Yearbook 2006
Somalia. After years of fighting each other and laying
large parts of Mogadishu in ruins, the capital's warlords
joined together at the beginning of the year against the
militia formed by the city's Islamic courts. Unofficially,
US sources confirmed that the United States supported the
warlords with money and intelligence, as the Islamist
militia is suspected to be linked to the al-Qaeda terror
network. During periodic fierce fighting, which required at
least 350 casualties, the Islamists gradually took control
of Mogadishu and in June expelled the last warlords. For the
first time in fifteen years, a relative measure of peace and
security entered the city, and the international airport
could be reopened after eleven years of closure. Less
popular was that the entertainment facilities were closed,
that the popular drug khat was banned and that compliance
with Islam's rules began to be controlled. Failure to pray
five times a day would be punished with death. However, the
city was not safe.
According to
CountryAAH, Swedish journalist Martin Adler was shot dead on June 23
when he came to report on the takeover of Islamists.
The court militia, which took the name of the Supreme
Court of Islamic Courts (SICC), extended its influence over
large parts of southern and central Somalia during the
summer and autumn. Warlords and elder councils in some
cities volunteered to join the SICC, other places were
entered after fighting.
The internationally recognized interim government and
parliament set up in the city of Baidoa northwest of
Mogadishu but soon controlled only the city and its
immediate surroundings. Repeated international attempts to
mediate between the SICC and the interim government failed.
Parliament appealed for an international peacekeeping force
and in September the African Union (AU) decided in principle
to send 8,000 men to Somalia to support the interim
government. In December, the UN Security Council approved
the AU force. The SICC frantically opposed any foreign
intervention and, in particular, accused Ethiopia of
meddling. Ethiopia has long denied sending troops to
Somalia, but by the end of December thousands were deployed
to the interim government. Ethiopian bombing, armor and
artillery quickly drove the SICC back. Many Islamist
soldiers fell, local militia that had just joined the
Islamists returned to the government side and the hard core
of the SICC was retreating south. Just before the New Year,
Ethiopians captured Mogadishu and late in the New Year's
Eve, the SICC's last stronghold, the city of Kismaayo, fell
to the south. Although the interim government was now able
to install itself in the capital for the first time, its
opportunities to take control of the country seemed small
without continued Ethiopian support.
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