the city. Mohammed Arab, a clan leader said "We told them that they were going to lose, and that our city would get destroyed." [3] After the ICU refused, sporadic gun battles broke out between the local clans and the ICU.
The Battle of Jilib saw the ICU frontlines collapse during the night to artillery fire, causing the ICU hardliners, known as Al-Shabaab (literally "The Youths" or "Young Men" [4] [5] ), to once again go into retreat, this time towards the Kenyan border. TFG and Ethiopian forces entered the town on January 1, 2007. [6]
With the Kenyan border blocked, the ICU remnants were described as holding up in Badhadhe district, either in the hills of the Buur Gaabo area, or in the village of Ras Kamboni along the coast near the border. [7]
In August 2008, Al Shabaab retook the city during the Battle of Kismayo (2008).
In September 2012, the Somali National Army assisted by AMISOM troops and Raskamboni militia re-captured Kismayo from the insurgents in the Battle of Kismayo (2012). [8] [9]
Kismayo is a port city in the southern Lower Juba province of Somalia. It is the commercial capital of the autonomous Jubaland region.
Barre Adan Shire, also known as Barre Hiiraale, Barre "Hirale" Aden Shire, or Abdikadir Adan Shire, Somali politician Former president of Jubaland state of Somalia, he is former Minister of Defense of the Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG). He was previously the TFG Minister for National Reconstruction and Resettlement. Hiiraale was also the chairman of the now defunct Juba Valley Alliance, which controlled Southern and Southwestern Somalia, including the nation's third-largest city, the strategic port town of Kismayo. During his time in office, Hiiraale presided over the country's largest autonomous area, as well as commanding an extensive militia.
The Ethiopian invasion of Somalia, also known as the Ethiopian occupation of Somalia or the Ethiopian intervention in the Somali Civil War, was an armed conflict that lasted from late 2006 to early 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.
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 fall of Mogadishu occurred on 28 December 2006, when the Ethiopian National Defence Forces (ENDF) advanced into the capital to install the Transitional Federal Government (TFG). The Islamic Courts Union (ICU), which had controlled the capital since June 2006, withdrew from the city after a week of fighting ENDF/TFG forces in southern and central Somalia.
The Juba Valley Alliance is a political faction of the Somali Civil War. It was the primary opponent of the Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM) and the Somali Reconciliation and Restoration Council (SRRC) vying for the control of Kismayo and the Juba River valley, the area known as Jubaland.
The Battle of Jilib took place on the last day of 2006 during the Ethiopian invasion of Somalia. It was fought when Ethiopian National Defence Force (ENDF) troops and Transitional Federal Government (TFG) militia launched an offensive on the town of Jilib, held by the Islamic Courts Union (ICU).
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 ."
Abdullahi Sheikh Ismail is a Somali politician and current Minister of internal Security of Somalia and a Member of Somali senate. He also served as vice president of Jubaland state of Somalia and former commander in the army of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of the Republic of Somalia.
The Battle of Ras Kamboni took place during the Ethiopian invasion of Somalia at the start of 2007. It began Ethiopian National Defence Force (ENDF) and Transitional Federal Government (TFG) militia backed by United States military air power launched an offensive on Ras Kamboni, a town near the Kenyan border which was the last major urban stronghold of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) as it with withdrew deep into the south.
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 islamist fighters took the battle to the militias loyal to warlord Barre Hiiraale in Kismayo. Fighters began an offensive to conquer the Southern Somali port of Kismayo from the pro-government militias. Three days of fighting reportedly killed 89 people and injured 207 more. The Islamists led by Ahmed Madoobe and Hassan Turki have successfully captured the city after intense fighting. On August 22, the pro government militias led by Barre Hiiraale have eventually left the city.
The Somali Civil War (2009–present) is the ongoing phase of the Somali Civil War which is concentrated in southern and central Somalia. It began in late January 2009 with the present conflict mainly between the forces of the Federal Government of Somalia assisted by African Union peacekeeping troops and al-Shabaab militants who pledged alliegence to al-Qaeda during 2012.
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.
Operation Linda Nchi was the Kenya Defence Forces' invasion of southern Somalia beginning in 2011. The Kenyan government declared the operation completed in March 2012, but its forces then joined AMISOM in Somalia.
This is a 2012 timeline of events in the Somali Civil War (2009–present).
The Battle of Kismayo was an offensive led by the Kenya Defence Forces, under the codename Operation Sledge Hammer, to seize the port city of Kismayo, Somalia, from Al-Shabaab from 28 September 2012. Members of the Raskamboni movement militia were part of the amphibious force.