The Somali Armed Forces are the military forces of the Federal Republic of Somalia. Headed by the president as commander-in-chief, they are constitutionally mandated to ensure the nation's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity.
Abdiqasim Salad Hassan, also known as Abdiqasim Salad, is a Somali politician who served as the President of Somalia from 2000 to 2004. He helped found the Transitional National Government and previously served as Interior Minister and Finance Minister in the government of Siad Barre.
Meles Zenawi Asres (Tigringa and Amharic: መለስ ዜናዊ ኣስረስ; pronounced[mɛllɛszenawiasrɛs], born Legesse Zenawi Asres was an Ethiopian soldier and politician who served as President of Ethiopia from 1991 to 1995 and then Prime Minister of Ethiopia from 1995 until his death in 2012.
Ali Mohammed Gedi, popularly known as Ali Gedi, was the Prime Minister of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia from 2004 to 2007. He was relatively unknown in political circles upon his appointment as prime minister in November 2004. He is affiliated with the Abgaal subclan of Mogadishu's Hawiye clan, one of Somalia's four most powerful clan 'families'. He narrowly survived a suicide attack on his home that left at least seven people dead on June 3, 2007.
The Somali Civil War is an ongoing civil war that is taking place in Somalia. It grew out of resistance to the military junta which was led by Siad Barre during the 1980s. From 1988 to 1990, the Somali Armed Forces began engaging in combat against various armed rebel groups, including the Somali Salvation Democratic Front in the northeast, the Somali National Movement in the northwest, and the United Somali Congress in the south. The clan-based armed opposition groups overthrew the Barre government in 1991.
The Islamic Courts Union was a legal and political organization founded by Mogadishu-based Sharia courts during the early 2000s to combat the lawlessness stemming from the Somali Civil War. By mid-to-late 2006, the Islamic Courts had expanded their influence to become the de facto government of most of southern Somalia.
The Transitional Federal Government (TFG) was internationally recognized as a provisional government of the Republic of Somalia from 14 October 2004 until 20 August 2012, when its tenure officially ended and the Federal Government of Somalia was inaugurated.
The Transitional National Government (TNG) was the internationally recognized central government of Somalia from 2000 to 2004.
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 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. 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.
Mohamed Qanyare Afrah (Somali: Maxamed Qanyare Afrax, Arabic: محمد افراح قنياري} was a Somali faction leader and politician who was based south of Mogadishu in the Daynile District. He came in third position in Somalia's first election as a federal country on 10 October 2004 and was subsequently appointed minister of public security in the government of Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Ghedi, He served as minister of security in 2006 but was dismissed after ignoring calls by the Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Ghedi to stop fighting forces of the Islamist Courts. He continued to participate actively in Somali political affairs being reelected to the first post transitional federal parliament of Somalia as a member of parliament, he resigned from his seat representing his clan in the summer of 2013, his seat in the Federal Parliament of Somalia was taken over by his son Cabdiweli Mohamed Qanyare.
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.
Colonel Hasan Muhammad Nur Shatigadud (1946-2013) was a Somali politician and faction leader. He served as the chairman of the Rahanweyn Resistance Army (RRA), and subsequently as the first President of the short-lived Southwestern Somalia autonomous regional state. Shatigadud was later a Member of the Transitional Federal Parliament, and was eventually appointed Minister of Finance in the Transitional Federal Government. Shatigadud was succeeded as president by Madobe Nunow.
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 premiership of Meles Zenawi began in August 1995 following the 1995 Ethiopian general election and ended upon his death on 20 August 2012. Whilst serving as Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Meles Zenawi concurrently served as the Leader of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF).
Fahad Yasin Haji Dahir,, commonly known only as Fahad Yasin, is a Somali civil servant and politician, as well as a former journalist. He was also the campaign manager for Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed "Farmaajo" in the 2017 elections. After the elections, he was appointed Chief of Staff for Villa Somalia and then Director General of the National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA). Farmaajo subsequently appointed him as his national security advisor.
Baledogle Airfield, also called Wanlaweyn Airstrip, is the largest military air base in Somalia, about 90 kilometers northwest of the capital, Mogadishu. The airfield was constructed in the 1970s for the Somali Air Force with assistance of the Soviet Union. It was later expanded on and modernized by the United States during the 2010s.
The following events detail foreign affairs dominated by Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi from his presidency until his death in 2012.
