January 2021 Somalia bombings | |
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Part of Somali Civil War (2009-present) | |
Location | Bal'ad, Dinsoor, and near Mogadishu, Somalia |
Date | January 27, 2021 |
Target | Somali National Army soldiers, civilians |
Deaths | 18
|
Injured | 7
|
Perpetrator | al-Shabaab |
On January 27, 2021, al-Shabaab launched multiple attacks on civilian and military sites across Somalia, killing sixteen people and injuring several more. The deadliest attack was an ambush by al-Shabaab on a Somali and AMISOM convoy in Bal'ad, which killed 14 people.
Al-Shabaab, a jihadist group that has waged an insurgency in Somalia since 2009, began an offensive against Somali National Army forces in Middle Shabelle on January 23. The fighting began with al-Shabaab's capture of the village of Rage-Ceele. Al-Shabaab then began deploying fighters around Somali-controlled cities including Jowhar and Bal'ad. [1]
The attacks on January 27 were all coordinated by al-Shabaab. [2] The first attack began in Dinsoor, Bay region, at a restaurant while security forces and civilians were dining in the morning. [3] One soldier was killed in the attack and at least five others were wounded. [2] A roadside bomb also injured two construction workers near Mogadishu. [2] Near Bal'ad, a joint Somali and Burundian AMISOM convoy was bombed by al-Shabaab militants, killing an unknown number of people. [2] The bombing sparked clashes between the Somali-Burundian forces and al-Shabaab. [2] Somali reinforcements from Jowhar were also ambushed along the way to the bombing site. [2] Fifteen people were killed in the bombing at Bal'ad, including twelve Somali soldiers, two civilians, and one Burundian peacekeeper. [2] An unknown number of soldiers and peacekeepers were wounded and transported to a hospital in Jowhar. [2]
The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) was a Multinational force operated by the African Union with the approval of the United Nations Security Council. It was mandated to support transitional governmental structures, implement a national security plan, train the Somali security forces, and to assist in creating a secure environment for the delivery of humanitarian aid. As part of its duties, AMISOM supported the Federal Government of Somalia's forces in their battle against Al-Shabaab militants.
The 2009 timeline of events in the Somalia War (2006–2009) during January 2009 is set out below. From the beginning of February the timeline of events in the Somali Civil War (2009–present) is set out following the conclusion of the previous phase of the civil war.
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.
Two large-scale attacks against AMISOM soldiers carried out by al-Shabaab suicide bombers in Mogadishu, Somalia occurred in 2009. In total 32 people, including 28 AMISOM soldiers, were killed and 55 people were injured.
The Battle of Mogadishu (2009) started in May with an Islamist offensive, when rebels from al-Shabaab and Hizbul Islam attacked and captured government bases in the capital of Mogadishu. The fighting soon spread, causing hundreds of casualties, and continued on at various levels of intensity until October. The battle's name usually includes the year, when referenced, in order to distinguish it amongst the nine major Battles of Mogadishu during the decades long Somali Civil War.
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.
The Battle of Mogadishu (2010–11) began on 23 August 2010 when al-Shabaab insurgents began attacking government and African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) positions in the Somali capital of Mogadishu. Al-Shabaab began its offensive after its spokesman said the group was declaring a "massive war" on troops sent by AMISOM, describing its 6,000 peacekeepers as "invaders". In December 2010 the number of AMISOM troops was increased to 8,000 and later to 9,000. The battle's name usually includes the years, when referenced, in order to distinguish it amongst the nine major Battles of Mogadishu during the decades long Somali Civil War.
This is a 2011 timeline of events in the Somali Civil War (2009–present).
The Battle of Gedo is a conflict of the 2009–present phase of the Somali Civil War. Centered in the region of Gedo, it pits the Somali government and its allies against the al-Qaeda-aligned militant group Al-Shabaab.
This is a 2012 timeline of events in the Somali Civil War (2009–present).
This is a 2014 timeline of events in the Somali Civil War (2009–present).
Operation Indian Ocean was a joint military operation between the Somali military, AMISOM and the United States military against the Al-Shabaab militant group aimed at eliminating the remaining insurgent-held areas in southern Somalia. It officially began in August 2014.
This is a 2015 timeline of events in the Somali Civil War (2009–present).
Lego, is a town located in Bay, Somalia. It is situated 100 kilometres northwest of the capital Mogadishu and approximately 20 km west of Yaqbiriweyne and 54 km east of Burhakaba.
This article contains a timeline of events for the Somali jihadist group al-Shabaab.
The Golweyn ambush by al-Shabaab militants against an AMISOM convoy took place on 30 July 2017. Resulting in the death of several Ugandan soldiers, the attack seriously disrupted the control of pro-government forces over the Lower Shebelle region in Somalia, eventually leading to the fall of the strategically significant town of Leego to al-Shabaab.
This is a 2016 timeline of events in the Somali Civil War (2009–present).
This is a 2018 timeline of events in the Somali Civil War (2009–present).
On 1 April 2018, Al-Shabaab fighters attacked an AMISOM base in Bulo Marer in the Lower Shebelle region of Somalia.
On August 10, 2021, a patrol of Ugandan soldiers that formed part of the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) were ambushed and attacked in a farmland about 2½ kilometers from Golweyn by Al-Shabaab Islamic militants while on a routine patrol to secure the main supply route along the Beldamin-Golweyn Forward Operating Base in the Lower Shabelle.
This attack was followed by an exchange of gunfire between AMISOM forces and Al-Shabaab militants, that lasted several hours. "During the counterattack, 7 terrorists were killed while others sustained injuries and an assortment of weapons was recovered," AMISOM said in a tweet. Also one Ugandan soldier died. But afterwards, reports were received that the 7 deceased were not members of Al-Shabaab but civilians and that they had been killed by AMISOM forces, upon which the tweet was deleted. Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur, the Governor of Lower Shabelle confirmed after talking to local residents, that five farmers and two others whose vehicle broke down on the side of the road, were killed by the AMISOM soldiers after the ambush by al-Shabaab. District Commissioner Nur Osman Rage, detailed that after their encounter with Al-Shabaab, AMISOM forces "diverted to a nearby farm, picked an elderly farmer and four of his workers, blindfolded them and paraded them on the tarmac road. They then stopped two trucks on transit in the area, picked the two drivers, blindfolded them and together with the other five, took them to a point where an IED was planted, forced the civilians to sit on the device and detonated it on the seven victims who were blindfolded, instantly killing them.” The incident was allegedly witnessed firsthand by Somali security officers, local elders and many others in the area.