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The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) was a Multinational force formed by the African Union. The operation deployed to Somalia soon after the Islamic Courts Union was deposed by troops from Ethiopia during a large scale invasion in late 2006. The missions primary objective was to maintain the regime change between the ICU and the newly installed Transitional Federal Government, implement a national security plan and train the TFG security forces. As part of its duties, AMISOM later supported the Federal Government of Somalia in its war against Al-Shabaab. AMISOM was the most deadly peacekeeping operation in the post-war era.
Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen, commonly known as al-Shabaab, is a transnational Salafi Jihadist military and political organization based in Somalia and active elsewhere in East Africa. It is actively involved in the ongoing Somali Civil War and incorporates elements of Somali nationalism into its Islamist cause. Allegiant to the militant pan-Islamist organization al-Qaeda since 2012, it has also forged ties with al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, and al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
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.
Ahmed Abdi Godane, also known as Mukhtar Abu Zubair, was a Somali militant leader who was the Emir (leader) of Al-Shabaab, an Islamist militant group based in Somalia. Godane, who received training and fought in Afghanistan, was designated by the United States as a terrorist. The exact date of Godane's rise to al-Shabaab's Emir is debated, although it seems he ascended to this position in December 2007.
The War on Terror is the campaign launched by the United States of America in response to the September 11 attacks against organizations designated with terrorism. The campaign, whose stated objective was eliminating international terrorism, began in 2001. The following is a timeline of events linked to the War on Terror.
This is a 2011 timeline of events in the Somali Civil War (2009–present).
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).
From late 2011 to 2014, Kenya experienced an upsurge in violent terrorist attacks. Kenyan government officials asserted that many of the murders and blasts were carried out by al-Shabaab in retaliation for Operation Linda Nchi, a coordinated military mission between the Somalian military and Kenyan military that began in October 2011, when troops from Kenya crossed the border into the conflict zones of southern Somalia. According to Kenyan security experts, the bulk of the attacks were increasingly carried out by radicalized Kenyan youth who were hired for the purpose. Kenya security officials also indicated that they were part of death squads, which carried out many of the killings under the orders of a government security council. By mid-2014, the cumulative attacks began affecting Kenya's tourism industry, as Western nations issued travel warnings to their citizens.
Many terrorist attacks have occurred in Kenya during the 20th and 21st centuries. In 1980, the Jewish-owned Norfolk hotel was attacked by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). In 1998, the US embassy was bombed in Nairobi, as was the Israeli-owned Paradise hotel in 2002 in Mombasa. In 2013, the Somali jihadist group al-Shabaab killed 67 people at Nairobi's Westgate Shopping Mall. There have also been many other attacks.
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.
The Somali–Kenyan conflict has been an issue within Kenya since the colonial period. Problems have ranged from skirmishes between the two communities and have led to terrorist attacks, police harassment, extortion, home invasions, physical violence, and massacres perpetrated against Somalis and Kenyans.
On 21 September 2013, four masked gunmen attacked the Westgate shopping mall, an upmarket mall in Nairobi, Kenya. There are conflicting reports about the number killed in the attack, since part of the mall collapsed due to a fire that started during the siege. The attack resulted in 71 total deaths, including 62 civilians, five Kenyan soldiers, and all four gunmen. Approximately 200 people were wounded in the massacre.
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).
On 2 April 2015, gunmen stormed the Garissa University College in Garissa, Kenya, killing 148 people, and injuring at least 79. The militant groups Al-Qaeda and Al-Shabaab, which the gunmen claimed to belong to, took responsibility for the attack. The gunmen took over 700 students hostage, freeing Muslims and killing those who identified as Christians. The siege ended the same day, when all four of the attackers were killed. Five men were later arrested in connection with the attack, and a bounty was placed for the arrest of a suspected organizer.
This article contains a timeline of events for the Somalimilitant group al-Shabaab.
The Battle of El Adde took place on 15 January 2016. Al-Shabaab militants launched an attack on a Kenyan-run AMISOM army base in the town of El Adde, Gedo, Somalia. It remains the deadliest attack on the African Union Mission to Somalia and is the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) largest defeat since independence in 1963. As such, the Kenyan government went to extreme lengths to conceal the extent of its losses. It has been described by the media as a "military massacre" or military disaster. It was also the largest military defeat in Kenyan history.
This is a 2016 timeline of events in the Somali Civil War (2009–present).
References
- ↑ "Kenyan police clash with al-Shabab in Garissa County". BBC News. 26 May 2015. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
- ↑ "Al-Shabab storms Kenyan village near Garissa". Al Jazeera . Retrieved 25 June 2016.
- ↑ "Kenya: Garissa Policemen Survive Al-Shabaab Ambush in Yumbis". International Business Times . Retrieved 25 June 2016.
- 1 2 Kenya agrees to join AMISOM
- ↑ "Al-Shabaab to retaliate in Kenya with "huge blasts"". Archived from the original on 2013-02-22. Retrieved 2022-07-13.
- ↑ Kenya: A new breed of terrorist is born [ dead link ]
- ↑ "Funding jihad: Al-Shabab cash lures in young Kenyans". BBC. 11 December 2014. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
- ↑ "Special Report: In Africa, a militant group's growing appeal". Reuters. 30 May 2012.
- ↑ Macharia, James (1 June 2014). "Bombings threaten Kenya growth goals, open new strains with wary West". Reuters. Archived from the original on February 3, 2016. Retrieved 1 June 2014.