Timeline Somalia
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Ever wonder where all guns in Mogadishu come from?
Well, not from my gun safe.
If you want to make sure they do not come from your collection then
you might consider keeping your firearms in a gun safe.
1527
Muslim Somali Chief, Ahmed Gran, uses firearms
against the Ethiopians for the first time.
(TL-MB, p.13)
c1800 Many Bantu people from
Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania were taken from their homes and sold
as slaves in Somalia.
(NW, 9/2/02, p.35)
1934 Dec 5, Italian and
Ethiopian troops clashed at the Ualual on disputed Somali-Ethiopian
border.
(HN, 12/5/98)
1935 Feb 18, Rome reported
sending troops to Italian Somalia.
(HN, 2/18/98)
1940 Dec 16, British carried
out an air raid on Italian Somalia.
(HN, 12/16/98)
1941 Feb 26, British took the
Somali capital in East Africa.
(HN, 2/26/98)
1960 Jun 26, British Somaliland
became independent and five days later was united with Italian
Somaliland as the Somali Republic.
(SFC, 4/10/96, A-5)
1960 Jul 1, French and Italian
Somaliland gained independence and united with the Somali Republic.
(PC, 1992, p.973)(Econ, 7/4/09, p.44)
1961 Somalia adopted its first
constitution. A new one was adopted in 1979.
(www.pogar.org/countries/country.asp?cid=17)
1969 Oct 21, In Somalia Marxist
dictator Maj. Gen. Mohamed Siad Barre (1919-1995) staged a coup and
threw PM Mohamed Ibrahim Egal in jail, where he spent 12 years.
(SFC, 8/16/96, p.A18)(SFEC, 8/31/97, Par
p.16)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siad_Barre)
1972 The Somali language first
became a written language.
(SFEC, 10/10/99, Z1 p.6)
1977 Feb 24, Pres. Carter
announced the US was cutting off all military aid to Ethiopia
because of its human rights violations. The unstated reason was the
US desire to cooperate with Saudi Arabia to lure Somalia from the
Soviet camp, an effort which was ultimately successful.
(www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Politics/africa.html)
1977 Oct 18, West German
commandos stormed a hijacked Lufthansa jetliner that was on the
ground in Mogadishu, Somalia, freeing all 86 hostages and killing
three of the four hijackers, Palestinians of the Popular Front for
the Liberation of Palestine. In 1996 Suhaila al-Sayeh was sentenced
to 12 years in prison by a German court.
(SFC, 11/20/96, p.A17)(AP, 10/17/07)
1977 Somalia and Ethiopia
engaged in battle. The Soviet Union provided tanks to both sides.
Somalia tried and failed to push into the Ogaden area of Ethiopia.
The Somalis managed to reach the walled city of Harer, a center for
Islam in Ethiopia. An Ethiopian counter-offensive backed by Cuban
troops wrecked Somalia’s army and led to the 1991 of the Somali
regime.
(Econ, 8/12/06, p.19)(Econ, 10/14/06, p.49)(Econ,
1/7/12, p.42)
1977 The last case of smallpox,
spread by variola virus, was reported in Somalia.
(WSJ, 10/19/01, p.A9)
1978 Feb 7, Ethiopia mounted a
counter attack against Somalia.
(HN,
2/7/99)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogaden_War)
1979 Aug 25, Somalia
adopted a 2nd constitution. The first was adopted in 1961 following
independence.
(www.pogar.org/countries/country.asp?cid=17)
1981 Apr, A group of Isaaq
emigres living in London formed the Somali National Movement (SNM),
which subsequently became the strongest of Somalia's various
insurgent movements. According to its spokesmen, the rebels wanted
to overthrow Siad Barre's dictatorship.
(www.onwar.com/aced/data/sierra/somalia1982b.htm)
1981 Oct, The Somali National
Movement (SNM) rebels elected Ahmad Mahammad Culaid and Ahmad
Ismaaiil Abdi as chairman and secretary general, respectively, of
the movement.
(www.onwar.com/aced/data/sierra/somalia1982b.htm)
1981 Oct, The Somali Salvation
Front (SSF) merged with the radical-left Somali Workers Party (SWP)
and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Somalia (DFLS) to
form the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF).
(http://tinyurl.com/3d4gg2)
1981 Northern Somalia rebelled
against dictator Mohammed Siad Barre. A national civil war followed.
During the civil was an estimated 40,000 people were killed and
about 400,000 refugees fled to Ethiopia.
(SFC, 4/10/96, A-5)
1981 China emerged as a major
arms supplier to the Siad Barre regime in Somalia.
(http://tinyurl.com/3d4gg2)
1982 Jan 2, The Somali National
Movement (SNM) launched its first military operation against the
Somali government. Operating from Ethiopian bases.
(www.onwar.com/aced/data/sierra/somalia1982b.htm)
1983 Feb, Siad Barre visited
northern Somalia in a campaign to discredit the SNM. Among other
things, he ordered the release of numerous civil servants and
businessmen who had been arrested for antigovernment activities,
lifted the state of emergency, and announced an amnesty for Somali
exiles who wanted to return home.
(http://tinyurl.com/3d4gg2)
1984 Feb, During a truth
commission in Kenya in 2011 human rights groups and residents said
up to 3,000 people died in February 1984 in a government-sanctioned
operation meant to crack down on ethnic Somalis who were holding
illegal weapons. The killings occurred at Wagalla airstrip, a town
some 310 miles (500 km) northeast of Nairobi.
(AP, 4/12/11)
1991 Jan 27, Muhammad Siad
Barre, the dictator of the Somali Democratic Republic since 1969,
fled Mogadishu as rebels overran his palace and captured the Somali
capital. Dictator Siad Barre was ousted and power fractured into
some 27 warring sides and Ali Mahdi Mohamed declared himself
president.
(SFC,11/18/97,
p.B2)(www.empereur.com/somalia1991.html)
1991 The northeast corner of
the country declared itself the independent Republic of Somaliland.
(SFC, 4/10/96, A-5)(SFEC,11/23/97, p.A25)
1991 Thousands of Bantus fled
Somalia for Kenya. In 1999 the US designated this group of people as
persecuted and eligible for resettlement in the US.
(NW, 9/2/02, p.35)
1991-1992 Some 350,000 Somalis died from disease,
starvation and civil war.
(SFEC,11/23/97, p.A25)
1992 Aug 14, Pres. Bush ordered
the Pentagon to begin emergency airlifts of food to Somalia which
was suffering from severe famine and factional warfare.
(AP, 8/14/97)(HNQ, 1/1/00)
1992 Aug 28, US cargo planes
landed in Somalia with tons of food for African famine victims.
(AP, 8/28/97)
1992 Oct 9, To protect the US
food airlift, the first American forces arrived.
(HNQ, 1/1/00)
1992 Nov 26, An aid agency
predicted disaster if the United States sends a large military force
to Somalia.
(AP, 11/26/02)
1992 Dec 3, The U.N. Security
Council unanimously approved a U.S.-led military mission to help
starving Somalia.
(AP, 12/3/97)
1992 Dec 4, President Bush
ordered American troops to lead a mercy mission to Somalia,
threatening military action against warlords and gangs who were
blocking food for starving millions.
(AP, 12/4/97)
1992 Dec 8, Americans got to
see live television coverage of U.S. troops landing on the beaches
of Somalia as Operation Restore Hope began (because of the time
difference, it was early December ninth in Somalia).
(AP, 12/8/97)
1992 Dec 9, U.S. Marines landed
in Somalia to ensure that food and medicine reach the deprived areas
of that country. The US Operations Restore Hope, Continue Hope and
others began in Somalia and ended Mar 3, 1995. They cost $1.7
billion and left 43 US casualties with 153 wounded.
(WSJ, 9/22/99, p.A8)(HN, 12/999)
1992 Dec 20, U.S. Marines and
Belgian paratroopers in Somalia took control of Kismayu's port and
airport; the first truck convoy in more than a month reached the
starving inland town of Baidoa.
(AP, 12/20/97)
1992 Dec 23, An American
mission to save lives in Somalia lost the first of its own when a
U.S. vehicle hit a land mine near Bardera, killing civilian Army
employee Lawrence N. Freedman of Fayetteville, N.C. In all over 100
peacekeepers died in Somalia including 42 Americans.
(AP, 12/23/97)
1992 Dec 25, U.S. Marines
delivered wheat to a refugee camp in Bardera, Somalia, setting off a
small riot among the Somalis; American and French troops also took
control of Hoddur.
(AP, 12/25/97)
1992 Dec 28, Somalia's two main
warlords, Mohamed Farrah Aidid and Ali Mahdi Mohamed, promised an
end to their hostilities.
(AP, 12/28/97)
1992 Dec 31, President Bush
visited Somalia, where he saw firsthand the famine racking the east
African nation. He praised U.S. troops that provided relief to the
starving population.
(AP, 12/31/97)
1992 Dec, Italy sent 2,500
combat troops to Somalia as part of the US-sponsored multinational
force.
(SFC, 1/26/98, p.A8)
1992 At least 350,000 people
died in the famine that was compounded by clan warfare.
(SFC, 12/26/96, p.B10)
1992 A UN arms embargo was
imposed in Somalia.
(AP, 8/1/06)
1992-1994 Italian Warrant Officer Francesco Aloi
kept a diary while in Somalia and documented instances of rape,
torture and other brutality against the Somalis.
(SFC, 1/26/98, p.A10)
1993 Jan 1, President Bush
continued to tour Somalia, greeting hundreds of cheering youngsters
and foreign relief workers at an orphanage in Baidoa.
(AP, 1/1/98)
1993 Jan 3, Three days after he
was jeered in Sarajevo, U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali
took refuge from angry Somalis in Mogadishu.
(AP, 1/3/98)
1993 Jan 7, US forces in
Somalia unleashed tank, helicopter and rocket fire on two clan camps
in Mogadishu where snipers had been taking potshots at the troops.
Cpl. James Perciavalle of Leetsdale, Pa., became the 1st US Marine
wounded by friendly fire in Somalia.
(AP, 1/7/98)(Sewickley Herald (Pa), 3/3/93, p.11)
1993 Jan 13, Marine Pvt. 1st
Class Domingo Arroyo became the first U.S. serviceman to be killed
in Somalia.
(AP, 1/13/98)
1993 Jan 25, Lance Cpl. Anthony
D. Botello (21) of Wilburton, Oklahoma, was killed by a sniper in
Mogadishu, Somalia.
(LCNT, 2/4/93)
1993 Mar 16, Canadian soldiers
in Somalia beat to death a local teenager, Shidane Arone, during
their participation in the UN humanitarian efforts. An inquiry led
to the disbanding of Canada's elite Canadian Airborne Regiment,
greatly damaged the morale of the Canadian Forces, and damaged both
the domestic and international reputation of Canadian soldiers.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia_Affair)(www.dnd.ca/somalia/vol0/vol0e.txt)
1993 Jun 5, Militiamen loyal to
Mohamed Farrah Aidid killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.
(AP, 6/5/98)
1993 Jun 11, United Nations
forces launched a nighttime attack against the forces of Somali
warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid.
(AP, 6/11/98)
1993 Jun 17, U.N. forces in
Somalia searched in vain for warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid.
(AP, 6/17/98)
1993 Jul 12, In Somalia a mob
avenging a deadly United Nations attack on the compound of Mohamed
Farrah Aidid killed Dan Eldon (22), a US photo-journalist working
for Reuters, and three colleagues. They were stoned and beaten to
death at the scene of a bombing by UN forces of a house believed to
be the headquarters of Gen’l. Aidid.
(SFEM,11/16/97, p.30)(AP, 7/12/98)
1993 Aug 8, Four U.S. soldiers
were killed when a land mine was detonated underneath their vehicle.
This prompted President Clinton to order Army Rangers to try to
capture Somali warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid.
(AP, 8/8/98)
1993 Sep 5, Seven Nigerian
soldiers were killed in a militia ambush in Somalia as they went to
the aid of other UN peacekeepers surrounded by a stone-throwing mob.
(AP, 9/5/98)
1993 Sep 9, About a hundred
Somali gunmen and civilians were killed when U.S. and Pakistani
peacekeepers fired on Somalis attacking other peacekeepers.
(AP, 9/9/98)
1993 Sep 25, Three U.S.
soldiers in Somalia were killed when their helicopter was downed by
a rocket-propelled grenade.
(AP, 9/25/98)
1993 Oct 3, Eighteen US Rangers
and Delta Force specialists died in a botched raid in Somalia and
over 70 were wounded. In 1999 Mark Bowden published "Black Hawk
Dawn," an account of the failed attempt to capture Mohammed Farrah
Aidid. At least 500 Somalis were killed and 1,000 injured.
(WSJ, 10/23/95, p.A-18)(WSJ, 3/11/99,
p.A20)(SFEC, 3/28/99, BR p.3)(SSFC, 12/16/01, p.A1)
1993 Oct 4, US troops blasted
their way out of Bakara Market in Mogadishu and left an estimated
500 Somalis dead. Dozens of cheering, dancing Somalis dragged the
body of an American soldier through the streets of Mogadishu.
(SFC, 5/6/99, p.E4)(AP, 10/4/98)
1993 Oct 7, President Clinton
ordered more troops, heavy armor and naval firepower to Somalia, but
also announced he would pull out all Americans by the end of March
1994.
(AP, 10/7/98)
1993 Oct 9, Special U.S. envoy
Robert Oakley traveled to Somalia in an attempt to revive a
tentative peace agreement reached by Somali clan leaders.
(AP, 10/9/98)
1993 Oct 10, Thousands of
Somalis demonstrated in the capital of Mogadishu to support warlord
Mohamed Farrah Aidid, an event that coincided with the arrival of
special U.S. envoy Robert Oakley.
(AP, 10/10/98)
1993 Oct 14, U.S. helicopter
pilot Michael Durant and a Nigerian peacekeeper were freed by Somali
fighters loyal to Mohamed Farrah Aidid.
(AP, 10/14/98)
1993 Osama Bin Laden was
suspected of supplying weapons to shoot down American helicopters.
(SFC, 8/17/98, p.A12)
1993 Muhammad Atef, a top Osama
bin Laden lieutenant, and 6 other al Qaeda operatives, set up
training camps in Somalia to help Somali tribes oppose a UN
peacekeeping operation.
(SSFC, 9/30/01, p.A13)
1994 Jan 31, A convoy of U.S.
soldiers opened fire on hundreds of Somali civilians outside a food
distribution center, killing at least eight.
(AP, 1/31/99)
1994 Mar 20, Ilaria Alpi (32),
Italian journalist, was shot and killed in Somalia along with her
cameraman, Miran Hrovatin, on the same day that Italian troops left
the country. She had collected evidence of brutality by Italian
officers against Somalis along with evidence of illegal gun-running.
(SFC, 1/26/98, p.A8)
1994 Mar 25, American troops
completed their withdrawal from Somalia following a largely
unsuccessful fifteen-month mission. 20,000 U.N. troops were left
behind to keep the peace and facilitate "nation building."
(AP, 3/25/99)
1994 The laying of mines rose
to new heights of terror as civilian areas were deliberately
targeted. Truck loads of mines were scattered in houses, wells,
river-crossings, markets, and even cemeteries.
(UNICEFF Mailer,11/94)
1995 Feb 20, An American
Marine, Sgt. Justin A. Harris, died in a helicopter crash during the
evacuation of United Nations forces from Somalia.
(AP, 2/20/00)
1995 Mar 1, Somalia militiamen
loyal to warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid seized control of the
Mogadishu airport after peacekeepers withdrew.
(AP, 3/1/00)
1995 Mar 2, The last U.N.
peacekeepers in Somalia were evacuated.
(AP, 3/2/00)
1995 Mohamed Farak Aidid
declared himself to be president.
(SFEC, 8/31/97, Par p.16)
1996 Apr 5, Heavy fighting in
Mogadishu, Somalia, left 75 people dead after peace talks broke down
between clan leaders Mohamed Farak Aidid and his former backer,
Osman Hassan Ali Atto.
(SFC, 4/6/96, p.D-2)
1996 Aug 12, It was reported
that 2 Ethiopian businessmen were killed in retaliation for an
incursion into Somalia by Ethiopia’s army.
(WSJ, 8/12/96, p.A1)
1996 Aug 1, In Somalia Mohamed
Farrah Aidid died from wounds in a gun battle with a faction headed
by his brother. General Muhammad Aideed (Mohamed Aidid) had employed
a printing press to reproduce the country’s 1,000 shillings note.
The value of the note fell from $.13 to $.03, or about the cost of
producing an additional note. Forging stopped as the profit margin
disappeared.
(www.cnn.com/WORLD/9608/02/aideed/)(Econ,
4/21/12, p.22)
1996 Aug 2, Mohamed Farrah
Aidid was buried after dying from wounds received during fighting in
Mogadishu. Followers named his son, Hussein, as their new leader.
(WSJ, 8/5/96, p.A1)
1996 Sep 23, Ethiopian forces
exchanged fire with Somali militiamen.
(SFC, 9/25/96, p.A10)
1996 Oct 16, An agreement was
reached by faction leaders Hussein Aidid, Ali Mahdi Mohamed
and Ali Hassan Osman Atto, to implement a peace accord.
(SFC, 10/17/96, A11)
1996 Dec 17, Militia fighters
of Ali Mahdi Mohamed attacked the headquarters of Hussein Aidid in
the 5th consecutive day of fighting that brought the number of dead
up to 135.
(SFC, 12/18/96, p.C1)
1997 Jul 3, A Canadian
commission established to review the actions of peace-keeping troops
in Somalia between 1992-93 concluded that the troops were unprepared
and victimized by commanders who ignored problems that escalated to
torture and the killing of a Somali teenager.
(SFC, 7/3/97, p.C2)
1997 Nov 10, A month of rains
blamed on El Nino caused flooding in the Juba River Valley and left
some 800,000 people homeless and at least 23 dead. The death toll
increased to 564.
(WSJ, 11/10/97, p.A1)(SFC,11/14/97, p.D3)
1997 Nov 15, In East Africa it
was reported that storms over the past three weeks have killed at
least 1000 people in Ethiopia and in Somalia and left some 100,000
families displaced and in competition with crocodiles and hippos for
dry land.
(SFC,11/15/97, p.A3)
1997 Nov 21, Five UN and
European aid workers were kidnapped by fighters of the Wasangeli
subclan in apparent retaliation for the seizure of a Palestinian
businessman by a rival subclan, the Marjeteen, earlier in the day.
(SFC,11/24/97, p.A12)
1997 Nov 22, The Marjeteen
attacked the Wasangeli and 2 fighters on each side were killed.
(SFC,11/24/97, p.A11)
1997 Nov 23, Somali villagers
isolated for weeks by flooding finally received aid from boats
traveling down the Juba river.
(AP, 11/23/02)
1997 Nov 24, All hostages were
released by the rival Marjeteen and Wasangeli militiamen.
(SFC,11/24/97, p.A11)
1997 Dec 8, Doctors reported
that 31 children had died of cholera in recent days and that
medicine was needed to prevent an epidemic.
(SFC,12/9/97, p.B10)
1997 Dec 22, Leaders of the
rival factions approved a plan to restore national government. An
interim government was planned with power shared among the factions.
(SFC,12/23/97, p.D2)
1998 Jan 4, Some 60,000 Somalis
gathered in Mogadishu to celebrate the peace accord. The top 3
warlords promised to open the seaport and airport.
(WSJ, 2/5/98, p.A1)
1998 Mar 26, A boatload of
Somali refugees sank off the coast of Yemen and killed 180 of 188
people.
(SFC, 4/1/98, p.A10)
1998 Mar 29, Factional fighting
killed 13 people in Hobyo, 2 days before a national reconciliation
conference.
(WSJ, 3/30/98, p.A1)
1998 Mar 30, Ali Mohamed Mahdi
and Hussein Mohamed Aidid agreed to a joint administration for
Mogadishu after 7 years of fighting. 30 people were killed as rival
clans clashed in Kismayu.
(SFC, 3/31/98, p.B3)
1998 Apr 15, Ten aid workers
were kidnapped in Mogadishu.
(WSJ, 4/16/98, p.A1)
1998 Apr 24, The kidnapped aid
workers were released.
(SFC, 4/25/98, p.A9)
1998 May 8, Fighting in Kismayo
between rival militias left 23 dead and 30 wounded.
(SFC, 5/9/98, p.A12)
1998 Nov 21, It was reported
the in Somalia African honey bees killed 7 people near the village
of Tikhsile as they searched for food for their livestock.
(SFC, 11/21/98, p.A6)
1998 Dec 8, At least 18 people
were killed and 30 wounded in clashes between 2 rival clans in
Baidoa.
(SFC, 12/9/98, p.B8)
1998 Waris Dirie and Cathleen
Miller authored “Desert Flower: The Extraordinary Journey of a
Desert Nomad.” It was the story of Dirie and her flight from an
arranged marriage to become a supermodel.
(SFEC, 12/12/98, BR p.6)
1998 Nurrudin Farah published
his novel “Secrets” set amid the strife of the current civil war. It
was part of a trilogy that included "Maps" and "Gifts." Mr. Farah
won the Neustadt Int'l. Prize for Literature this same year. He was
exiled some 20 years earlier from Somalia following the publication
of his novel "Sweet and Sour Milk."
(SFEC, 7/5/98, BR p.4)(WSJ, 9/10/99, p.W6)
1998 Abdulahhi Yusuf (Yussuf)
was elected by elders in Puntland. Yusuf was later challenged by
Jama Ali Jama.
(SSFC, 1/6/02, p.A7)
1999 Feb 15, It was reported
that cholera in Bandera, Somalia, has killed at least 60 people and
infected over 250.
(WSJ, 2/16/99, p.A1)
1999 Feb 23, Militiamen loyal
to Hussein Aidid reported that they had killed 60 civilians in the
Baidoa town and the village of Daynunay.
(SFC, 2/24/99, p.C3)
1999 Jun 28, Ethiopian forces
captured the regional capital of Garba Harre, 250 miles northwest of
Mogadishu.
(SFC, 6/29/99, p.A9)
1999 Aug 12, Ethiopia claimed
to have almost eliminated 3 rebel groups based in Somalia which it
said were supported by Eritrea. Most of the 1,103 killed or captured
rebels were of the Oromo Liberation Front.
(SFC, 8/13/99, p.D2)
1999 Aug 31, Clan gunmen killed
14 people and wounded 20 in a bus attack outside Mogadishu.
(SFC, 9/1/99, p.A16)
1999 In Somalia Hassan Sheikh
Mohamud helped found the Somali Institute of Management and
Administration Development to train administrators and technicians
to help rebuild Somalia.
(AP, 9/10/12)
2000 Jan 2 Shuab Mohamed
Hussein, a CARE engineer, was killed during an ambush north of
Mogadishu.
(SFC, 1/4/00, p.A12)
2000 Apr 19, Over 110 people
died over the last 2 days from an outbreak of cholera. 70 dead were
in the Ufatest commune and 40 in the village of Bulo Addey.
(SFC, 4/20/00, p.C4)
2000 Apr 25, In southwestern
Somalia nearly 400 people in famine-ridden villages were reported
dead from cholera over the last 2 weeks.
(SFC, 4/25/00, p.A14)
2000 May 2, Djibouti Pres.
Ismael Omar Guelleh set up talks in Arta to establish a government
for Somalia.
(SFC, 8/14/00, p.A1)
2000 May 20, It was reported
that three weeks of excessive rainfall had submerged central
Somalia.
(SFC, 5/20/00, p.D8)
2000 Jul, Thousands of Somalis
took to the streets of Mogadishu in support of a peace conference in
Djibouti.
(SFC, 8/2/00, p.A12)
2000 Aug 13, Over 2,000 Somali
leaders gathered in Djibouti to form a central government with a new
225-member parliament. Somalia swore in legislators for its first
central government after almost a decade of internecine warfare.
(SFC, 8/14/00, p.A1)(AP, 8/13/01)
2000 Aug 26, Abdiqasim Salad
Hassan, a former interior minister, won the presidential elections.
(SFEC, 8/27/00, p.C12)
2000 Sep 6, Clan fighting left
at least 25 people dead and 18 injured in villages north of
Mogadishu.
(WSJ, 9/7/00, p.A1)
2000 Sep 18, Somali gunmen
freed 2 European aid workers.
(SFC, 9/19/00, p.A10)
2000 Oct 14, Pres. Abdiqasim
Salad Hassan returned from Djibouti.
(SFC, 10/16/00, p.F8)
2000 Nov 17, Gunmen killed 7
people in an attack of a convoy escorting Ahmed Dualeh Ghellel, a
prominent businessman and new legislator. This was the 2nd attack in
a week against a new member of parliament.
(SFC, 11/18/00, p.C16)
2000 In Somalia Islamists
formed the Union of Islamic Courts, a national federation of sharia
jurists. It was overthrown in 2006 with foreign help.
(Econ, 10/15/11, p.18)
2001 Jan 6, In Somalia
Rahanwein Resistance Army gunmen attacked government forces
escorting officials and at least 9 people were killed near Teiglow
village.
(SSFC, 1/7/01, p.D2)
2001 Mar 27, Militiamen
attacked a relief convoy and 14 Somalis were killed. 5 kidnapped aid
workers were freed the next day, but 4 remained hostage. 2 Britons
were released April 4.
(SFC, 3/28/01, p.A10)(WSJ, 3/29/01, p.A1)(SFC,
4/5/01, p.A11)
2001 May 12, Aidid forces
gained control of the seaport at Mogadishu in fighting with the
Suleiman clan militia. 40 people were left dead including 21
civilians.
(SSFC, 5/13/01, p.A13)
2001 cMay 18, The captain and
crew of a cargo ship from Bosaso forced overboard some 150
passengers after the vessel developed engine trouble. At least 86
people drowned. Police arrested the captain on June 21.
(SFC, 6/22/01, p.A16)
2001 May 19, In Somalia luggage
in a bus exploded near Halgan and 26 passengers were killed.
Gunpowder in a suitcase was placed near the engine.
(SSFC, 5/20/01, p.A16)
2001 cJul 1, The fledgling
government staged a show of force in Mogadishu with some 10,000
police and troops.
(WSJ, 7/2/01, p.A1)
2001 Jul 12, Fighting broke out
between rival subgroups of the Abgal clan in the Suq-Fad’ad market
of Mogadishu and at least 14 people were killed.
(SFC, 7/14/01, p.A11)
2001 Oct 28, In Somalia PM Ali
Khalif Galaydh lost a no-confidence vote after a tenure of 13
months. Pres. Abdiqasim Salad Hassan prepared to nominate a new PM.
(SFC, 10/29/01, p.A9)
2001 Nov 25, Ethiopia sent
troops into the northeastern Somali region of Puntland to help Col.
Abdullahi Yussuf (Yusuf) regain power. Yussuf was overthrown Aug 26
after his 3-year term ended. On Nov 21 Yussuf launched an attack on
Garoweh, the capital of Puntland and said it was to crush Islamic
terrorists.
(SFC, 11/26/01, p.A11)(WSJ, 11/28/01, p.A10)
2001 Warlord Hussein Mohammed
Aidid advised Pres. Bush that Al Barakaat, a money transfer and
telecom company, had ties to terrorists and that there were
terrorists in Somalia sympathetic to Osama bin Laden.
(SSFC, 1/6/02, p.A7)
2002 Jan 3, The US announced
increased military operations in Somalia and prepared to send
Marines there. It was suspected that Al Qaeda fighters might attempt
fleeing to Somalia.
(SFC, 1/4/02, p.A19)(WSJ, 1/4/02, p.A14)
2002 Apr 30, A fire destroyed
half of the Bakara market in Mogadishu. At least 7 people were
killed in attempts to stop looters.
(SFC, 5/1/02, p.A13)
2002 May 24, In Mogadishu
hundreds of gunmen, loyal to Mohamed Dhereh and opposed to the
transitional government, attacked the home of Interior Minister
Dahir Dayah and killed at least 8 people.
(SFC, 5/25/02, p.A13)
2002 Jun 27, In central Somalia
rival militias fought a fierce battle over the deaths of fellow
clansmen, leaving 23 people dead and 40 wounded just one day after a
peace deal was reached.
(AP, 6/27/02)
2002 Jun 29, Somalia's
transitional government formally called for the U.N. Security
Council to send an armed force to the Horn of Africa nation.
(AP, 6/29/02)
2002 Jul 5, In Somalia a mutiny
against a prominent faction leader entered a second day, with street
fighting in the city of Baidoa leaving eight militiamen dead and
injuring 25 others, including civilians.
(AP, 7/5/02)
2002 Sep 5, In Somalia
militiamen tied white flags to their weapons as an informal
cease-fire halted two days of fierce fighting in a capital area that
has left more than 25 people dead and 50 wounded.
(AP, 9/5/02)
2002 Oct 4, In central Somalia
heavy fighting between the Sa'ad subclan and the Majerten clan
killed at least 10 people and injured 25 others.
(AP, 10/5/02)
2002 Oct 13, In Somalia a boat
that had carried 120 Somalis and Ethiopians from the village of
Marear more than two weeks ago, landed with 50 survivors. The engine
failed, leaving them drifting in the Gulf of Aden. At least 70
people who were headed to Persian Gulf states in search of jobs
died.
(AP, 10/14/02)
2002 Oct 24, In Kenya would-be
carjackers shot and killed Esterlin Abdi Arush (45), a Somali human
rights activist, at the gate of the house where she was staying in
Nairobi.
(AP, 10/25/02)
2002 Oct 29, In southwestern
Somalia hundreds of rival militiamen armed with heavy weapons fought
for control of a strategic border town, leaving 25 dead and 37
wounded.
(AP, 10/29/02)
2002 Dec 24, In Somalia 3
unidentified gunmen opened fire on a school minibus in Mogadishu,
killing four students and wounding 10 others.
(AP, 12/24/02)
2003 Jan 4, A boat from Somalia
to Yemen developed engine trouble and capsized and at least 80
people were feared dead.
(AP, 1/16/03)
2003 May 20, The first of more
than 12,000 Somali Bantus awaiting resettlement set out for the US,
leaving at long last the refugee camps where most have lived for a
decade.
(AP, 5/20/03)
2003 Jul 5, Delegates at a
Somali peace conference agreed to create a federal government.
(AP, 7/6/03)
2003 Jul 9, In northwestern
Somalia 3 days of fighting among hundreds of gunmen from rival
clan-based factions killed more than 40 people and wounded 90.
(AP, 7/10/03)
2003 Sep 15, Over 360 Somali
delegates in Kenya adopted a transitional charter that outlines a
future government for the troubled African nation.
(AP, 9/16/03)
2003 Oct 5, In Somalia
Annalena Tonelli (60), an Italian aid worker who dedicated 33 years
of her life to helping Somalis, was shot and killed outside the
hospital she founded to treat tuberculosis patients.
(AP, 10/6/03)
2003 Dec 16, In central Somalia
rival militias battled over barren desert lands in fighting that
killed at least 31 people and wounded 50 others.
(AP, 12/17/03)
2004 Jan 29, Somalia's feuding
leaders signed an agreement to form a new government based along
clan lines, the first deal of its kind to include all armed groups
that have torn the country apart for the last 13 years.
(AP, 1/29/04)
2004 Mar 30, A boat carrying
107 people sank during the crossing from Somalia to Yemen and only
four other people, including two crew members, were rescued.
(AP, 3/30/04)
2004 Mar, Somalia’s 1st
Coca-Cola bottling plant opened in Mogadishu.
(Econ, 4/3/04, p.50)
2004 Apr, Pres. Kibaki’s
government announced that Kenya would no longer recognize Somali
passports.
(Econ, 6/12/04, p.46)
2004 Oct 10, Members of
Somalia’s transitional parliament elected Col. Abdullahi Yusuf (70)
as interim president.
(SFC, 10/11/04, p.A3)
2004 Dec 11, Somalia's
parliament passed a motion of no-confidence against the country's
new prime minister and his Cabinet, effectively sacking the
government. Some 153 members of the 275-member transitional
parliament voted against Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Gedi, accusing
him of failing to respect power-sharing arrangements agreed to by
warlords and the country's main clans.
(AP, 12/11/04)
2004 Dec 26, The world's most
powerful earthquake in 40 years triggered massive tidal waves that
slammed into villages and seaside resorts across southern and
southeast Asia. The initial estimated death toll of 9,000 soon rose
to some 230,000 people in 14 countries. The magnitude 9.0 earthquake
was the world's fifth-largest since 1900 and the largest since a 9.2
temblor hit Prince William Sound Alaska in 1964. The epicenter was
located 155 miles south-southeast of Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh
province on Sumatra, and six miles under the seabed of the Indian
Ocean. In Indonesia at least 166,320 people were killed.
Bangladesh reported 2 killed; India: at least 9,691 deaths:
thousands were missing and possibly dead in India's remote Andaman
and Nicobar Islands. Indonesia: At least 101,318 people were killed
on Sumatra island and small islands off its coast. Kenya reported 1
killed. Malaysia: At least 68 people, including an unknown number of
foreign tourists, were dead. Myanmar: At least 90 people were
killed. Sri Lanka: At least 30,680 were killed in government and
rebel controlled areas. The Maldives, an archipelago of 1,190
low-lying coral islands and a tiny population of 280,000, at least
82 people were killed and missing. At least 42 islands were
flattened in the low-lying atoll nation. Somalia: At least 298 were
killed. Tanzania: At least 10 killed. Thailand: The confirmed death
toll for Thailand reached 5,322, but many suspected Myanmar migrants
were not counted.
(SFC, 12/28/04, p.A1)(AP, 12/30/04)(SSFC, 1/2/05,
p.A12)(AP, 1/7/05)(Econ, 1/22/05, p.41)(AP, 12/25/09)
2005 Jan 22, Somalia's
government vowed to bring to justice militiamen who exhumed hundreds
of skeletons from an Italian colonial-era cemetery and dumped them
near Mogadishu's airport.
(Reuters, 1/22/05)
2005 Feb 9, In Somalia BBC
journalist Kate Peyton was shot to death outside a Mogadishu hotel
where she had interviewed some members of the interim parliament.
(SFC, 2/19/05, p.A14)
2005 May 3, An explosion
erupted as Somalia's provisional prime minister was starting a
speech, killing at least seven people and causing an undetermined
number of injuries at a government rally in Mogadishu's soccer
stadium.
(AP, 5/3/05)
2005 May 14, Warlords began
withdrawing thousands of militia fighters from the Somali capital in
a bid to restore order after more than 15 years of anarchy and civil
war.
(AP, 5/15/05)
2005 June 27, In Somalia gunman
hijacked the MV Semlow, a ship carrying food aid, and held the
vessel for 100 days before it was released Oct. 4.
(AP, 10/12/05)
2005 Jul 4, The UN’s World Food
Program (WFP) said it has suspended aid shipments to lawless Somalia
after gunmen hijacked a vessel it chartered and demanded a $500,000
ransom.
(AP, 7/4/05)
2005 Aug 13, Rival militias in
arid southwestern Somalia battled for control over a village with
pastures and wells. Twelve combatants died, and hundreds of
residents fled.
(AP, 8/13/05)
2005 Aug 31, Some 200 Somalis
and Ethiopians left Somalia's semiautonomous Puntland region in two
boats. Smugglers making the illegal crossing from Somalia to Yemen
forced passengers into the Red Sea at gunpoint 10 miles from the
Yemeni coastline, leaving at least 57 dead and about 100 missing.
(AP, 9/5/05)
2005 Sep 23, Police in the
breakaway republic of Somaliland raided houses in the capital,
Hargeisa, where al-Qaida militants were believed holed up and
captured four suspects after a shootout. A fifth suspect was
arrested 20 miles away. Pres. Dahir Riyale Kahnin said the men were
mostly locals trained at a camp outside Mogadishu, Somalia.
(AP, 9/23/05)(Econ, 10/1/05, p.43)
2005 Oct 12, In Somalia 6 armed
men hijacked the MV Miltzow, a ship carrying food aid, as it was
unloading at the port of Merka, marking the second such incident in
recent months.
(AP, 10/12/05)
2005 Oct 14, Somalia's PM Ali
Mohamed Gedi called on neighboring countries to send warships to
patrol his nation's waters after pirates seized a 3rd cargo vessel
delivering food aid.
(AP, 10/14/05)
2005 Oct 17, Abdi Hassan Awale,
who once served as Somalia's interior minister, was arrested on
suspicion of war crimes while attending a conference in Sweden. He
is suspected of being a militia leader during the Oct 3, 1993,
"Black Hawk Down" battle that left 18 Americans dead.
(AP, 10/17/05)
2005 Nov 5, The cruise ship MV
Seaborn Spirit, carrying at least 600 tourists from Europe, narrowly
escaped seizure by gunmen off the pirate-infested Somali coast when
it sped off to the high seas amid a trail of gunfire. At least 23
hijackings and attempted seizures have been recorded off the Somalia
coastline since mid-March, according to the International Maritime
Bureau (IMB), which has warned ships to stay as far away from the
coast as possible and keep radio communication to the minimal.
(AFP, 11/5/05)
2005 Nov 6, Gunmen in Mogadishu
threw grenades and a land mine exploded near the convoy carrying
Somalia's PM Ali Mohamed Gedi, but the leader escaped unharmed. At
least two people were killed and 12 wounded in the attack.
(AP, 11/6/05)
2005 Nov 27, Pirates freed a
Ukrainian cargo ship seized nearly 40 days ago off the coast of
Somalia. The Panahia and its 22 crew members were seized Oct 18. It
was not immediately clear if the $700,000 ransom demanded by the
pirates had been paid.
(AP, 11/27/05)
2005 Dec 25, In Somalia
warlords and civilians installed a council to govern Mogadishu, an
action that further fragments the nation but could bring the capital
under the control of a single group after 14 years of anarchy.
(AP, 12/25/05)
2005 Dec 29, Drought was
reported to have triggered extreme food shortages in the East
African countries of Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, putting millions
of people at risk of famine as the lean dry season approaches.
(AP, 12/30/05)
2005 According to the
International Maritime Bureau the number of overall reported at-sea
hijackings by pirates off the Somali coast was 35, compared with two
in 2004.
(AP, 4/7/07)
2006 Jan 1, East African
leaders said that millions of people in the region faced hunger
because poor rains had affected vital crops and pasture. Burundi,
Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Tanzania faced acute food shortages.
(AP, 1/1/06)
2006 Jan 21, US Navy vessels
sent warning shots and captured the crew of a suspected pirate ship
in the Indian Ocean off Somalia's coast. The US Navy boarded the
pirate ship and detained 26 men for questioning. Sailors aboard the
dhow told Navy investigators that pirates hijacked the vessel six
days ago near Mogadishu and thereafter used it to stage pirate
attacks on merchant ships.
(AP, 1/23/06)
2006 Feb, In Somalia a warlord
alliance, the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and
Counter-Terrorism (ARPCT), was created with US support in a bid to
curb the growing influence of the Islamic courts, hunt down the
extremists they are accused of sheltering and disrupt feared plans
for new terrorist attacks.
(AP, 6/15/06)
2006 Mar 18, Two US Navy
warships exchanged gunfire with suspected pirates off the coast of
Somalia, and one suspect was killed and five others were wounded.
(AP, 3/18/06)
2006 Mar 21, The UN appealed
for nearly $327 million in aid to help starving people in southern
Somalia, which is suffering its worst drought in a decade.
(AP, 3/21/06)
2006 Mar 24, In Mogadishu,
Somalia, 13 people were killed as fighting continued between Islamic
militia fighters and forces opposed to fundamentalist clerics. 3
days of clashes left at least 73 people dead.
(SFC, 3/25/06, p.A3)
2006 Mar 25, In Somalia
hundreds of heavily armed Islamic militiamen launched an offensive
to try to capture a key port and airstrip on the northeastern
outskirts of Mogadishu.
(AP, 3/25/06)
2006 Mar 29, Some 20 Filipino
seamen were seized after their oil tanker, the United Arab
Emirates-registered MT LIN1, offloaded its cargo at a southern
Somali port. The men were released in July 15 following
negotiations.
(AP, 7/16/06)
2006 Apr 4, The South Korean
ship 628 Dongwon was seized by eight armed assailants, who
approached in two speed boats firing guns off the coast of Somalia.
25 crew members were reported safe and officials sought their
release. The sailors were released July 30 after more than $800,000
in ransom was paid.
(AP, 4/5/06)(AP, 7/30/06)
2006 Apr 5, Militants who
captured the South Korean fishing vessel off the coast of Somalia
denied they were pirates and said they were defending their waters
from illegal fishing.
(AP, 4/5/06)
2006 Apr 17, Somalia granted
the US Navy permission to patrol coastal waters to combat piracy.
(WSJ, 4/18/06, p.A1)
2006 Apr, Somalia’s
transitional government named Mohamud Hassan Ali (52), a resident of
Minnesota since 2000, as mayor of Mogadishu. His uncle had served as
mayor of Mogadishu from 1959-1963.
(SSFC, 6/11/06, p.A22)
2006 May 7, Officials said
pirates who hijacked a cargo ship off the coast of Somalia and
killed one of its crew members have released the vessel after
holding it for a week.
(AP, 5/7/06)
2006 May 9, Somalian factions
said they have agreed to a truce following clashes between Islamic
fighters and a warlord alliance that have killed about 60 people.
(WSJ, 5/10/06, p.A1)
2006 May 10, In Somalia a brief
truce collapsed in Mogadishu and renewed fighting pushed the death
toll to almost 100 people over 4 days of fighting.
(WSJ, 5/11/06, p.A1)
2006 May 11, In Somalia
fighters loyal to secular warlords and Islamic extremists fired
artillery and mortars at each other Mogadishu as hundreds of
families fled violence that has killed at least 122 people over five
days.
(AP, 5/11/06)
2006 May 13, In Somalia Islamic
militia and secular fighters pounded each other with heavy artillery
and mortar fire as the death toll rose to 142 in seven days of
fighting for control of a neighborhood north of the Mogadishu.
(AP, 5/13/06)
2006 May 16, In Somalia
fighting between Islamic militias and rival secular fighters killed
two people on the outskirts of Mogadishu, despite a weekend
cease-fire ending days of bloodshed in the capital.
(AP, 5/16/06)
2006 May 16, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a
Somali-born member of Parliament, said she will resign and leave
Holland after the government said she was improperly granted
citizenship. She became an internationally known opponent of some
violent types of Islam.
(AP, 5/16/06)
2006 May 17, A secular alliance
that is battling fundamentalist Islamic militias in Somalia charged
that its rivals are bolstered by fighters from the Middle East,
Pakistan and elsewhere, and said it has the bodies to prove it. The
interim government said the US was supporting secular warlords
fighting Islamic groups for control of Mogadishu.
(AP, 5/17/06)(SFC, 5/18/06, p.A11)
2006 May 25, In Somalia renewed
fighting between Islamic militias and secular warlords killed at
least 38 people in Mogadishu and sent thousands of frightened
civilians running from their homes.
(AP, 5/25/06)
2006 May 27, In Mogadishu,
Somalia, Islamic militiamen and rival secular fighters traded
machine-gun, rocket and mortar fire, killing at least eight and
wounding a dozen as residents fled on foot or in hired minivans.
(AP, 5/27/06)
2006 May 31, In Somalia Islamic
militias and secular warlords resumed fighting for control of
Mogadishu, killing at least 13 people and wounding 11 after a
five-day lull.
(AP, 5/31/06)
2006 Jun 3, In Somalia 5 people
were killed in fighting between Islamic militiamen and their secular
rivals on the outskirts of Mogadishu.
(AP, 6/3/06)
2006 Jun 5, An Islamic militia
said it has seized Somalia's capital after weeks of bloody fighting
and 15 years of anarchy in this Horn of Africa nation, raising fears
that the nation could fall under the sway of al-Qaida. Some 350
fighters and civilians had been killed over the past month with at
least 2,000 wounded.
(AP, 6/5/06)(Econ, 6/10/06, p.44)
2006 Jun 7, In Somalia Islamist
leaders in control of Mogadishu agreed to talks with the country’s
transitional government. A counter-offensive by rival warlords,
supported by the US, still posed a threat.
(SFC, 6/8/06, p.A18)
2006 Jun 13, Seven east African
nations imposed travel bans on Somali warlords, who lost bloody
battles with Islamist fighters over Mogadishu, and froze their
assets in effort to push them into peace talks.
(AP, 6/13/06)
2006 Jun 14, Somali lawmakers
in Baidoa approved a peacekeeping mission for Somalia.
Fighters determined to install Islamic rule across Somalia won a
strategic town, entering Jowhar after their secular rivals fled
their last stronghold in the south.
(AP, 6/14/06)
2006 Jun 16, In Somalia some
10,000 opponents of an international peacekeeping mission
demonstrated in Mogadishu, which is controlled by an Islamic militia
accused by the US of harboring wanted al-Qaida members.
(AP, 6/16/06)
2006 Jun 17, The leader of
Somalia's increasingly powerful Islamic militia accused Ethiopian
troops of crossing into the country, a charge Ethiopia denied.
(AP, 6/17/06)
2006 Jun 22, Somalia's largely
powerless government and the Islamic fighters who control the
country's capital agreed to stop military action and recognize each
other.
(AP, 6/22/06)
2006 Jun 23, In Somalia Martin
Adler, a Swedish television cameraman, was fatally shot by an
unidentified gunman during a demonstration in Mogadishu.
(AP,
6/23/06)(www.nppa.org/news_and_events/news/2006/06/adler.html)
2006 Jun 24, In Somalia Sheikh
Hassan Dahir Aweys, a fundamentalist Muslim, who the US suspects of
collaborating with al-Qaida terrorists, was named as the new leader
of an Islamic militia that has seized control of Mogadishu. Aweys
was aided by fighters loosely linked to the Shabab, the armed wing
of Islamic Courts Union.
(AP, 6/24/06)(Econ, 7/1/06, p.44)(Econ, 7/5/08,
p.58)
2006 Jun 27, In Mogadishu,
Somalia, members of an Islamic militia that controls most of
southern Somalia battled for a clan-held checkpoint, killing five
people before declaring victory.
(AP, 6/27/06)
2006 Jun 29, The hard-line
Muslim leaders who have seized control of much of southern Somalia
claimed authority throughout the country in yet another blow to the
largely powerless but internationally recognized interim government.
(AP, 6/29/06)
2006 Jun 30, Three Darfur rebel
groups, that have refused to sign up to an African Union-mediated
peace deal for the troubled western Sudanese region, formed a new
alliance to fight Khartoum. Officials from the groups created the
National Redemption Front (NRF) after talks in the Eritrean capital
and reaffirmed their opposition to the Abuja peace agreement.
(AFP, 6/30/06)
2006 Jul 1, About 100 Ethiopian
troops entered the Somali border town of Beled-Hawo in eight
military vehicles, the latest sign that Ethiopia might try to
bolster this country's weak interim government as an Islamic militia
gains increasing power.
(AP, 7/1/06)
2006 Jul 2, Africa's leaders
meeting in Gambia agreed to send troops to Somalia to support
regional efforts at calming the chaotic east African state.
(Reuters, 7/2/06)
2006 Jul 4, Radical Islamic
militia fighters in Somalia shot and killed two people who were
watching a World Cup soccer broadcast. The Islamic group that
controls Somalia's capital soon arrested two of its own militiamen
for killing two people who were watching the soccer match.
(AP, 7/5/06)(AP, 7/6/06)
2006 Jul 6, Members of the
radical Islamic group that controls Somalia's capital met African,
Arab and European officials and repeated their opposition to the
deployment of peacekeepers to stabilize the lawless country.
(AP, 7/6/06)
2006 Jul 8, The Islamic
militiamen controlling the Somali capital broke up a wedding
celebration because a band, the Mogadishu Stars, was playing and
women and men were socializing together. Band members were flogged
with electric cables.
(AP, 7/8/06)(Econ, 7/15/06, p.47)
2006 Jul 9, In Somalia 20
people were killed in bloody fighting as Islamic fighters fought
supporters of Abdi Awale Qaybdiid, who refused to disarm.
(AP, 7/10/06)
2006 Jul 10, Somalia's Islamic
militia battled a pocket of resistance, pounding Mogadishu with
machine-gun fire and rocket-propelled grenades and at least 7 people
were killed.
(AP, 7/10/06)
2006 Jul 11, Hundreds of
fighters who were battling Somalia's Islamic militia in Mogadishu
surrendered after a surge of violence that killed more than 70
people and wounded 150.
(AP, 7/11/06)
2006 Jul 14, Somalia's nearly
powerless interim government said it would boycott weekend peace
talks with the Islamic militia that has seized control of nearly all
the nation's south, accusing the group of civilian massacres and
ties to foreign terrorists.
(AP, 7/14/06)
2006 Jul 18, In Somalia Islamic
militiamen who rule Mogadishu arrested about 60 people for watching
videos in several overnight raids.
(AP, 7/19/06)
2006 Jul 20, Residents of
central Somalia said that hundreds of Ethiopian troops were
patrolling the town of Baidoa in armored vehicles, less than a day
after Islamic militants moved near the base of the weak, UN-backed
government.
(AP, 7/20/06)
2006 Jul 21, An Islamic militia
leader called for a holy war against Ethiopian troops protecting
Somalia's weak UN-backed government.
(AP, 7/21/06)
2006 Jul 22, Ethiopian troops
sent to bolster Somalia's weak government against a powerful Islamic
militia moved into a second Somali town and seized a strategic
airport.
(AP, 7/22/06)
2006 Jul 23, In Somalia a local
rights group said gunmen have killed 682 civilians, including a
foreign journalist, in executions over the past year.
(AP, 7/23/06)
2006 Jul 26, Somalia's
virtually powerless government said a cargo plane landed at the
capital's airport and was carrying weapons for Islamic militants who
have seized control of much of southern Somalia. A spokesman for the
country's official government, based 150 miles northwest of
Mogadishu, said the plane was carrying land mines, bombs and
long-range guns from Eritrea for a militia loyal to the Supreme
Islamic Courts Council.
(AP, 7/26/06)
2006 Jul 27, At least 20
members of Somalia's parliament resigned, accusing the country's
virtually powerless government of failing to bring peace. The
parliament is supposed to have 275 member but 16 members have
defected to the Islamic militia and other seats remain unfilled
after members' deaths.
(AP, 7/27/06)
2006 Jul 28, Hundreds of people
rioted near the headquarters of Somalia's virtually powerless
government after a Cabinet minister was fatally shot outside a
mosque.
(AP, 7/28/06)
2006 Jul 29, Somalia's PM
Mohammed Ali Gedi accused Egypt, Libya and Iran of providing weapons
for Islamic militants who have seized control of much of this
country's south.
(AP, 7/29/06)
2006 Jul 30, The first
commercial flight in a decade departed Mogadishu’s newly reopened
international airport, demonstrating how Islamic militants have
pacified the once-anarchic capital and much of southern Somalia.
(AP, 7/30/06)
2006 Jul 31, In Somalia 275
militiamen with 50 pickup trucks mounted with anti-aircraft guns
were sent to central Somalia to break up the bases of Somali pirates
who have been kidnapping sailors.
(AP, 8/1/06)
2006 Aug 2, Somali leaders
struggled to regroup after a week in which 29 ministers quit the
government, with the defectors urging the virtually powerless
administration to reconcile with Islamic militants who have seized
the capital.
(AP, 8/2/06)
2006 Aug 6, A government
spokesman said Somalia's top interim leaders have agreed to end a
rift threatening the fragile administration after crisis talks led
by Seyoum Mesfin, Ethiopia's foreign affairs minister.
(Reuters, 8/6/06)
2006 Aug 16, In Mogadishu,
Somalia, Islamic leaders gave seven men 40 lashes each for using or
selling marijuana, meting out the punishment in public in a dramatic
example of the region's new fundamentalist rule.
(AP, 8/16/06)
2006 Aug 21, Somalia’s
embattled PM Ali Mohamed Gedi named a new Cabinet, two weeks after
the old one was dissolved amid a rift within the UN-backed
transitional government over how to respond to the growing influence
of Islamic militants.
(AP, 8/21/06)
2006 Aug 22, Ethiopian troops
reportedly arrived in the central Somali town of Galkayo. The move
may stoke tensions with the Islamic militiamen who control most of
southern Somalia. They were seen inside the town in 13 vehicles.
(AP, 8/22/06)
2006 Aug 23, Somalia’s seaport
in Mogadishu reopened for the first time in 11 years, the latest
sign that the city's Islamic fundamentalist rulers are trying to
restore confidence after more than a decade of anarchy.
(AP, 8/23/06)
2006 Sep 4, Somalia's weak
government and an Islamic militia that controls much of the south
signed an agreement to eventually form a unified national army.
(AP, 9/4/06)
2006 Sep 5, In Somalia
thousands of people massed in Mogadishu vowing to fight any foreign
peacekeepers sent to the embattled nation, while a coalition of East
African nations approved an ambitious plan to deploy troops in
Somalia by early next month.
(AP, 9/5/06)
2006 Sep 10, Islamic militants
controlling much of southern Somalia shut down a radio station for
playing love songs and other music, the latest step to impose strict
religious rule which has sparked fears of an emerging, Taliban-style
regime. Islamic militants, who closed down a Somali radio station,
allowed it back on the air so long as it does not play music or love
songs.
(AP, 9/10/06)(AP, 9/11/06)
2006 Sep 17, Sister Leonella
Sgorbati, an Italian nun, was shot dead at a hospital in Mogadishu
by Somali gunmen, hours after a leading Muslim cleric condemned Pope
Benedict XVI for his remarks on Islam and violence. The nun's
bodyguard and a hospital worker were also killed.
(AP, 9/17/06)(AP, 9/21/06)
2006 Sep 18, In Somalia a
massive car bomb exploded outside the makeshift parliament building
in Baidoa, killing 11 people, including the president's brother, in
an apparent assassination attempt. As Pres. Yusuf fled, a gunbattle
broke out between his bodyguards and eight suspected accomplices of
an apparent suicide bomber. Six were killed and two were captured.
(AP, 9/18/06)(AP, 9/19/06)
2006 Sep 24, In Somalia
hundreds of Islamic militiamen in heavily armed trucks took over the
southern town of Kismayo, one of the last seaports that had been
outside their control.
(AP, 9/24/06)
2006 Sep 25, Somalia's interim
prime minister called on the UN to partially lift an arms embargo on
his country to allow for the deployment of African peacekeepers,
which he said are necessary to stop the advance of Islamic radicals.
A government order banned human smuggling. Ethiopian troops arrived
in Somalia to support the internationally recognized government in
its faceoff with radicals. The Islamic militia in the seaport of
Kismayo opened fire on thousands protesting the fundamentalists'
takeover of the southern town. Witnesses said a teenager was killed.
(AP, 9/25/06)(SFC, 9/26/06, p.A3)(AP, 10/8/06)
2006 Sep 28, Somali police
investigating a car bomb assassination attempt on the president
arrested three suspected members of a fundamentalist Islamic group
and recovered explosives.
(AP, 9/28/06)
2006 Sep 29, Somalia's Islamic
fighters seized control of Jawill, a strategic village near the
Ethiopian border, widening their grip over much of the southern part
of the country. 3 pro-government militiamen and one Islamic courts
fighter were killed during the gunbattle for the village.
(AP, 9/30/06)
2006 Oct 6, The UN refugee
agency said the number of Somalis fleeing fighting to seek refuge in
Kenya has risen dramatically and could stretch the capacity of aid
organizations to critical levels.
(AP, 10/6/06)
2006 Oct 7, In Somalia dozens
of people protested against an Islamic militia that has seized much
of southern Somalia, a day after the group appointed a new
administration in Kismayo, the country's third largest city.
(AP, 10/7/06)
2006 Oct 8, Authorities in
northeastern Somalia repatriated more than 1,000 Ethiopians whom
smugglers were preparing to take across the Gulf of Aden to the
promise of jobs and a better life in the Middle East.
(AP, 10/8/06)
2006 Oct 9, Somali government
troops with Ethiopian help recaptured Burhakaba. The Islamic militia
that has seized much southern Somalia declared a holy war against
Ethiopia accusing its neighbor of deploying thousands of troops to
prop up the weak UN-backed government.
(SFC, 10/10/06, p.A3)(Econ, 10/14/06, p.49)
2006 Oct 12, The UN said it has
temporarily pulled international staff out of parts of Somalia
controlled by Islamic radicals after receiving written threats.
(AP, 10/12/06)
2006 Oct 13, Somalia's Islamic
radicals repulsed an attack by pro-government forces to recapture
Kismayo, a vital seaport. Islamic radicals carried out their second
public execution in less than a month amid fears of increasing
extremist violence. Mahad Osman Ugas (23) was executed by a six-man
firing squad as several thousand people watched. A jury convicted
him of killing a businessman while trying to steal the man's cell
phone.
(AP, 10/13/06)(AP, 10/14/06)
2006 Oct 17, Kenya reported its
first case of polio in 22 years at a refugee camp near the Somali
border as the United Nations appealed for urgent help to cope with a
surge in refugees from Somalia.
(AFP, 10/17/06)
2006 Oct 19, Ethiopia's PM
Meles Zenawi told parliament that he had sent military trainers to
help Somalia's struggling government, but had not deployed a
fighting force.
(AP, 10/19/06)
2006 Oct 24, Ethiopia’s PM
Meles Zenawi said Ethiopia was "technically" at war with Somalia's
Islamists because they had declared jihad on his nation.
(AP, 10/24/06)
2006 Oct 29, Somalia's Islamic
group broke off peace talks with the transitional government,
demanding that Ethiopian troops withdraw from the country.
(AP, 10/29/06)
2006 Oct 30, Somali Islamic
leaders banned youthful Somalis from marrying without the consent of
their parents, saying such unions violate Islam.
(AP, 10/31/06)
2006 Nov 5, A delegation of
Somali lawmakers broke ranks with the government and traveled to the
capital to hold peace talks with the country's Islamic militia, the
latest sign of cracks in the fragile administration.
(AP, 11/5/06)
2006 Nov 6, In northern Somalia
Islamic fighters clashed with government militia backed by Ethiopian
forces.
(SFC, 11/7/06, p.A18)
2006 Nov 12, Heavy fighting
erupted in central Somalia, a day after the transitional government
rejected a peace initiative with the country's Islamic movement.
(AP, 11/12/06)
2006 Nov 15, A UN report
identified 10 African and Arab countries, as well as Lebanon’s
Hezbollah, as arms suppliers to the Islamic militia in Somalia.
(WSJ, 11/16/06, p.A1)
2006 Nov 17, UN aid bodies said
torrential rains and floods have hit up to 1.8 million people in the
Horn of Africa, driving tens of thousands from their homes and
threatening to trigger epidemics. Torrential rains have pounded the
Horn of Africa this month, bringing misery to large parts of Kenya,
Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan and Eritrea.
(AP, 11/17/06)
2006 Nov 19, In Somalia Islamic
fighters used land mines and ambushed an 80-vehicle Ethiopian
military convoy headed to Baidoa killing 6 soldiers and injuring 20.
(SFC, 11/20/06, p.A3)
2006 Nov 20, Gen. Addeh Museh,
the president of the semiautonomous region of Puntland, said he will
rule according to Islamic law, a surprising move in a relatively
stable area that has resisted the spread of Islamic militants who
control most of southern Somalia.
(AP, 11/20/06)
2006 Nov 23, Somalia's Islamic
militia invited US government leaders to visit the capital,
Mogadishu, the city where 18 U.S. troops on a peacekeeping mission
to the East African nation were killed in 1993.
(AP, 11/24/06)
2006 Nov 29, The UN Security
Council condemned a "significant increase" in the flow of weapons to
and through Somalia in violation of a 1992 arms embargo and voted
unanimously to keep monitoring weapons trafficking in the poor and
lawless Horn of Africa nation.
(AP, 11/30/06)
2006 Nov 30, In Somalia a car
blast killed 9 people near the Somali government seat of Baidoa in
an attack the administration blamed on Islamists backed by al Qaeda.
An attack on Ethiopian troops left 20 dead.
(AFP, 12/1/06)(WSJ, 12/1/06, p.A1)
2006 Dec 1, The US circulated a
UN Security Council draft resolution that would authorize a regional
force to protect Somalia's weak government and threaten Security
Council action against those who block peace efforts and attempt to
overthrow it.
(AP, 12/2/06)
2006 Dec 5, Somalia's
government ruled out peace talks with the country's Islamic
movement, citing truce violations, heightening fears of an all-out
war.
(AFP, 12/5/06)
2006 Dec 6, In Somalia Sheik
Hussein Barre Rage, an Islamic courts official in Bulo Burto, said
residents who do not pray five times a day will be beheaded, adding
the edict will be implemented in three days. Hoping to head off a
regional proxy war, the UN Security Council came to the aid of
Somalia's virtually powerless government, authorizing hundreds of
East African troops to train and protect the interim administration
in its conflict with an Islamic militia.
(AP, 12/6/06)(AP, 12/7/06)
2006 Dec 7, Islamic militants
in control of most of southern Somalia warned that war will erupt
over a UN decision authorizing an African force to protect the
country's virtually powerless government.
(AP, 12/7/06)
2006 Dec 8, Sheik Sharif Sheik
Ahmed, a top Islamic official, said that militiamen are fighting
Ethiopian troops in Dinsor, a southern Somalia town. He called on
Somalis to defeat "the enemies who have invaded our land."
(AP, 12/8/06)
2006 Dec 12, Somalia’s PM Ali
Mohamed Gedi said thousands of Islamic militants have surrounded
Baidoa, the only town the internationally recognized government
controls, as a top Islamic official promised to attack within a week
unless Ethiopian troops leave.
(AP, 12/12/06)
2006 Dec 15, Somalia's
president said that peace talks with the country's Islamic movement
are no longer an option because the group's leaders have declared
war on his government.
(AP, 12/15/06)
2006 Dec 15, In Kenya 11
African heads of state attending the 2nd International Conference on
the Great Lakes Region signed a landmark $2 billion
(1.5-billion-euro) security and development pact to forestall fresh
violence in the area.
(AFP, 12/15/06)
2006 Dec 16, A Somali lawmaker
bypassed the government and signed an agreement to end hostilities
with the country's powerful Islamic militia, a symbolic gesture that
is unlikely to have any real effect. Nearly 200 troops serving
Somalia's weak Western-backed government defected to the Islamic
courts movement, as both sides braced for impending war.
(AP, 12/16/06)(AP, 12/17/06)
2006 Dec 20, Heavy fighting
broke out between Somalia's government troops and rival Islamic
militia.
(AP, 12/20/06)
2006 Dec 21, Fighting erupted
for a 3rd straight day between Somali fighters, one day after an EU
envoy got both the government and a rival Islamic movement to agree
to resume peace talks.
(AP, 12/21/06)
2006 Dec 22, In Somalia
Ethiopian attack helicopters and tanks headed for battle as fighting
raged for a fourth day between Somalia's Islamic militia and the
country's secular government.
(AP, 12/22/06)
2006 Dec 23, Somalia's Islamic
militants called on foreign Muslim fighters to join their holy war
against Ethiopian troops after days of fighting killed hundreds of
people and threatened to engulf the region.
(AP, 12/23/06)
2006 Dec 24, Ethiopia launched
an attack on Somalia's powerful Islamic movement, sending fighter
jets across the border and bombarding several towns in a major
escalation of the violence that threatens to engulf the Horn of
Africa.
(AP, 12/24/06)
2006 Dec 25, Ethiopian fighter
jets bombed Somalia's main airport, the first direct attack on the
city that serves as the headquarters of an Islamic movement
attempting to wrest power from the internationally recognized
government.
(AP, 12/25/06)
2006 Dec 26, Islamic fighters
retreated as Somali government and Ethiopian troops advanced on
three fronts in a decisive turn in the battle for control of this
Horn of Africa nation. Ethiopia’s PM Meles Zenawi said up to 1,000
of the religious movement's fighters had been killed.
(AP, 12/26/06)(WSJ, 12/27/06, p.A1)
2006 Dec 27, Ethiopian and
Somali government troops drove Islamic fighters out of the last
major town on the road to Mogadishu, the Islamist-held capital.
(AP, 12/27/06)
2006 Dec 27, Yemeni authorities
opened fire on boats filled with refugees fleeing the fighting in
Somalia and at least 17 people drowned when one of the vessels
capsized.
(AP, 12/28/06)
2006 Dec 28, Somali government
troops rolled into Mogadishu unopposed, the prime minister said,
hours after an Islamic movement that tried to establish a government
based on the Quran abandoned the capital.
(AP, 12/28/06)
2006 Dec 29, Somalia's prime
minister entered the capital, a day after an Islamic movement's
fighters retreated ahead of his Ethiopian-backed troops, and was
welcomed by thousands of cheering residents of the battle-scarred
city.
(AP, 12/29/06)
2006 Dec 30, Thousands of
Somali and Ethiopian troops set off for a showdown with Islamic
forces who have regrouped at a southern seaport since abandoning the
Somali capital.
(AP, 12/30/06)
2006 Dec 31, Fighting erupted
on the outskirts of the last remaining stronghold of Somalia's
militant Islamic movement, as thousands of residents streamed from
the area ahead of the feared battle with Ethiopian-backed government
troops.
(AP, 12/31/06)
2006 Hirsi Ali (36), a refugee
from Somalia and member of the Dutch Parliament, authored "The
Caged Virgin," a look at immigration, integration, women's rights
and the place of Islam in Western countries. Hirsi Ali, who was
raised a strict Muslim, now calls herself an atheist. She would like
to see a Muslim Reformation of the kind that remade European
Christianity in the 16th century.
(AP, 4/28/06)
2006 In the waters off East
Africa unmarked fishing ships carried 23mm anti-aircraft guns and
fished illegally impacting the local fishermen of Kenya, Somalia and
Tanzania. Fish stocks fell as coral reefs were ripped, and
numberless dolphins and turtles were getting snagged.
(Econ, 8/5/06, p.43)
2006 In the borderlands of
Somalia a good quality AK-47 could be had for 3 cows, while an
American M-16 fetched 5 cows.
(Econ, 8/12/06, p.20)
2007 Jan 1, Somali government
troops backed by Ethiopian tanks and fighter jets captured the last
major stronghold of a militant Islamic movement, while hundreds of
Islamic fighters, many of them Arabs and South Asians, fled the
town. PM Ali Mohamed Gedi set a 3-day deadline for gun collection.
(AP, 1/1/07)(SFC, 1/3/07, p.A3)
2007 Jan 2, Ethiopian
helicopters pursuing Somali Islamists missed their target and bombed
a Kenyan border post, prompting Kenyan fighter planes to rush to the
area. The gun collection program in Mogadishu began with little
response. 2 Ethiopian soldiers were shot dead.
(AFP, 1/2/07)(SFC, 1/3/07, p.A3)(Econ, 1/6/07,
p.41)
2007 Jan 3, Kenya sent extra
troops to its border with Somalia to keep Islamic militants from
entering the country after Ethiopian helicopters attacked a Kenyan
border post by mistake while pursuing suspected fighters.
(AP, 1/3/07)
2007 Jan 4, A Somali government
spokesman said government troops, backed by Ethiopian soldiers, were
fighting about 600 Islamic militiamen in the south.
(AP, 1/4/07)
2007 Jan 4, Kenya said it has
closed its border with Somalia in an apparent effort to keep Islamic
militants and refugees from entering the country.
(AP, 1/4/07)
2007 Jan 6, Somalia's interim
government indefinitely postponed plans to forcibly disarm Mogadishu
as hundreds of people burned tires, looted vehicles and said they
wouldn't give up their guns. Two people were reported killed and at
17 people wounded.
(AP, 1/6/07)
2007 Jan 7, An American AC-130
gunship began attacking suspected al-Qaida positions in southern
Somalia. The US airstrikes were the first offensive in the African
country since 18 US troops were killed there in 1993. The main
target was Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, who allegedly planned the 1998
attacks on the US embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania,
that killed 225 people.
(SFC, 1/11/07, p.A4)(AP, 1/9/07)
2007 Jan 9, In Somalia US
AC-130 strikes were reported to have killed 10 al-Qaida suspects.
Local officials said the toll was much higher and included
civilians.
(AP, 1/9/07)(WSJ, 1/10/07, p.A1)
2007 Jan 10, US forces launched
a third day of airstrikes in southern Somalia. At least four
separate strikes were reported around Ras Kamboni, on the Somali
coast near the Kenyan border. Unknown insurgents attacked a
transitional government barracks and soldiers responded by sealing
portions of Mogadishu and searching house to house for guns.
(AP, 1/10/07)(SFC, 1/11/07, p.A4)
2007 Jan 11, The UN Security
Council said it backs the speedy deployment of African troops to
Somalia and strongly urges a dialogue among all political players,
in addition to the delivery of humanitarian aid to the country.
(AP, 1/11/07)
2007 Jan 12, A government
official said Somalia's warlords have agreed to disarm and join a
new national army. Violence in the capital brought home the
challenge of restoring order in this fractious and heavily armed
country.
(AP, 1/12/07)
2007 Jan 13, Somali lawmakers
authorized the government to declare martial law as the country's
internationally recognized leaders struggled to assert their
authority after battling an Islamic movement that had controlled
much of southern Somalia.
(AP, 1/13/07)
2007 Jan 14, An African Union
delegation was in Somalia's capital to discuss the deployment of
peacekeepers, as the government struggled to disarm Mogadishu
residents reluctant to give up their guns after years of fending for
themselves amid chaos.
(AP, 1/14/07)
2007 Jan 15, Somali troops and
allied Ethiopian soldiers conducted house-to-house searches,
pursuing gunmen who carried out an attack in the northeastern part
of the capital.
(AP, 1/15/07)
2007 Jan 17, A top Somali
lawmaker closely associated with the recently ousted Islamic
movement was voted out as speaker by parliament, a move that could
undermine reconciliation efforts in the restive country.
(AP, 1/17/07)
2007 Jan 19, The African Union
agreed to deploy a long-discussed peacekeeping force in Somalia.
(AP, 1/20/07)
2007 Jan 20, The last major
warlord in Somalia surrendered his weapons and 200 militiamen to the
army, while an Islamic leader claimed responsibility for a string of
guerrilla attacks and promised there would be more until the
government agreed to talks. An Ethiopian military convoy was
ambushed in a new round of deadly violence in the Somali capital
Mogadishu, hours after the African Union agreed to send peacekeepers
to the war-torn country. Kenya handed over 34 Islamic militiamen to
Somalia's transitional government. A Somali government spokesman
said that some of them may be senior leaders of the country's
Islamic movement.
(AP, 1/20/07)(AFP, 1/20/07)(AP, 1/21/07)
2007 Jan 21, Sheik Sharif Sheik
Ahmed, a top leader of Somalia's ousted Islamic movement seen by the
US as a potential key to preventing a widespread insurgency,
surrendered to authorities and went under police protection in
Nairobi.
(AP, 1/22/07)
2007 Jan 23, Ethiopian troops
who helped Somalia's government drive out a radical Islamic militia
began withdrawing in military trucks and tanks.
(AP, 1/23/07)
2007 Jan 24, In Somalia gunmen
launched several mortars at Mogadishu International Airport, killing
at least two people and wounding several others.
(AP, 1/24/07)
2007 Jan 25, In southern
Somalia gunmen attacked Ethiopian soldiers stationed there, killing
one and wounding another.
(AP, 1/25/07)
2007 Jan 26, In Somalia a spate
of gunfire and mortar attacks in Mogadishu killed five people
overnight and injured at least four others.
(AP, 1/26/07)
2007 Jan 28, In Somalia gunmen
attacked a police station in Mogadishu, sparking an hour-long battle
that killed two people just hours after two other stations were hit
with machine-guns and rocket-propelled grenades.
(AP, 1/28/07)
2007 Jan 30, Somalia's
president agreed to a national reconciliation conference to try to
end 16 years of anarchy in the war-ravaged country.
(AP, 1/30/07)
2007 Jan 31, A senior AU
official said 3 battalions of peacekeepers from Uganda and Nigeria
are ready to be deployed in Somalia and will be airlifted in as soon
as possible.
(AP, 1/31/07)
2007 Feb 2, In Somalia an
explosion at an Islamic school for women and girls in Mogadishu
wounded at least seven people. At least three mortar attacks were
launched overnight in the city by unknown
attackers.
(AP, 2/2/07)
2007 Feb 7, In Somalia doctors
said a cholera outbreak has killed more than 115 people and
hospitalized 724 in towns where people were forced to use
contaminated water from a flooded river.
(AP, 2/7/07)
2007 Feb 10, In Somalia mortar
attacks in a residential area and on a hotel in Mogadishu killed
five people and injured 10.
(AP, 2/10/07)
2007 Feb 12, In Somalia a
mortar slammed into a home in Mogadishu, killing a father and his
6-year-old son as they slept and wounding four people.
(AP, 2/12/07)
2007 Feb 12, A vessel smuggling
120 people across the Gulf of Aden from Somalia to Yemen capsized as
it approached the coast. At least 30 Somali and Ethiopian migrants
trying to reach the Arabian peninsula drowned.
(AP, 2/13/07)
2007 Feb 16, A Yemeni official
said a boat loaded with Somali and Ethiopian migrants capsized in
the Gulf of Aden during a night crossing in which at least 112
people died.
(AP, 2/16/07)
2007 Feb 18, Fierce inter-clan
fighting killed at least 43 people in Ethiopia's southeastern Ogaden
region, inhabited mainly by ethnic Somalis.
(AFP, 2/19/07)
2007 Feb 20, In Somalia mortar
rounds and rockets hit Mogadishu in a series of attacks that killed
15 people, including a 4-year-old boy, and wounded more than 40
others. The UN Security Council voted unanimously to authorize an
African Union force to help stabilize Somalia.
(AP, 2/20/07)(AFP, 2/20/07)
2007 Feb 21, In Somalia gunmen
fatally shot two local government officials in Mogadishu.
(AP, 2/22/07)
2007 Feb 22, Extremists in
Somalia threatened to carry out suicide attacks against African
Union peacekeepers who are to begin deploying in the coming days.
(AP, 2/22/07)
2007 Feb 23, A Somali official
said Uganda's top military officials promised to help train a
national army for Somalia and help provide security for its
government.
(AP, 2/23/07)
2007 Feb 25, Pirates hijacked a
cargo ship delivering UN food aid to northeastern Somalia, at least
the third time since 2005 that a vessel contracted to the United
Nations has been hijacked off the country's dangerous coast.
(AP, 2/25/07)
2007 Feb 27, The UN said Somali
authorities have arrested four suspects in the hijacking of a
UN-chartered cargo ship delivering food aid. The MV Rozen, however,
was still under the control of four pirates who remained aboard with
12 crew members as hostage. Attackers in Mogadishu killed Yusuf
Mohamed Dhisow, the brother-in-law of Somalia's prime minister.
(AP, 2/27/07)(AFP, 2/27/07)
2007 Feb 28, Burundi said that
it will send 1,700 peacekeepers to Somalia as part of an
8,000-strong African Union force, while the first Ugandan contingent
prepared to leave for the war-torn nation.
(AP, 2/28/07)
2007 Mar 1, An advance team of
an African peacekeeping force to Somalia arrived unannounced into
the country.
(AP, 3/1/07)
2007 Mar 2, In Somalia 4 mortar
explosions rocked Mogadishu, wounding six people, including two
children.
(AP, 3/2/07)
2007 Mar 5, In Somalia gunmen
shot dead five people in two separate attacks in the lawless capital
of Mogadishu in an escalation of killings ahead of the planned
deployment of African Union peacekeepers.
(AFP, 3/5/07)
2007 Mar 6, In Somalia mortar
rounds slammed into Mogadishu's airport during a ceremony welcoming
the arrival of peacekeepers. At least 3 people were killed when a
firefight erupted between unidentified insurgents and Ethiopian
troops near a military base in Mogadishu.
(AP, 3/6/07)(AFP, 3/6/07)
2007 Mar 7, In Somalia a gunman
shot dead two policemen south of Mogadishu, close to the airport
where hundreds of African Union peacekeepers have begun deploying.
(AP, 3/7/07)
2007 Mar 8, In Somalia
insurgents ambushed a convoy of African Union peacekeepers sent to
help stabilize Mogadishu, setting off a gunfight that killed at
least 12 civilians.
(AFP, 3/8/07)
2007 Mar 11, In Somalia a
13-year-old boy and a woman were killed by stray bullets and five
others were injured as Ethiopian troops protecting government
installations battled with insurgents in Mogadishu.
(AP, 3/12/07)
2007 Mar 13, Somalia's
president came under mortar attack in his palace, hours after
arriving for a rare visit to the increasingly violent capital,
witnesses said. A 12-year-old boy was killed and three of his
siblings were wounded in the shelling.
(AP, 3/13/07)
2007 Mar 15, In Somalia a bomb
blast destroyed two houses near Mogadishu, killing seven people,
including four children.
(AP, 3/16/07)
2007 Mar 18, In Somalia
insurgents struck the Mogadishu's seaport and former intelligence
quarters, killing two people and injuring at least 16 who were
caught in fighting that drew in Ethiopian and government troops.
(AP, 3/18/07)
2007 Mar 20, The commander of
African Union forces in Somalia pleaded for reinforcements as the
AU's security chief paid a flying visit to volatile Mogadishu.
(AFP, 3/20/07)
2007 Mar 21, In Somalia masked
men believed to be Islamic militants dragged the corpses of two
soldiers through the streets of Mogadishu and set their bodies on
fire during fierce battles with government forces trying to
consolidate their control. Medical officials at Mogadishu's three
hospitals said they had recorded at least seven dead and 36 wounded
by early afternoon. One fire-fight left 15 people killed. Un
estimates said 40,000 of Mogadishu’s 2 million residents had fled
the city.
(AP, 3/21/07)(Econ, 3/24/07, p.54)
2007 Mar 22, Somali and
Ethiopian troops battled insurgents for a second day in Mogadishu
with 4 people killed and 6 wounded. The Somali government said
Al-Qaeda has named Aden Hashi Ayro, a ruthless Islamist commander,
as its leader in Mogadishu.
(AP, 3/22/07)(AFP, 3/22/07)(SFC, 3/23/07, p.A9)
2007 Mar 22, Smugglers taking
illegal migrants from Somalia to Yemen forced hundreds of Africans
overboard in stormy seas in an effort to make a fast getaway from
security forces. 31 bodies were found and nearly 90 people remained
missing.
(AP, 3/27/07)
2007 Mar 23, In Somalia a cargo
plane was shot down by a missile during takeoff died. Ten of the
crew died in the crash. Rescuers found a wounded crew member and
took him to a Mogadishu hospital where he died while being treated.
All crew members were either Ukrainian or Belarussian. Egi Azarian,
acting head of Belarus-based Transaviaexport, confirmed that the
company's plane was shot down.
(AP, 3/24/07)
2007 Mar 23, A human rights
group said Kenya has deported more than 100 people from 19 countries
to Somalia after they crossed the border between the two countries
illegally during fighting earlier this year, and the deportees were
subsequently arrested by Ethiopian troops.
(AP, 3/23/07)
2007 Mar 25, In Somalia one of
the elders involved in negotiations said talks between Ethiopian
military officials and elders of the dominant Hawiye clan in
Mogadishu have reached an impasse, threatening a two-day truce.
(AP, 3/25/07)
2007 Mar 29, Somali troops and
their Ethiopian allies pounded insurgent positions in Mogadishu with
bombs and tank shells, sending residents fleeing a surge in fighting
that killed over 30 people including 7 Ethiopian soldiers.
(AP, 3/29/07)(SFC, 3/30/07, p.A20)
2007 Mar 30, In Somalia
insurgents shot down a helicopter gunship in Mogadishu and mortar
shells slammed into a hospital in the worst fighting seen here in
more than 15 years.
(AP, 3/30/07)
2007 Mar 31, In Somalia
artillery fire and mortar shells rained down on Mogadishu as
government troops and their Ethiopian allies continued a major
offensive to quash a growing insurgency by Islamic militants. A
Ugandan soldier was killed by artillery fire in Mogadishu, marking
the first death among African Union peacekeepers deployed here.
(AP, 3/31/07)(AFP, 4/1/07)
2007 Mar-2000 Apr, Ethiopia
later said that during this period it killed at least a thousand
Shabab fighters, the armed wing of Islamic courts in Somalia.
Human-rights groups said most of the 1,670 recorded dead were
civilians.
(Econ, 6/2/07, p.47)
2007 Apr 1, Mogadishu's
dominant clan said it has brokered a truce with Ethiopian military
officials who are supporting Somalia's government, even as mortar
shells continued slamming into the capital for a fourth day.
(AP, 4/1/07)
2007 Apr 2, In Somalia a human
rights organization said fierce fighting between Ethiopian-backed
government forces and Islamic insurgents has killed 381 people over
four days.
(AP, 4/2/07)
2007 Apr 6, Somali pirates
freed two hijacked merchant ships, including one that had just
delivered UN food aid when it was seized more than a month ago with
12 crew on board.
(AP, 4/7/07)
2007 Apr 11, In Somalia
Ethiopian-backed government troops and Islamic insurgents exchanged
gunfire in northern Mogadishu, killing three people and ending more
than a week of relative calm.
(AP, 4/11/07)
2007 Apr 18, In Somalia
overnight street battles in Mogadishu left at least 11 people dead
and dozens others injured.
(AP, 4/18/07)
2007 Apr 19, In Somalia
fighting between Ethiopian troops and insurgents left at least 12
people dead in Mogadishu, while a suicide car bomb exploded at an
Ethiopian army base.
(AP, 4/20/07)
2007 Apr 20, In Somalia a local
human rights group said 3 days of fighting between Islamic
insurgents and Ethiopian troops backing the government has killed at
least 113 civilians.
(AP, 4/20/07)
2007 Apr 21, In Somalia heavy
fighting between Islamic insurgents and Ethiopian troops backing the
government left at least 52 civilians dead in Mogadishu.
(AP, 4/21/07)
2007 Apr 22, In Mogadishu,
Somalia, the two main hospitals said they admitted 26 civilians
wounded as fighting eased.
(AP, 4/22/07)
2007 Apr 23, In Somalia masked
Islamic insurgents and Ethiopian-backed government forces pounded
each other with machine-gun fire, mortars and heavy artillery in
Mogadishu, bringing the death toll from six days of fighting to at
least 250.
(AP, 4/23/07)
2007 Apr 24, In Somalia
artillery shells and mortars rained down on Mogadishu in a seventh
straight day of raging battles that have left nearly 250 dead.
(AP, 4/24/07)
2007 Apr 25, In Somalia
civilians were caught in the crossfire as the government's Ethiopian
backers used tanks and heavy artillery to pound insurgent
strongholds. Human rights groups said more than 350 people have been
killed in the last eight days, the majority civilians.
(AP, 4/25/07)
2007 Apr 26, Somalia's prime
minister claimed victory over Islamic insurgents in Mogadishu, where
nine days of battles using tanks and artillery left hundreds dead.
(AP, 4/26/07)
2007 May 4, In Somalia Mohamed
Dheere, a former warlord, was sworn in as mayor of Mogadishu and
immediately ordered residents to get rid of their weapons. Aid
groups said 1,670 people were killed between March 12 and April 26
and more than 340,000 of the city's 2 million residents fled for
safety as the government, backed by Ethiopian troops, pressed to
wipe out an Islamic insurgency.
(AP, 5/4/07)
2007 May 7, The African Union
announced it would send an extra 8,000 peacekeepers to Somalia but
said dialogue remained the only solution to the bloody conflict in
that country.
(AP, 5/7/07)
2007 May 9, Authorities said
Somali security forces are seizing and even burning Muslim women's
veils in Mogadishu to stop Islamist insurgents disguising themselves
for attacks.
(AP, 5/9/07)
2007 May 10, A land mine attack
on a convoy of Somali government officials ended in the deaths of
two civilians in Mogadishu. Elsewhere, two aid workers were
reportedly kidnapped.
(AP, 5/10/07)
2007 May 12, The UN top
humanitarian official made a landmark visit to Mogadishu, but the
trip was disrupted by an explosion that killed four people near the
UN compound. John Holmes said he had come to push the government to
allow humanitarian aid to reach its people.
(AP, 5/12/07)
2007 May 16, In Somalia a
roadside bomb struck a convoy carrying African Union peacekeepers,
killing four Ugandan peacekeepers in one of the deadliest attacks on
the troops since they arrived in March.
(AP, 5/16/07)
2007 May 20, A bomb detonated
in Mogadishu near the mayor's vehicle convoy, leaving at least two
civilians dead. His bodyguards shot and killed a suspected insurgent
who had been in a tree near the explosion.
(AP, 5/20/07)
2007 May 21, Ethiopian troops
backing Somalia's fragile government killed one person and wounded
another after their convoy was targeted by a land mine in Mogadishu.
(AP, 5/21/07)
2007 May 24, Somali police shot
and killed two civilians after attackers hurled a hand grenade at a
police station.
(AP, 5/24/07)
2007 May 30, In Somalia
Ethiopian troops shot and killed five bystanders after a land mine
exploded as their convoy passed through the center of a western
Somali town.
(AP, 5/30/07)
2007 Jun 1, At least one US
warship bombarded a remote, mountainous village in Somalia where
Islamic militants had set up a base. One target was said to be Fazul
Abdullah Muhammad (35), a citizen of the Comoro Islands. The next
day Puntland VP Hassan Dahir Mohamoud told The Associated Press that
his government's troops killed eight foreign Islamic militants and
five of them came from Britain, Eritrea, Sweden, the US and Yemen.
(AP, 6/2/07)(AP, 6/3/07)(Econ, 7/14/07, p.52)
2007 Jun 2, In Mogadishu,
Somalia, unknown gunmen killed a government official, Hassan Ali
Sa'id, as he was about to enter his house.
(AP, 6/2/07)
2007 Jun 3, A suicide car
bomber drove through a roadblock guarding the home of the Somali
prime minister and rammed the vehicle into a wall. PM Ali Mohamed
Gedi was whisked to safety, but at least five people were killed in
the explosion.
(AP, 6/3/07)
2007 Jun 4, In Somalia
Ethiopian troops fired at a would-be suicide bomber speeding toward
their base, blowing up the car and killing the bomber and a civilian
standing nearby.
(AP, 6/4/07)
2007 Jun 13, Global shipping
officials warned that pirate attacks off Somalia's coast have
spiraled to terrifying levels, with US and international navies
failing to protect seafarers from being kidnapped.
(AP, 6/13/07)
2007 Jun 18, In Mogadishu,
Somalia, a roadside bomb hidden in a pile of garbage exploded,
killing two children and wounding 3 other people just minutes after
security officials drove by.
(AP, 6/18/07)
2007 Jun 26, In Somalia a
roadside bomb explosion in Mogadishu killed five women and a man and
wounded nine other people.
(AP, 6/26/07)
2007 Jun 28, In Somalia a
roadside bomb killed two Somali soldiers in Mogadishu in the latest
of a string of attacks highlighting worsening security.
(AFP, 6/28/07)
2007 Jul 2, Somali gunmen shot
dead a senior government official in Mogadishu. A teenager died when
munitions left behind by African Union peacekeepers exploded.
(Reuters, 7/3/07)
2007 Jul 6, In Somalia 5
children who stopped to play with a land mine on the way to prayers
died when one of them threw the device against a wall, causing a
blast that sent their bodies flying through the air.
(AP, 7/6/07)
2007 Jul 12, In Somalia
insurgents fired more than two dozen mortar shells at government
targets in Mogadishu overnight, including the president's home, in
an apparent attempt to disrupt this weekend's reconciliation talks.
At least 3 men were killed.
(AP, 7/12/07)
2007 Jul 19, A 30-minute
gunbattle rocked Mogadishu in the hours before a long-awaited Somali
peace conference was set to begin. At least two people were killed.
(AP, 7/19/07)
2007 Jul 26, In Somalia 2
separate explosions killed at least five civilians in Mogadishu,
where the government is struggling to contain a lethal insurgency.
(AP, 7/27/07)
2007 Jul 26, UN arms experts
reported that Eritrea has secretly supplied "huge quantities of
arms" to a Somali insurgent group with alleged ties to al-Qaida in
violation of an international arms embargo and despite the
deployment of African peacekeepers.
(AP, 7/26/07)
2007 Jul 29, In Somalia gun
battles and grenade attacks killed two soldiers and two civilians in
Mogadishu, where the government is struggling to contain a violent
insurgency.
(AP, 7/29/07)
2007 Jul 30, In Somalia
insurgents attacked government buildings in Mogadishu, starting a
gunbattle with troops that killed at least 4 people, including a
four-year-old child. In the central town of Belet Weyne, two
children and their father were killed when Ethiopian troops fired
artillery shells into a residential area after a land mine exploded
near their convoy. A land mine exploded near a bus in southern
Mogadishu, killing 5 on board and wounding 3 others.
(AP, 7/31/07)(AP, 8/1/07)
2007 Aug 2, In Somalia mortars
slammed into homes in Mogadishu after fighting between insurgents
and Ethiopian troops, killing 8 people, including a mother and her
two daughters.
(AP, 8/2/07)
2007 Aug 11, In Somalia 2
prominent radio journalists were assassinated in Mogadishu within
hours of each other, one just outside his office and the other as he
returned from his colleague's burial.
(AP, 8/11/07)
2007 Aug 12, In Somalia 2
suspects were arrested in the deaths of two prominent Somali
journalists who were killed within hours of each other.
(AP, 8/12/07)
2007 Aug 14, In Somalia a local
human rights group said fighting in Mogadishu has killed 31
civilians and wounded 60 in the past 24 hours.
(AP, 8/14/07)
2007 Aug 16, Uganda announced
plans to send 250 extra soldiers to a peacekeeping mission in
Mogadishu, but Somalia's government warned they were not enough and
urged other African nations to commit troops.
(Reuters, 8/16/07)
2007 Aug 18, Rival clan
militias fought over scarce pasture land and wells in central
Somalia, leaving 18 people dead and 15 wounded.
(AP, 8/18/07)
2007 Aug 20, The UN Security
Council authorized an African Union force in chaotic Somalia for
another six months and asked the secretary-general to develop plans
for a possible UN troop replacement.
(Reuters, 8/20/07)
2007 Aug 22, Denmark's
government said Somali pirates released the crew of a hijacked
Danish cargo ship after receiving a ransom payment.
(AP, 8/22/07)
2007 Aug 24, In Somalia gunmen
shot and killed Abdulkadir Moallim Kaskey, a Somali radio
journalist, in southwestern Gedo province.
(AP, 8/24/07)
2007 Aug 26, In Somalia
bombings and grenade attacks killed two schoolboys and three other
people in Mogadishu.
(AP, 8/26/07)
2007 Sep 16, Saudi King
Abdullah oversaw the signing in Jiddah of a reconciliation agreement
negotiated by several Somali factions in an attempt to stabilize
their country and battle the Islamic opposition.
(AP, 9/16/07)
2007 Sep 21, The Red Cross
warned that a massive aid effort is needed to cope with floods in 18
countries across Africa that have already affected at least 1.5
million people and killed at least 270 in Ghana, Kenya, Somalia,
Sudan, Togo, Uganda and other countries.
(AFP, 9/21/07)
2007 Sep 26, Transparency
International's 2007 index ranked Myanmar and Somalia as the most
corrupt nations. Both received the lowest score of 1.4 out of 10.
Denmark, Finland and New Zealand were ranked the least corrupt, each
scoring 9.4.
(AP, 9/26/07)
2007 Sep 27, Somali and
Ethiopian troops ordered thousands to vacate their homes in
Mogadishu to allow the forces to search for arms and insurgents.
(AP, 9/29/07)
2007 Oct 4, The government of
Somalia announced a crackdown on Islamic militants.
(WSJ, 10/6/07, p.A1)
2007 Oct 5, Insurgents in
Somalia killed at least 5 people in a grenade attack at the main
market in Mogadishu.
(WSJ, 10/6/07, p.A1)
2007 Oct 8, Mogadishu Mayor
Mohamed Dheere ordered Somalia's Elman Human Rights, an independent
rights group, to close its offices. The group was accused of
spreading "exaggerated and false information" about the country's
fragile government.
(AP, 12/2/07)
2007 Oct 11, A suicide bomber
in Somalia drove a pickup filled with explosives into an army base
killing himself and 2 other people.
(WSJ, 10/12/07, p.A1)
2007 Oct 17,
Irdris Osman, the head of UN food agency operations in the
violence-wracked Somali capital, was taken away by 50 to 60 heavily
armed government security officers who had stormed the UN compound
in Mogadishu. Osman was freed on Oct 23. Overnight, at least 8
civilians and one policeman died during a battle between Islamic
insurgents and policemen.
(AP, 10/17/07)(AP, 10/23/07)
2007 Oct 24, In Somalia a
roadside bomb killed five civilians and wounded 16 when it exploded
near a minibus full of passengers in the war-ravaged Mogadishu.
(AP, 10/24/07)
2007 Oct 27, In Somalia
insurgents and government-allied forces battled with machine guns,
mortars and rocket-propelled grenades in the heaviest fighting to
hit Mogadishu for months, leaving at least seven people dead and
dozens others wounded.
(AP, 10/27/07)
2007 Oct 28, The USS Porter, a
guided missile destroyer, fired on and destroyed two pirate boats
tied to the Golden Nori, a hijacked Japanese-flagged chemical
tanker. The ship was carrying a load of benzene off the coast of
Somalia.
(AP, 11/1/07)
2007 Oct 29, A long-brewing
power struggle between the Somali PM Ali Mohamed Gedi and Pres.
Abdullahi Yusuf ended with the premier's resignation, throwing the
government of the war-battered Horn of Africa nation into disarray.
In Mogadishu, hundreds of demonstrators marched through the streets
in a second day of protests against the presence of the Ethiopian
troops in the country.
(AP, 10/29/07)
2007 Oct 30, Somalia's
president named Salim Aliyow Ibrow, a former deputy prime
minister, as a caretaker prime minister, a day after the
outgoing premier lost a power struggle in the government and
resigned.
(AP, 10/30/07)
2007 Oct 30, The US Navy
boarded a North Korean flagged ship at its invitation with a small
team of medics, security personnel and an interpreter. The 22-person
North Korean crew already had regained control of the ship and
detained all the Somali pirates.
(AP, 11/1/07)
2007 Nov 1, The UN said nearly
90,000 people have fled Mogadishu in recent days following the
heaviest fighting to shake the war-battered city in months. About 40
people, mostly Somalis, drowned while crossing the Gulf of Aden on
their way to Yemen in a desperate attempt to escape gunbattles back
home. About 90 others survived and managed to reach the Yemeni
southern shores of Shokara after their rickety vessels capsized.
(AP, 11/1/07)(AP, 11/3/07)
2007 Nov 4, Somali pirates left
the Tanzanian-flagged boats Mavuno 1 and 2, which they had hijacked
in the waters off Somalia on May 15. The newly liberated vessels,
and their crew of 24, were under US Navy escort. Among the crew on
the South Korean-owned vessels were four South Koreans, 10 Chinese,
three Vietnamese, three Indians and four Indonesians.
(AP, 11/4/07)
2007 Nov 5, Somali pirates
released a Taiwanese fishing vessel 5 1/2 months after seizing it.
The US Navy helped free the fifth ship in a week hijacked by Somalia
pirates, attempting to bring security to crucial shipping routes
between the Red Sea and Indian Ocean. The Navy was in contact with
two remaining ships held by pirates in Somali waters.
(AP, 11/5/07)
2007 Nov 7, In Somalia Doctors
Without Borders said the fighting had grown so bad in Mogadishu that
civilians who were shot or hit by shrapnel during the night
frequently bled to death because the violence cut them off from the
hospitals.
(AP, 11/9/07)
2007 Nov 9, In Somalia
witnesses and doctors said heavy fighting between insurgents and
Ethiopian troops backing Somalia's shaky government has killed 50
people and wounded 100 others in the past 24 hours.
(AP, 11/9/07)
2007 Nov 12, UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said deploying a UN peacekeeping
operation to Somalia is not realistic or viable given the
war-wracked African country’s security situation, the intensifying
insurgency and the lack of progress towards any political
reconciliation.
(www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=24625&Cr=somalia&Cr1)
2007 Nov 13, Journalists said
the Somali government has shut down three independent radio stations
in two days, as troops backed by Ethiopian soldiers continued to
battle Islamic insurgents in the shrapnel-strewn streets of the
capital.
(AP, 11/13/07)
2007 Nov 17, Somali rebels
launched an overnight attack on a camp of Ugandan troops in
Mogadishu, triggering fighting that left at least one insurgent
dead.
(AP, 11/17/07)
2007 Nov 21, More than 60
migrants drowned when their boat capsized off Yemen during an
attempt to flee their war torn homeland of Somalia.
(AP, 11/22/07)
2007 Dec 2, A Somali human
rights group said violence in Mogadishu has killed 5,960 civilians
this year.
(AP, 12/2/07)
2007 Dec 12, Pirates freed a
Japanese chemical tanker loaded with highly explosive benzene off
the coast of Somalia, six weeks after seizing the vessel and its
crew.
(AP, 12/12/07)
2007 Dec 13, In Somalia mortar
rounds slammed into the biggest market in Mogadishu and gunbattles
erupted across the city, killing 17 people hours after a government
official said radical Muslims had regrouped and were poised to
launch a massive attack.
(AP, 12/13/07)
2007 Dec 14, Mortar shells
rained down on Mogadishu for a second day, killing at least five
people. The African Union's new representative for Somalia said he
expected more peacekeepers to arrive starting this month.
(AP, 12/14/07)
2007 Dec 17, In Somalia mortar
shells slammed into Mogadishu, killing at least 12 people, including
a mother and her three children, and wounding dozens in an
increasingly ferocious Islamic insurgency.
(AP, 12/17/07)
2007 Dec 23, In Somalia a first
contingent of 100 Burundian peacekeepers deployed in the capital,
joining 1,800 Ugandan troops in an African Union force, AMISOM, that
is still well short of the personnel strength needed to help restore
order. Insurgents armed with rocket-propelled grenades and assault
rifles attacked an Ethiopian army base in northern Mogadishu,
triggering a deadly nighttime clash that sent stray mortar rounds
crashing into homes. At least five Somalis were killed and eight
wounded in the crossfire.
(AP, 12/23/07)(AFP, 10/22/11)
2007 Dec 24, In southwestern
Somalia gunmen threw grenades at the home of the regional police
chief, killing two of his grandchildren and a bodyguard but not
their target. Burundi deployed a 2nd contingent of 92 peacekeepers
to Mogadishu, to bolster an African Union force.
(AP, 12/24/07)(AP, 12/25/07)
2007 Dec 30, In Somalia a
mother and her five children were killed by a mortar round fired
during fighting in Mogadishu between insurgents and Ethiopian
troops.
(AP, 12/31/07)
2007 Ayaan Hirsi Ali (b.1969),
Somalia born writer and resident at the American Enterprise
Institute in Washington DC, authored her autobiography “Infidel.” In
the Netherlands it was published under the title “My Freedom.”
(WSJ, 2/3/07, p.P12)(Econ, 2/10/07, p.87)
2008 Jan 17, In Somalia Islamic
militants fired mortar shells and guns in Mogadishu sparking
crossfire with Ethiopian troops that left at least 20 people dead.
(SFC, 1/18/08, p.A4)
2008 Jan 20, The final 210
members of the first battalion of Burundian soldiers to be deployed
in Somalia as part of an African Union peace-keeping force left
Bujumbura for Mogadishu. Burundi is expected to deploy a total of
1,700 soldiers in Somalia, alongside around 1,600 troops from Uganda
who have been in the capital Mogadishu since March.
(AFP, 1/20/08)
2008 Jan 28, In Somalia 3 staff
members of Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF-Holland) were killed and
one wounded when their vehicle hit a land mine on a road between the
international staff members' home and the hospital where they worked
in the southern Somali town of Kismayo. In response Doctors Without
Borders evacuated its 87 employees from Somalia.
(AP, 2/1/08)
2008 Feb 1, Pirates seized a
Danish-owned tug boat and its six crew members off Somalia's
northeastern coast and demanded ransom. The 115-foot Svitzer
Korsakov was built in St. Petersburg, Russia, and was on its way to
Sakhalin Island in the Far East.
(AP, 2/4/08)
2008 Feb 3, In Somalia a
roadside bomb killed eight civilians and wounded nine others when it
exploded near a minibus full of passengers in war-ravaged Mogadishu.
(AP, 2/3/08)
2008 Feb 5, In northeastern
Somalia grenade attack killed 21 people and wounded 100 in Bossaso,
Puntland.
(AP, 2/6/08)
2008 Feb 12, In northern
Somalia gunmen kidnapped a German aid worker after exchanging fire
with his bodyguards. The next day Somaliland forces freed him from
gunmen.
(AP, 2/12/08)(AP, 2/13/08)
2008 Mar 3, The US launched an
airstrike on a Somali town held by Islamic extremists to go after a
group of terrorist suspects. Three missiles hit Dobley, a town four
miles from the Kenyan border, destroying a home and seriously
injured eight people.
(AP, 3/3/08)
2008 Mar 5, In Somalia a
firefight between Islamic insurgents and Somali police at a
checkpoint outside the capital has left five people dead.
(AP, 3/6/08)
2008 Mar 18, The US listed
Shabab, the armed wing of the Islamic Courts Union in Somalia, as a
terrorist organization.
(www.globalsecurity.org/security/library/news/2008/03/sec-080318-voa01.htm)(Econ,
7/5/08, p.58)
2008 Mar 24, The WHO said polio
transmission has been stopped in Somalia.
(WSJ, 3/25/08, p.A1)
2008 Mar 29, In Somalia at
least 10 people were killed in Mogadishu after government troops
shelled a market area known to be an insurgent hideout.
(SSFC, 3/30/08, p.A2)
2008 Apr 4, Pirate attackers
off Somalia’s coast stormed the 288-foot Le Ponant as it returned
without passengers from the Seychelles, in the Indian Ocean. French
officials hoped to avoid using force to free the 30 crew members.
(AP, 4/5/08)
2008 Apr 6, In Somalia 4 people
were killed in Mogadishu in separate attacks overnight, as violence
raged in the shattered east African nation.
(AFP, 4/6/08)
2008 Apr 11, French officials
said pirates have freed the 30 crew from Le Ponant, a French luxury
sailing ship, which was seized off Somalia on April 4, and had been
tailed by the French Navy. Helicopter-borne French troops seized 6
of the dozen hostage takers, after the hostages were freed, and
recovered sacks of money, apparently ransom paid by the ship’s
owners.
(AFP, 4/11/08)(SFC, 4/12/08, p.A9)
2008 Apr 13, In Somalia
suspected Islamist insurgents dragged two British nationals and two
Kenyans out of their home in Beledweyn and killed them.
(AFP, 4/14/08)
2008 Apr 20, Pirates off the
Somali coast, armed with grenade launchers, stormed a Spanish tuna
fishing boat, the Playa de Bakio, with 26 crew members.
(AFP, 4/21/08)
2008 Apr 22,
Security forces in northern Somalia stormed a hijacked ship carrying
food, rescuing hostages and arresting seven pirates. The seizure was
the latest in a spate of pirate attacks off the increasingly lawless
Somali coast.
(AP, 4/22/08)
2008 Apr 23, In Somalia
residents said four more corpses were found Mogadishu, bringing the
death toll from last weekend's shelling and seizure of small towns
by the Islamists' to at least 103. Amnesty Int’l. Ethiopian
soldiers, stationed in Somalia to bolster the interim government,
had killed 21 people and captured dozens of children in a raid on
the Al Hidaaya mosque earlier this week during operations against
Islamist insurgents.
(Reuters, 4/24/08)
2008 Apr 26, The Spanish
government said the 26 crew members onboard the Playa de Bakio
fishing boat, hijacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia nearly a
week ago, have been freed. A maritime official said it was freed
after a 1.2 million-dollar ransom was paid.
(AP, 4/26/08)(AP, 4/27/08)
2008 Apr 29, An explosion in
southwestern Somalia killed four Ethiopian troops and the subsequent
gunfire killed two civilians.
(AP, 4/29/08)
2008 Apr 30, Ethiopian troops
allied to Somalia's shaky government opened fire on civilians in a
street in southwestern Somalia, killing 13 after an explosion there
killed two soldiers.
(AP, 4/30/08)
2008 May 1, An Islamic
insurgent group said the US military killed Aden Hashi Ayro, a man
believed to be the head of al-Qaida in Somalia, and 10 others in an
airstrike overnight.
(AP, 5/1/08)
2008 May 4, In Somalia Islamic
insurgents killed at least three Ethiopian soldiers during a
gunfight in Mogadishu. Inter-clan fighting in western Somalia, which
broke out the previous evening, left at least 12 people dead and at
least 15 others wounded in a land dispute.
(AP, 5/4/08)
2008 May 5, In Somalia troops
opened fire and killed at least two people as tens of thousands of
people rioted over high food prices in Mogadishu.
(AP, 5/5/08)
2008 May 6, In Somalia hundreds
of youths in Mogadishu lobbed stones at shops and cars and set tires
ablaze in a second day of violence over soaring food prices. Amnesty
Int’l. accused Ethiopian troops in Somalia of killing civilians and
committing atrocities, including slitting people's throats, gouging
out eyes and gang-raping women.
(AP, 5/6/08)
2008 May 8, In Somalia two
police officers and five insurgents died in the attack when Islamist
fighters fired rocket-propelled grenades and heavy submachine guns
at the heavily guarded K4 district of Mogadishu. Three other
insurgents were captured. Islamist spokesman Abdirahim Issa Adow
said fighters killed eight police and one Islamist fighter died and
two were wounded.
(AP, 5/9/08)
2008 May 17, Somali pirates
hijacked a Jordanian-flagged ship, called the Victoria, in the
latest in a string of attacks off the lawless coast of Somalia.
Islamic insurgents in Somalia seized a major agricultural center
overnight in Jilib. 2 militia fighters were killed. The UAE-owned
ship was released on May 23.
(AP, 5/17/08)(AP, 5/18/08)(AP, 5/23/08)
2008 May 21, In southern
Somalia dozens of heavily armed gunmen kidnapped two Italian aid
workers and their Somali colleague.
(AP, 5/21/08)
2008 May 23, In Somalia a
roadside bomb exploded near a compound housing African Union (AU)
peacekeepers in Mogadishu, causing some casualties.
(AFP, 5/23/08)
2008 May 25, The Amiya Scan, a
Dutch freighter, was hijacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia.
The ship and its crew of 4 Russians and 5 Filipinos were freed on
June 25.
(AP, 6/26/08)
2008 May 26, In Somalia
Islamist insurgents attacked African Union peacekeepers in
Mogadishu, sparking fierce clashes that killed at least 13 Somalis,
most of them civilians.
(AFP, 5/26/08)
2008 Jun 2, Somalia's
opposition alliance ruled out direct peace talks with the country's
transitional government unless it sets a timetable for the
withdrawal of Ethiopian troops.
(AP, 6/2/08)
2008 Jun 2, Foreign ships
gained UN authorization to enter Somali waters when fighting piracy
and armed robbery. The unanimous UN Security Council resolution made
it legal for foreign navies to chase pirates into Somali waters and
if need be sink them.
(AP,
6/2/08)(www.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-07-20-pirates_N.htm)
2008 Jun 8, In Somalia 12
civilians were killed in Mogadishu in a cross fire between troops
and suspected Islamic insurgents.
(SFC, 6/9/08, p.A11)
2008 Jun 9, Somalia’s
government signed an agreement with an opposition alliance calling
for an end to violence and the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops. A
leader of the ousted Islamic movement rejected the UN-brokered deal.
(SFC, 6/10/08, p.A3)(SFC, 6/11/08, p.A15)
2008 Jun 20, The UN reported
that over 40 civilians had been killed this week in Mogadishu,
Somalia.
(SFC, 6/21/08, p.A3)
2008 Jun 21, In Somalia Hassan
Mohamed Ali, head of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees
organization in Mogadishu, was abducted from his home on the
outskirts of Mogadishu. He was released in late August. He had
suffered bullet wounds in the neck and knee from the kidnapping, but
said that he was generally treated well during his captivity.
(AP, 8/28/08)
2008 Jun 22, In Somalia gunmen
killed Mohamed Hassan Kulmiye, a senior official with the
Mogadishu-based Centre For Research and Dialogue (CRD), one day
after kidnapping a UN official, the latest in a string of attacks
against aid and rights workers.
(AFP, 6/22/08)
2008 Jun 23, Somali gunmen
reportedly seized 4 Europeans from a yacht off the Gulf of Aden and
took to Puntland, a semiautonomous region of northern Somalia. They
demanded $1 million for the release of a German couple, their young
son and a French boat captain. German officials subsequently said no
child was kidnapped. The German couple was released on August 8
following a $1 million ransom.
(AP, 6/26/08)(AP, 8/9/08)
2008 Jul 1, The African Union,
meeting in Egypt, announced that it was extending the mandate of its
force in Somalia for another six months but urged the UN to take
over the peacekeeping mission. The African leaders also called for
dialogue between Zimbabwe's political foes and a national unity
government following President Robert Mugabe's widely discredited
reelection.
(AFP, 7/1/08)(AP, 7/2/08)
2008 Jul 6, In Somalia gunmen
opened fire on people leaving a mosque in Mogadishu, killing one of
the country’s senior UN officials.
(SFC, 7/7/08, p.A3)
2008 Jul 8, A German cargo ship
held captive for 41 days off the coast of Somalia was released and
all aboard were safe and unharmed. A Somali official said the
pirates received a ransom of $750,000. The Lehmann Timber was one of
two ships hijacked on May 30 off the Horn of Africa.
(AP, 7/9/08)
2008 Jul 10, Somali insurgents
killed at least two people in an overnight attack on an army base 15
miles (24 kilometers) northeast of the government headquarters in
Baidoa.
(AP, 7/10/08)
2008 Jul 11, Somali troops shot
and killed 7 civilians in southern Mogadishu after accusing them of
being part of an Islamic insurgency.
(SFC, 7/11/08, p.A3)
2008 Jul 13, A World Food
Program contractor was gunned down in Somalia, the 5th agency worker
to be killed this year.
(SFC, 7/16/08,
p.A15)(www.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-07-15-somalia_N.htm)
2008 Jul 22, Sheik Hassan Dahir
Aweys took over the Islamist opposition Alliance for the
Re-Liberation of Somalia (ARS), which operates in exile in Eritrea.
(AP, 7/25/08)
2008 Jul 23, The African Union
said it was incapable of stabilizing the situation in Somalia and
urged the UN take over peacekeeping operations in the lawless Horn
of Africa country.
(Reuters, 7/23/08)
2008 Jul 25, Sheik Hassan Dahir
Aweys, Somalia's new hard-line opposition leader, promised to pacify
his shattered country through Islamic law, warning UN peacekeepers
they will face attack if they deploy and support the government.
(AP, 7/25/08)
2008 Jul 25, Ahmedou Ould
Abdallah, the UN special envoy for Somalia, sounded the alarm about
rampant illegal fishing and the dumping of toxic waste off the coast
of the lawless nation.
(AFP, 7/25/08)
2008 Jul 25, Estonia urged the
EU to take stronger action against Somali pirates attacking cargo
ships bound for Europe, after an Estonian sailor was held hostage
for 41 days.
(AFP, 7/26/08)
2008 Aug 1, An African Union
(AU) peacekeeper from Uganda was killed when a roadside bomb struck
his convoy in the capital Mogadishu.
(AFP, 8/1/08)
2008 Aug 3, In Somalia a bomb
hidden under a pile of garbage killed at least 20 people, half of
them women who were sweeping the street in Mogadishu.
(AP, 8/3/08)
2008 Aug 12, Somali pirates
hijacked the Thor Star, a Thai cargo ship with 28 crew members
onboard.
(AP, 8/15/08)
2008 Aug 19, Armed pirates
seized the MT Bunga Melati Dua, a Malaysian palm oil tanker with 39
crew, off the coast of Somalia, the fourth hijacking in a month.
(AP, 8/20/08)
2008 Aug 21, Armed pirates
hijacked a Japanese chemical tanker with 19 crew, an Iranian bulk
carrier with 29 crew, and a German cargo ship with a crew of 9 off
Somalia's coast.
(AP, 8/21/08)(AP, 8/22/08)
2008 Aug 22, In Somalia
fighting between the Islamic militia and a clan militia killed 10
people in the southern port of Kismayo. Witnesses said a radical
Islamic militia controlled most of Somalia's third-largest city
after three days of fighting in which some 70 people died.
(AP, 8/22/08)(WSJ, 8/23/08, p.A1)
2008 Aug 23, Pirates fired on a
Japanese-operated cargo ship off Somalia and attempted to board the
vessel but failed to seize it.
(AP, 8/23/08)
2008 Aug 23, In Somalia 2
Western reporters were kidnapped near Mogadishu. The next day the
National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) named them as Amanda
Lindhout, a Canadian reporter based in Baghdad but freelancing for
French television and Canada's Global National News, and Nigel
Brennan, a freelance Australian photojournalist. Both were released
after 15 months and arrived in Kenya on Nov 25, 2009.
(Reuters, 8/24/08)(AP, 11/26/09)
2008 Aug 24, In Somalia the
Shabab, the former military wing of the Islamic courts, and local
clan factions took control of the southern port of Kismayo. Muktar
Robow, a Shabab commander, wanted to merge with al-Qaeda.
(Econ, 9/6/08, p.56)
2008 Aug 26, A Maltese fishing
trawler rescued the migrants. Authorities said the survivors first
told the fishermen that 10 people were missing, but later said as
many as 70 people from Somalia, Eritrea and Sudan made the sea
voyage with them.
(AP, 8/28/08)
2008 Aug 29, Pirates, believed
to be Somali, hijacked the Malaysian MT Bunga Melati 5 tanker and
its 41 crew members off Yemen's coast in the Gulf of Aden. It was
the second tanker owned by MISC Berhard to be hijacked in the gulf
in the last 10 days.
(AP, 8/30/08)
2008 Sep 2, Somali pirates
captured the yacht Carre d'As IV with its two French crew, Jean-Yves
and Bernadette Delanne, who were taken and held for ransom.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carr%C3%A9_d%27As_IV_incident)
2008 Sep 3, In Somalia mortar
shells slammed into Mogadishu as insurgents vowed to intensify
attacks during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. At least 4 people
were killed.
(AP, 9/3/08)
2008 Sep 3, An Egyptian cargo
ship with 25 crew was hijacked by pirates in the Gulf of Aden near
Somalia, making it the 10th vessel to be hijacked in the area since
July 20.
(AP, 9/5/08)
2008 Sep 5, Malaysia said it is
dispatching three navy vessels to the Gulf of Aden to protect its
merchant ships following a sharp surge in pirate attacks off the
coast of Somalia.
(AP, 9/5/08)
2008 Sep 9, A gunman killed an
outspoken Somali lawmaker in the provincial town of Baidoa, the
latest in a series of attacks in the lawless African nation.
(AP, 9/10/08)
2008 Sep 10, Pirates hijacked a
South Korean bulk carrier with 22 crew off Somalia's coast but were
thwarted in a separate attempt to seize a Greek ship. The crew and
vessel were released on Oct 16 with no comment on ransom.
(AP, 9/10/08)(AP, 10/16/08)
2008 Sep 14, In Somalia at
least six people, including an African Union (AU) peacekeeper, were
killed Sunday in two separate incidents in Mogadishu.
(AP, 9/14/08)
2008 Sep 15, In Somalia an
African Union peacekeeper was killed in a roadside bomb explosion in
Mogadishu, the 2nd AU member to be killed in there in as many days.
(AP, 9/15/08)
2008 Sep 16, French troops
stormed a yacht hijacked by Somali pirates, killing one, capturing
six others and freeing their two French hostages, who had been held
since Sep 2.
(AP, 9/16/08)
2008 Sep 18, Armed pirates
hijacked a Greek ship with 25 crew members off Somalia, bringing to
55 the number of reported attacks in the lawless sea lane of the
African region.
(AP, 9/18/08)
2008 Sep 21, Pirates in
speedboats hijacked a Greek bulk carrier with 19 crew members off
eastern Somalia. On Dec 8 Somali pirates freed the 19-man crew and
MV Captain Stephanos, the Greek-owned and Bahamas-flagged bulk
carrier.
(AP, 9/22/08)(AP, 12/10/08)
2008 Sep 21, Somali refugees
abandoned by smugglers in the dangerous waters of the Gulf of Aden
were rescued. They had drifted for 18 days, and at least 52 died
before the group was rescued off the Yemeni coast. Seventy-one
people survived the journey.
(AP, 9/28/08)
2008 Sep 22, In Somalia mortar
rounds slammed into a market in Mogadishu, killing up to 30 people
including children and overwhelming hospitals with dozens of wounded
in the worst fighting in months.
(AP, 9/22/08)
2008 Sep 23, Heavy fighting
between Somali insurgents and African Union forces erupted in
southern Mogadishu, leaving at least seven civilians dead.
(AFP, 9/23/08)
2008 Sep 25, Pirates seized the
530-foot, Ukrainian cargo vessel, MV Faina, with 21 people aboard
off eastern Somalia. Russia's navy soon sent a warship to Somalia's
coast a day after pirates seized the Ukrainian vessel loaded with 33
tanks, ammunition and 3 Russian crew members. The ITAR-Tass news
agency said the military equipment had been sold to Kenya. It was
later reported that the arms were destined for southern Sudan and
that Kenya’s cooperation would be rewarded in the future with cheap
oil. The shipped was released on Feb 5, 2009, following a ransom of
$3.2 million.
(AP, 9/26/08)(SFC, 9/27/08, p.A5)(Econ, 10/4/08,
p.49)(AP, 2/5/09)
2008 Sep 26, Somali pirates
hijacked the Liberian-flagged oil tanker MV Genius, a Greek-owned
ship with 19 crew. The MV Genius was ransomed and released on Nov
21.
(AP, 11/22/08)
2008 Sep 29, Somali Islamist
insurgents attacked government forces and African Union peacekeepers
overnight in Mogadishu. At least four people were killed in the
clashes. Somalia pirates released Malaysia’s palm oil tanker, MT
Bunga Melati 2, two days after its first vessel was released.
(AP, 9/30/08)(AFP, 9/29/08)
2008 Oct 1, In Somalia at least
seven civilians were killed in a mortar fire exchange that erupted
when an African Union (AU) plane landed at Mogadishu airport in
defiance of a "ban" by an Islamist militia. 28 Somali migrants died
after their boat capsized off the town of Shabwa because of strong
wind and high waves. A Yemen coast guard patrol reached the boat and
rescued 23 other migrants.
(AP, 10/2/08)
2008 Oct 3, The United Nations
said fighting has killed at least 80 civilians in Somalia's capital
over the last two weeks. More than 100 people have been injured. UN
humanitarian office spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs said nearly half of
Somalia's 8.3 million people were in need of food and other
assistance.
(AP, 10/3/08)
2008 Oct 8, Pirates in Somalia
released 15 Filipino seamen and four other crewmen of a chemical
tanker hijacked nearly two months ago, but were still holding 67
other Filipino sailors.
(AP, 10/9/08)
2008 Oct 9, NATO joined a
growing international force to protect vessels off Somalia's
perilous coast, sending military ships to the treacherous waters
where pirates are negotiating the release of an arms-laden tanker.
(AP, 10/10/08)
2008 Oct 9, Somali pirates
freed 20 Filipino seamen from a hijacked ship they held for more
than 80 days, as the Philippine government doubled the pay of
sailors passing through pirate-infested international waters. 47
Filipinos on three other ships were still in the hands of Somali
pirates. Pirates also released 29 Iranian crew members and their
cargo ship hijacked off Somalia's coast in late July.
(AP, 10/10/08)
2008 Oct 10, Yemeni officials
and the UN refugee agency said about 100 migrants from Somalia were
missing and feared drowned in the treacherous waters off the coast
of Yemen after smugglers forced them overboard 3 miles off Yemen’s
coast. 47 were believed to have survived.
(AP, 10/10/08)(SFC, 10/11/08, p.A10)
2008 Oct 10, Armed pirates off
Somalia hijacked a Greek chemical tanker with a crew of 20 flying a
Panamanian flag.
(AP, 10/11/08)
2008 Oct 12, Somali forces from
semiautonomous Puntland unsuccessfully raided a hijacked ships. 2
pirates were killed.
(WSJ, 10/13/08, p.A15)
2008 Oct 13, In Somalia
Islamist insurgents attacked African Union peacekeepers in
Mogadishu, triggering fierce clashes that killed a civilian and
wounded five others.
(AFP, 10/13/08)
2008 Oct 14, Off the Somali
coast a Panamanian-flagged vessel and its 11 crew members, nine
Syrians and two Somalis, were freed after a gunbattle in which one
Puntland soldier was killed and three wounded. The 10 pirates, who
had held the ship since Oct 9, surrendered when they ran out of
ammunition.
(AP, 10/14/08)
2008 Oct 14, Burundi said it
has completed its deployment of another 850 soldiers to Somalia,
bringing to about 3,400 the total number of African Union
peacekeepers stationed there. Burundi had already deployed some 850
soldiers to Somalia as part of AMISOM (African mission in Somalia).
(AP, 10/14/08)
2008 Oct 15, Armed pirates
hijacked a Japanese-operated bulk carrier with 21 Filipino crew
members in the Gulf of Aden near Somalia. The ship African
Sanderling was released on January 12, 2009.
(AP, 10/15/08)(AP, 1/13/09)
2008 Oct 16, In Somalia at
least 23 people were killed in Mogadishu when insurgents attacked
camps housing African Union and Ethiopian troops, triggering heavy
clashes.
(AFP, 10/16/08)
2008 Oct 16, Somali pirates
released 22 sailors they kidnapped on Sep 10, after the South Korean
ship owner paid a ransom. Koo Ja-Woo, an executive director of J and
J Trust, which owns the ship, said his company paid an unspecified
sum to the pirates through a foreign middleman with experience in
dealing with the seizure of ships.
(AFP, 10/17/08)
2008 Oct 16, The European
Commission announced 15 million euros (20 million dollars) of
emergency food aid for victims of drought and soaring food prices in
five east African countries. The biggest share will go to Ethiopia
and Somalia and smaller amounts to Kenya, Uganda and Djibouti.
(AFP, 10/16/08)
2008 Oct 18, Somali pirates
released a Thai ship after receiving a ransom.
(AP, 10/19/08)
2008 Oct 19, In Somalia 3
gunmen shot the employee of the UN Children's Fund, UNICEF, as he
walked home in the southern town of Hudur.
(AP, 10/20/08)
2008 Oct 21, A Somali official
said Somali gunmen acting as freelance coast guards freed a hijacked
Indian dhow and its 13 crew members after a battle with pirates off
the country's northern coast. The cargo-laden vessel was en route to
Somalia from Asia when it was seized over the weekend.
(AP, 10/21/08)
2008 Oct 23, The French Navy
captured nine pirates near the Gulf of Aden finding anti-tank
missiles, other weapons and ship boarding gear on the boats. A
Somali pirate warned that if a hijacked Ukrainian arms ship was
attacked the ship's 20-man crew would be killed.
(AP, 10/23/08)
2008 Oct 23, Russia, which sent
a warship to Somalia's coast to combat pirates, asked the African
nation for carte blanche to use force in its territorial waters.
(Reuters, 10/23/08)
2008 Oct 25, A gunman shot dead
a Somali woman employee in the latest of a string of attacks on the
humanitarian community. Duniya Sheik Daud was the 15th aid worker
killed so far this year in Somalia.
(AP, 10/25/08)
2008 Oct 27, In Somalia Aisha
Ibrahim Duhulow, a 13-year-old girl who said she had been raped, was
stoned to death in Kismayo after being accused of adultery by
Islamic militants.
(AP, 11/1/08)
2008 Oct 28-2009 Oct 29, In
northern Somalia 5 suicide car bombs attacks killed 28 people in
Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland, and in Bosasso, Puntland.
Somali authorities arrested Cleric Sheik Mohamed Ismail in
connection with the attacks. Shirwa Ahmed, one of the suicide
bombers, was an American citizen and former resident of Minnesota.
(AP, 10/30/08)(SFC, 10/30/08, p.A4)(Econ,
2/28/09, p.49)
2008 Oct 29, Pirates hijacked
the Turkish freighter MV Yasa Neslihan with a crew of 20 off the
coast of Somalia. Pirates freed the Yasa Neslihan freighter on Dec 6
after paying a ransom.
(SFC, 10/31/08, p.A8)(AP, 1/7/09)
2008 Nov 2, The bodies of 60
Somali and Ethiopian migrants washed up on the shores of southern
Yemen over the last three days.
(AP, 11/3/08)
2008 Nov 5, In Somalia 6
employees of the French aid group Action Against Hunger were
kidnapped in the town of Dhusamareb. They included four non-Somali
workers and two chauffeurs.
(AP, 11/5/08)
2008 Nov 7, Pirates near
Somalia hijacked a Danish cargo ship with 13 crew members, which
consisted of Russians and Ukrainians. The CEC Future was
released on January 16 following a ransom payment by Clipper
Projects.
(AP, 11/8/08)(AP, 1/16/09)
2008 Nov 10, Gunmen in northern
Kenya seized two Italian Catholic nuns from a church before dawn and
took them across the border into a Somali region largely controlled
by Islamist insurgents. The nuns were free on February 19, 2009.
(AP, 11/10/08)(AP, 2/19/09)
2008 Nov 10, Pirates near
Somalia hijacked the MT Stolt Strength. a Philippines chemical
tanker with 23 crew, bringing the total number of attacks in waters
off the African nation this year to 83. The ship was freed on April
21.
(AP, 11/11/08)(AFP, 4/21/09)
2008 Nov 12, In Somalia the
Islamist al-Shabab militia, that the US calls a terror organization,
seized Merka, a key port town, giving it control of most of southern
Somalia and sidelining the weak government. That night more than 100
heavily armed fighters entered Elasha, 11 miles (18 kilometers)
southwest of Mogadishu, after the pro-government militia fled.
(AP, 11/12/08)(AP, 11/13/08)
2008 Nov 12, Pirates
commandeered the Karagol, a Turkish chemical tanker, off the coast
of Yemen. 14 Turkish personnel were aboard the tanker. The Russian
frigate Neustrashimy and the British frigate Cumberland foiled
pirates who fired automatic weapons toward a Danish ship and twice
tried to seize it in the Gulf of Aden.
(AP, 11/12/08)
2008 Nov 15, In Somalia
fighters of al-Shabab took control of the port town of Barawe
without a fight after the government's allies left as soon as they
heard the fighters were on their way.
(AP, 11/15/08)
2008 Nov 15, Gunmen hijacked a
freighter with 23 crew off the coast of Somalia. The crew of the
Japanese-owned Chemstar Venus consisted of five South Koreans and 18
Filipinos. Somali pirates hijacked the Sirius Star, a newly
commissioned supertanker, more than 450 nautical miles southeast of
Mombasa, Kenya, along with its 25-member crew. The ship, owned by
Saudi oil company Aramco, was capable of carrying about 2 million
barrels of oil.
(AP, 11/16/08)(AP, 11/17/08)
2008 Nov 16, Somali
pirates freed another vessel after securing a ransom and a Russian
frigate repelled an attack on a Saudi ship.
(AP, 11/16/08)
2008 Nov 17, In Somalia
witnesses said African Union (AU) peacekeepers from Burundi have
started moving into positions usually manned by Ethiopian troops in
the capital Mogadishu, as part of the ongoing Djibouti peace
process.
(AFP, 11/17/08)
2008 Nov 18, Separate bands of
pirates seized a Thai fishing trawler with 16 crew members and an
Iranian cargo vessel with a crew of 25 in the Gulf of Aden. Pirates
on the trawler then apparently fired on the Indian naval frigate
Tabar. The Indians, believing the trawler to be a pirate "mother
ship," returned fire turning the Ekawat Nava 5 into a massive
fireball and killing 14 of the 15 crew as well as the pirates. The
Tabar then chased two attack boats into the night. A surviving
sailor spent six days adrift in the shark-infested ocean before
another ship picked him up. The Iranian vessel was released on Jan
9, 2009.
(AP, 11/19/08)(AP, 11/26/08)(SFC, 11/26/08,
p.A3)(AP, 1/10/09)(AP, 6/5/09)
2008 Nov 20, Egypt held
emergency talks with nations bordering the Red Sea on how to stop
Somali gunmen from hijacking ships. Somali pirates had already
seized at least 80 ships off the Horn of Africa this year.
(SFC, 11/21/08, p.A13)
2008 Nov 20, The UN Security
Council voted unanimously to impose sanctions on pirates, arms
smugglers, and perpetrators of instability in Somalia in a fresh
attempt to help end years of lawlessness in the Horn of Africa
nation.
(AP, 11/20/08)
2008 Nov 21, Somali security
forces and Islamic insurgents engaged in one of the fiercest
gunbattles in recent weeks in Mogadishu, killing at least 17 people
and wounding six.
(AP, 11/21/08)
2008 Nov 21, Somali pirates
released a hijacked Greek-owned tanker with all 19 crew safe and the
oil cargo intact. The Liberian-flagged tanker MV Genius had been
seized on Sept. 26. The ship's management company said a ransom was
paid but did not say how much.
(AP, 11/22/08)
2008 Nov 24, Shipping officials
from around the world called for a military blockade along the coast
of Somalia to intercept pirate vessels heading out to sea.
(AP, 11/24/08)
2008 Nov 26, In northern
Somalia 2 foreign journalists were kidnapped while doing a story on
the rampant piracy in the region. The Britain and journalist and his
Spanish counterpart were released on Jan 4, after almost six weeks
in captivity in Somalia's breakaway Puntland state.
(AP, 11/26/08)(AFP, 1/4/09)
2008 Nov 28, Somali pirates
hijacked the chemical tanker chemical tanker M/V BISCAGLIA with 25
Indian and 3 Bangladeshi crew members. A helicopter rescued three
British security guards who had jumped into the sea. The Liberian
flagged ship operated out of Singapore. The ship was freed on Jan 23
following a $1 million ransom.
(AP, 11/28/08)(AP, 1/24/09)(WSJ, 1/31/08, p.A1)
2008 Nov 30, Pirates chased and
shot at the M/S Nautica, a US cruise liner with more than 1,000
people on board, but failed to hijack the vessel as it sailed along
a corridor patrolled by international warships.
(AP, 12/2/08)
2008 Dec 2, A Burundi soldier
serving with African Union forces in Somalia was killed in fighting
with Islamist insurgents in the war-torn capital Mogadishu.
(AFP, 12/3/08)
2008 Dec 3, In Yemen the bodies
of 24 Somalis washed ashore following an accident involving a boat
trying to smuggle migrants. Strong winds pushed the bodies on to
beaches over the last 2 days near the town of al-Qasha'a. 184 more
Somalis involved in the accident managed to swim ashore.
(AP, 12/4/08)
2008 Dec 4, In Somalia 20 men
and women graduated from medical school in Mogadishu, something that
nobody in Somalia has done in nearly two decades.
(AP, 12/4/08)
2008 Dec 4, The Danish navy
intercepted and sunk a suspected pirate vessel drifting off Somalia.
7 men were handed over to authorities in Yemen but were not
immediately suspected of any crime.
(AP, 12/5/08)
2008 Dec 5, In Somalia 12
people were killed as mortar shells rained down on homes and a small
market in Mogadishu.
(SFC, 12/6/08, p.A5)
2008 Dec 8, The EU formally
launches its anti-piracy task mission off the Somali coast,
preparing to take over from the NATO flotilla guarding one of the
world's most important shipping lanes.
(AP, 12/8/08)
2008 Dec 9, Ethiopian troops
were reported to be pouring into neighboring Somalia to fight
radical Islamists who have taken over much of the country, raising
fears of more violence in a country fighting a deadly insurgency and
piracy.
(AP, 12/9/08)
2008 Dec 10, The US proposed to
track down Somali pirates not only at sea, but on land and in
Somalian air space with cooperation from the African country's weak
UN-backed government.
(AP, 12/11/08)
2008 Dec 13, The Indian navy
captured 23 pirates who threatened a merchant vessel in the lawless
waters of the Gulf of Aden, where dozens of ships have come under
attack by gunmen in recent months. The pirates were from Somalia and
Yemen. A German helicopter thwarted another attack on a freighter
being chased by speed boats off Yemen.
(AP, 12/13/08)(SSFC, 12/14/08, p.A20)
2008 Dec 16, Somalia's
UN-backed government crumbled further as the president defied
parliament and Kenya announced sanctions against him in a strong
public rebuke.
(AP, 12/16/08)
2008 Dec 16, Somali pirates
hijacked a tugboat belonging to total SA off the Yemeni coast. On
August 3 pirates freed the tugboat TB Masindra 7, its attached
Indonesian barge ADM1 and its 11 Indonesian sailors after a ransom
was paid to end the second-longest hostage saga off the coast of
Somalia.
(AP, 12/16/08)(AFP, 8/3/09)
2008 Dec 16, The UN Security
Council approved land and air attacks on pirate bases in Somalia.
(SFC, 12/17/08, p.A14)
2008 Dec 17, An international
anti-piracy force thwarted the attempted takeover of a Chinese cargo
ship off the Somali coast, sending in attack helicopters that fired
on the bandits and forced them to abandon the ship they had boarded.
The Indian navy handed over 23 pirates, caught at sea on Dec 13, to
authorities in Yemen.
(AP, 12/17/08)
2008 Dec 20, China said it will
send two destroyers and a supply vessel to the seas off Somalia to
back international efforts to fight piracy.
(AP, 12/20/08)
2008 Dec 20, Iranian state
radio said Iran has sent a warship to the coast of Somalia to
protect its cargo ships against piracy.
(AP, 12/20/08)
2008 Dec 22, A Sudanese
official said at least 18,000 Eritrean and Somali refugees have
arrived in Sudan since the start of the year, and the government is
struggling to provide them with aid.
(Reuters, 12/22/08)
2008 Dec 24, A spokesman
said Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf has decided to resign,
in a move the African Union said would be positive for the peace
process in the Horn of Africa nation. Mohamed Mohamud Guled, named
prime minister last week, resigned, saying his controversial
appointment was preventing the feuding government from fighting a
strengthening Islamic insurgency.
(Reuters, 12/24/08)(AP, 12/24/08)
2008 Dec 25, A German military
helicopter chased away pirates who were trying to board an Egyptian
ship off the coast of Somalia. One of the ship's crew was shot in
the attack.
(AP, 12/25/08)
2008 Dec 26, Chinese warships,
armed with special forces, guided missiles and helicopters, set sail
for anti-piracy duty off Somalia, the first time the communist
nation has sent ships on a mission that could involve fighting so
far beyond its territorial waters.
(AP, 12/26/08)
2008 Dec 29, Abdullahi Yusuf,
the president of Somalia's UN-backed government, resigned amid
deepening international pressure, a move that could usher in more
chaos as a strengthening Islamic insurgency scrambles for power.
(AP, 12/29/08)
2008 Dec 30, In Somalia mortars
slammed into a busy market in Mogadishu, as the country's weak
government crumbled and the impending pullout of allied Ethiopian
troops raised fears that Islamic insurgents might seize the
opportunity to take over.
(AP, 12/30/08)
2009 Jan 1, Somali pirates
seized the Blue Star, an Egyptian cargo ship, and its 28
crewmembers. A Malaysian military helicopter saved an Indian tanker
from being hijacked in the new year's first attacks by pirates in
the dangerous Gulf of Aden. A crew of the French warship "PM L'Her"
dispatch boat intercepted two speedboats carrying 8 Somali pirates
as they were preparing to board a Panamanian cargo ship. The Blue
Star and its crew of 28 were freed on March 5 after a ransom was
dropped from a plane.
(AP, 1/1/09)(AP, 1/2/09)(AP, 3/5/09)
2009 Jan 2, Crewmen fired high
pressure water jets to fight off heavily armed Somali pirates trying
to board a Greek oil tanker in the Gulf of Aden in the fourth such
attack since the start of the year. A Chinese cargo ship evaded two
pirate boats chasing it in the Gulf of Aden.
(AP, 1/2/09)(AFP, 1/2/09)
2009 Jan 3, In Somalia Islamic
insurgents appeared to be scrambling for power, taking over several
police stations in the capital as Ethiopian troops who have been
propping up the government began to pull out.
(AP, 1/3/09)
2009 Jan 4, A French warship
foiled attempts by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden to seize two
cargo vessels and intercepted 19 people.
(AFP, 1/5/09)
2009 Jan 6, In Somalia 3 masked
gunmen fatally shot a Somali aid worker. The UN envoy to Somalia
said the UN should create a Baghdad-style Green Zone in the African
country so he can base all his aid workers there. Aid workers Keiko
Akahane (32), a Japanese doctor, and Dutchman nurse Willem Sools
(27), were released after being held by Somali gunmen for 108 days.
(AP, 1/6/09)(AP, 1/10/09)
2009 Jan 8, In Somalia
gunmen fatally shot a UN World Food program worker during a food
distribution, the second staff member killed this week.
(AP, 1/8/09)
2009 Jan 8, The US Navy said a
new international force to battle pirates off the Somali coast is
being formed under American command in a bid to focus more military
resources to protect one of the world's key shipping lanes.
(AP, 1/8/09)
2009 Jan 9, Somali pirates
released the MV Sirius Star, an oil-laden Saudi supertanker seized
on Nov 15, after receiving a $3 million ransom. Five of the Somali
pirates drowned with their share of the $3 million ransom after
their small boat capsized.
(AP, 1/9/09)(AP, 1/10/09)
2009 Jan 9, Somali pirates
released a captured Iranian-chartered cargo ship. The ship Delight
was carrying 36 tons of wheat when it was attacked in the Gulf of
Aden Nov. 18 and seized by pirates. All 25 crew were in good health
and the vessel sailed toward Iran.
(AP, 1/10/09)
2009 Jan 11, In central Somalia
clashes between Islamist militias killed at least 29 people and
wounded more than 50 others. It was the latest sign of divisions
within an Islamist insurgency the US government says has links to
al-Qaida.
(AP, 1/11/09)
2009 Jan 12, In Somalia
Islamist insurgents fired mortar rounds at the presidential palace
in Mogadishu. At least 13 people were killed in 2 attacks. The
United States circulated a draft resolution calling for a UN
peacekeeping force to be deployed in Somalia to replace a small
African Union force, but leaving the Security Council to make a
final decision by June 1.
(AP, 1/13/09)(SFC, 1/12/09, p.A3)
2009 Jan 13, Ethiopia handed
over security duties in neighboring Somalia to a joint force of
Somali government security forces and Islamic militiamen, a shift
some fear will leave a power vacuum in the lawless African nation.
(AP, 1/13/09)
2009 Jan 13, A Russian warship
helped foil an attack on a Dutch container ship by suspected Somali
pirates in the dangerous Gulf of Aden.
(AP, 1/14/09)
2009 Jan 14, In Somalia Islamic
insurgents fired mortar rounds at the presidential palace and
clashed with government forces, leaving at least five civilians dead
a day after Ethiopian troops handed over security duties.
(AP, 1/14/09)
2009 Jan 15, The last Ethiopian
troops backing Somalia's fragile government left Mogadishu, as
Islamist forces took control of bases that the Ethiopians had
vacated. An Islamist court under Shabab publicly executed politician
Abdirahman Ahmed (55) to death by firing squad for showing sympathy
for Christianity.
(AP, 1/15/09)(Econ, 2/28/09,
p.48)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdirahman_Ahmed)
2009 Jan 16, The UN Security
Council unanimously adopted a resolution expressing its intention to
establish a UN peacekeeping force in Somalia, but putting off a
decision for several months in order to assess the volatile
situation in the Horn of Africa nation.
(AP, 1/17/09)
2009 Jan 17, Near Yemen
hundreds of people were missing and feared dead after three boats
carrying about 400 migrants from Somalia capsized.
(AP, 1/18/09)
2009 Jan 20, Abdullahi Yusuf
(75), Somalia's former president and an ex-warlord who was forced
from government, arrived in Yemen in a private jet from his
impoverished homeland, seeking political asylum. Islamic insurgents
and Somali forces clashed in Mogadishu, killing at least 14 people
in the latest sign the Islamists are making inroads into the few
areas the UN-backed government still controls.
(AP, 1/21/09)(AP, 1/21/09)
2009 Jan 24, In Somalia 17
people were killed in Mogadishu by a suicide car bomb targeting
African Union peacekeepers. The dead included a police officer, who
tried to stop the suicide bomber’s car. A gunfight between
peacekeepers and insurgents followed left 5 more dead.
(AFP, 1/24/09)(AFP, 1/26/09)
2009 Jan 28, Japan's defense
minister ordered the dispatch of ships to fight pirates off the
shores of Somalia, joining other countries in the battle against the
outlaws.
(AP, 1/28/09)
2009 Jan 29, Somali pirates
hijacked a German gas tanker, the MV Longchamp, and its 13-man crew
in the Gulf of Aden, the third ship captured off the Horn of Africa
this month. The ship was released along with its 13 crew members on
March 28.
(AP, 1/29/09)(SFC, 1/30/09, p.A16)(AP, 3/28/09)
2009 Jan 31, In Somalia
moderate Islamist leader Sheikh Sharif Sheik Ahmed was sworn in. The
next day in a published interview he called for a united front
against violent extremists and signaled his intent to try to bring
together the country's feuding Islamic factions.
(AP, 2/1/09)
2009 Feb 2, In Somalia AU
peacekeepers opened fire on civilian vehicles and fatally shot 18
people after an AU vehicle was hit by a land mine in Mogadishu.
(SFC, 2/3/09, p.A3)
2009 Feb 3, The hardline Somali
Islamist group Shebab called on its fighters to intensify their holy
war against African Union (AU) peacekeepers.
(AP, 2/3/09)
2009 Feb 4, In Somalia gunmen
killed Said Tahlil Ahmed, the director of the country’s largest
media company, HornAfrik, at a market in Mogadishu. Three Somali
Canadians had established HornAfrik in 1999.
(AP, 2/4/09)
2009 Feb 5, Somali pirates said
that they were freeing, a Ukrainian ship carrying tanks and other
heavy weapons after receiving a $3.2 million ransom. The MV Faina
was seized last September 25. The Kenyan government claimed to the
cargo, which included 33 Soviet-designed battle tanks.
(AP, 2/5/09)
2009 Feb 8, In Somalia at least
three civilians were killed when insurgents attacked African Union
forces and government troops in the strife-torn capital Mogadishu.
(AFP, 2/8/09)
2009 Feb 11, Off Somalia the
USS Vella Gulf detained seven suspected pirates, the Navy's first
arrests since it established an anti-piracy task force this year.
(AP, 2/13/09)
2009 Feb 12, Off Somalia an
American helicopter from the USS Vella Gulf fired warning shots at
gunmen in two skiffs that had opened fire and tried to board the
Indian-flagged vessel Premdivya. US forces searched the skiff and
found weapons including rocket-propelled grenades, then took nine
suspected pirates aboard the American ship. A Russian
nuclear-powered heavy missile cruiser, Peter The Great, detained 10
Somali pirates closing in on an Iranian-flagged fishing trawler. The
men, were caught with rifles, grenade-launchers, illegal narcotics
and a large sum of money.
(AP, 2/13/09)
2009 Feb 14, In Somalia
legislators approved a former leader's son as the country’s new
prime minister. Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke faced the task of
uniting a fractious government besieged by Islamic insurgents that
control most of the country.
(AP, 2/14/09)
2009 Feb 20, In Somalia
hardline Islamist militia attacked African Union forces in
Mogadishu, killing one civilian and wounding two others.
(AP, 2/20/09)
2009 Feb 22, Gunmen in northern
Somalia kidnapped a Pakistani. Al-Shabab insurgents claimed to have
carried out a suicide attack on an African Union peacekeeping base
in Mogadishu. 11 Burundi peacekeepers in Somalia were killed and
another 20 injured in a suicide attack by a Somali contractor who
delivered supplies and had easy access to the base.
(AP, 2/22/09)(AP, 2/23/09)
2009 Feb 25, In Somalia an
artillery shell killed two schoolchildren in Mogadishu during the
second day of fighting between AU peacekeepers and Islamist
insurgents. The death toll in the worst fighting for weeks reached
81.
(AP, 2/25/09)(Reuters, 2/25/09)
2009 Feb 25, Danish and Chinese
warships stopped pirates attacking two different vessels off
Somalia's coast.
(AP, 2/26/09)
2009 Feb 28, Somalia's new
Pres. Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed said the government and an Islamic
insurgent group have reached a cease-fire deal, days after dozens of
civilians were killed in fighting in Mogadishu.
(AP, 2/28/09)
2009 Feb 28, The yacht
Serenity, with two crew from the Seychelles on board, left the
islands en route to Madagascar and disappeared. One of the crew
called his family on March 24, saying he was being held by Somali
pirates and begging for help.
(AP, 3/25/09)
2009 Feb, The UN estimated that
10 million people still lived in Somalia.
(Econ, 2/28/09, p.49)
2009 Mar 10, Germany's navy
handed over nine suspected Somali pirates to Kenyan authorities and
they will be taken to a court to face charges. The nine were
arrested March 3 after they attacked the Hamburg-based MV Courier
cargo ship.
(AP, 3/10/09)
2009 Mar 11, The African Union
extended by three months the mandate of its peacekeeping mission in
Somalia, and called on the UN to lift its arms embargo there.
(AFP, 3/12/09)
2009 Mar 15, In central Somalia
clashes between rival Islamist militias killed at least 14 people
over the last 2 days. Most of those killed were fighters for the
al-Shabab group or its rival Ahlu-sunah Wal-jamea.
(AP, 3/15/09)
2009 Mar 16, In southern
Somalia gunmen seized four UN workers, the latest in a series of
attacks on aid workers in the war-ravaged Horn of Africa nation.
(AP, 3/16/09)
2009 Mar 19, Al-Qaida's chief
Osama bin Laden urged Somali militants to overthrow the country's
new president in a new Web audiotape, trying to torpedo a new push
for peace in a lawless African nation where many fear al-Qaida is
gaining a foothold.
(AP, 3/19/09)
2009 Mar 19, Pirates off the
coast of Somalia seized the St. Vincent-flagged Titan, with 24 crew
members on board, including a Greek captain and 3 Greek crew
members. A Turkish warship foiled a pirate attack on a Turkish
commercial ship in the Gulf of Aden.
(AP, 3/20/09)
2009 Mar 20, The UN Security
Council gave a stamp of approval to Somalia's new unity government
and urged increased international aid to African Union (AU)
peacekeepers trying to contain the violence in the lawless country.
(AP, 3/20/09)
2009 Mar 22, Off the coast of
Somalia pirates fired rocket-propelled grenades and automatic
weapons at Japanese, Greek and Hong Kong cargo ships but fled after
the ships took evasive maneuvers.
(AP, 3/23/09)
2009 Mar 25, Hundreds of
Somalis demonstrated in Baidoa against Islamist fighters after they
imposed a ban on leaf qat, a popular narcotic.
(SFC, 3/26/09, p.A2)
2009 Mar 25, The MT Nipayia, a
Greek-owned and Panama registered ship with a crew of 19, was
hijacked 450 miles east of Somalia’s south coast.
(AP, 3/27/09)(WSJ, 3/27/09, p.A8)
2009 Mar 26, Somalia's new
interior minister was wounded by a roadside bomb in an attack that
killed his bodyguard and wounded two others. The moderate Islamist
pledged to seek reconciliation with his attackers, widely believed
to be hardline fighters.
(AP, 3/26/09)
2009 Mar 26, The MT Bow Asir, a
Norwegian tanker with a crew of 27, was hijacked 250 miles east of
the south coast of Somalia.
(AP, 3/27/09)(WSJ, 3/27/09, p.A8)
2009 Mar 29, The int’l.
anti-piracy task force captured 7 pirates in the Gulf of Aden after
they opened fire on a German naval supply ship.
(SFC, 3/31/09, p.A2)
2009 Apr 1, A tourist yacht and
its crew of seven was hijacked by Somali pirates near the Seychelles
islands off Africa's east coast.
(AP, 4/2/09)
2009 Apr 4, Somali pirates
seized a 20,000-ton German container vessel, the Hansa Stavanger and
its 24-member crew, in their latest attack on the Indian Ocean's
busy commercial shipping lanes. The ship and crew were released on
August 3 as pirates boasted $2.75 million in ransom.
(AP, 4/5/09)(AP, 4/6/09)(AP, 7/18/09)(Econ,
8/22/09, p.53)
2009 Apr 5, In Somalia an
overnight mortar attack aimed at troops and peacekeepers in
Mogadishu killed a child and wounded six other people, including 4
of the dead child's siblings. Somali pirates hijacked a small Yemeni
boat in the Indian Ocean.
(AP, 4/5/09)(AP, 4/6/09)
2009 Apr 6, Somali pirates
seized the Taiwanese ship Win Far 161 with 29 crew onboard near an
island in the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean. A 32,000-ton
British-owned bulk carrier, the Malaspina Castle, was also hijacked
in the Gulf of Aden. Pirates soon began using the Win Far as a base
for attacking other commercial ships. Win Far 161 was released on
Feb 11, 2010, following the payment of a ransom. Three of its crew
died of malnutrition and disease during their 10 month captivity.
(AP, 4/6/09)(AP, 8/27/09)(AP, 2/11/10)(Econ,
2/5/11, p.70)
2009 Apr 8, Somali pirates
hijacked a US-flagged cargo ship with 20 American crew members
onboard. The 17,000-ton Maersk Alabama was carrying emergency relief
to Mombasa, Kenya. The pirates took Capt. Richard Phillips hostage
after they hijacked the Maersk Alabama, then fled the cargo ship as
the vessel's crew overpowered them.
(AP, 4/8/09)(AP, 4/9/09)
2009 Apr 9, FBI hostage
negotiators joined US Navy efforts to free an American ship captain
held captive on a lifeboat by Somali pirates. A US destroyer and a
spy plane kept close watch in the high-seas standoff near the Horn
of Africa. Capt. Richard Phillips made a desperate escape attempt
but was recaptured.
(AP, 4/9/09)(AP, 4/10/09)
2009 Apr 10, In Somalia
Islamist militants attacked African Union peacekeepers in Mogadishu
overnight, sparking heavy exchanges that killed two civilians.
(AFP, 4/10/09)
2009 Apr 10, France's navy
freed a sailboat seized off Somalia last week by pirates, but one of
the hostages was killed. Pirates had seized the sailboat carrying
Florent Lemacon, his wife, 3-year-old son and two friends off the
Somali coast a week ago. Two pirates were killed, and Lemacon died
in an exchange of fire as he tried to duck down the hatch.
(AP, 4/11/09)
2009 Apr 11, Somali pirates
hijacked the Italian-flagged tugboat Buccaneer, an American-owned
tugboat, with 16 crew in the Gulf of Aden. The pirates abandoned the
ship on August 9 and all crew members were freed. No random was
paid.
(AP, 4/11/09)(AP, 4/26/09)(AP, 8/10/09)
2009 Apr 12, US Navy SEAL
snipers on a destroyer shot and killed three Somali pirates and
plucked an unharmed Capt. Richard Phillips to safety. A fourth
pirate surrendered. His rescue sparked concern for other hostages
and fears that the stakes have been raised for future hijackings in
the Indian Ocean shipping lane.
(AP, 4/13/09)
2009 Apr 14, Somali pirates
captured two more nautical trophies to match the two ships they
seized a day or two earlier. The MV Sea Horse, a Lebanese-owned
cargo ship, was attacked and captured by pirates in three or four
speedboats. That hijacking came only hours after the Greek-managed
MV Irene E.M. was seized in a rare overnight attack by pirates.
Somali pirates also hijacked two Egyptian fishing boats in the Gulf
of Aden off Somalia's northern coast, which maritime officials said
had a total of 36 crew. It was not exactly clear if those ships were
hijacked April 12 or 13. The Liberty Sun, a US flagged cargo ship,
repelled a pirate attack off the Somali coast. The MV Irene and 22
Filipino sailors were released on Sep 14.
(AP, 4/14/09)(WSJ, 4/15/09, p.A8)(AFP, 9/15/09)
2009 Apr 15, French forces
detained 11 pirates during an assault on a pirate "mother ship" and
thwarted a pirate attack on a Liberian-registered vessel.
(AP, 4/15/09)
2009 Apr 18, Somali
parliamentarians unanimously endorsed a proposal to implement
Islamic law in the Horn of Africa nation.
(AP, 4/18/09)
2009 Apr 18, Somali pirates
attacked two ships off the Horn of Africa, seizing the
Belgian-flagged Pompei carrying 10 crew. NATO forces intervened in
the other assault, chasing the pirates down. Dutch commandos then
freed 20 fishermen on a Yemeni dhow hijacked earlier. Seven pirates
attempted to attack the Norwegian-flagged MV Front Ardenne but fled
after crew took evasive maneuvers and alerted warships in the area.
NATO warships and helicopters pursued the Somali pirates for seven
hours after they attacked the tanker, and the high-speed chase only
ended when warning shots were fired at the pirates' skiff. NATO
forces boarded the skiff, where they found a rocket-propelled
grenade, and interrogated, disarmed and released the pirates. The
Pompei and its crew were released on June 28.
(AP, 4/18/09)(AP, 4/19/09)(AP, 6/28/09)
2009 Apr 19, In central Somalia
two Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) workers were
seized by around 25 gunmen traveling in two trucks. Dutch national
Kees Keus (49) and Belgian Jorgen Stassijns (40) were released on
April 28.
(AP, 4/19/09)(AP, 4/28/09)
2009 Apr 20, Somali pirates in
two boats with about six pirates each attacked the Maltese-flagged
MV Atlantica, before the ship took evasive maneuvers and escaped in
the Gulf of Aden without damages or injury. Other pirates released a
Togo-flagged, Lebanese-owned ship after they found out it was
supposed to pick up food destined for Somalia. The MV Sea Horse was
hijacked April 14 with 19 crew as it headed to India to pick up more
than 7,300 tons of food destined for Somalia. The pirates also were
paid "a reward" of $100,000 by two Somali businessmen for freeing
the aid ship.
(AP, 4/20/09)
2009 Apr 21, Somali pirates
freed a chemical tanker and its 23 Filipino crew members after
holding them hostage in the Gulf of Aden for more than five months.
The MT Stolt Strength was seized Nov. 10, 2008.
(AP, 4/21/09)
2009 Apr 21, In a New York
court Somali pirate Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse (18) was charged with
piracy and other crimes relating to the Apr 8-Apr 12 siege of the
Maersk Alabama.
(WSJ, 4/22/09, p.A3)
2009 Apr 22, Somalia's foreign
minister urged the international community to help its fledgling
government set up a coast guard to fight the rampant piracy that has
disrupted shipping in one of the world's busiest waterways.
(AP, 4/22/09)
2009 Apr 23, The EU development
commissioner said an international conference has already pledged
over 250 million dollars to help Somalia improve its security.
(AP, 4/23/09)
2009 Apr 24, Somalia's hardline
Islamist leader Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys ruled out talks on with
the government until African Union peacekeepers withdraw from the
war-torn country.
(AFP, 4/24/09)
2009 Apr 25, In Somalia mortars
fired toward the parliament missed the building but hit a police
unit inside the compound as well as a residential neighborhood,
killing at least 7 people. Armed fighters attacked two African Union
peacekeeping bases in Mogadishu, and a witness said he saw the
bodies of three civilians killed.
(AP, 4/25/09)(AP, 4/26/09)
2009 Apr 25, Hijackers seized
the Maltese-flagged MV Patriot, a German-owned ship with a crew of
17, in the pirate-infested waters between Somalia and Yemen. An
Italian cruise ship with 1,500 people on board fended off a pirate
attack far off the coast of Somalia when its Israeli private
security forces exchanged fire with the bandits.
(AP, 4/25/09)(AP, 4/26/09)
2009 Apr 26, Pirates attacked 4
Yemeni tankers escorted by a Yemeni coast guard boat on their way to
Aden. 3 of the ships escaped and coast guards captured five pirates
and wounded two others. The Turkish cruiser Ariva 3, with two
British and four Japanese crew aboard, survived a pirate attack near
the Yemeni island of Jabal Zuqar. Somali pirates demanded a $5
million ransom for the release of two Egyptian fishing boats
hijacked earlier this month. Later in the day Yemeni coast guard
forces freed the hijacked Yemeni oil tanker (Qana) and arrested 11
Somali pirates, the first time the country has successfully retaken
a seized vessel.
(AP, 4/26/09)(AP, 4/27/09)
2009 Apr 28, The Seychelles
Coast Guard said it had arrested nine suspected pirates believed to
be behind the weekend attempt to hijack the melody, a luxury cruise
liner carrying an estimated 1,000 tourists in the Indian Ocean. The
Spanish navy had tracked the skiff and apprehended the suspects.
They were then turned over to the Seychelles Coast Guard.
(AP, 4/28/09)
2009 Apr 28, The Russian
destroyer Admiral Panteleyev seized a vessel with 29 suspected
pirates off the coast of Somalia. A Russian tanker fended off an
attack by the same group earlier in the day. On May 4 the Russian
warship freed 8 Iranians who were seized along with the suspected
Somali pirates.
(AP, 4/29/09)(AP, 5/4/09)
2009 May 1, Special forces on a
Portuguese warship seized explosives from suspected Somali pirates
after thwarting an attack on an oil tanker, but later freed the 19
men. Hours later and hundreds of miles away, another band of pirates
hijacked a cargo ship. The captain and 23 crew were all Ukrainians
and the Greek-owned, Maltese-flagged Ariana was carrying a cargo of
soya from Brazil to Iran when pirates attacked it southwest of the
Seychelles islands. The Ariana was freed on Dec 10 following a
ransom payment of $2.8 million by Athens-based Alloceans Shipping.
(AP, 5/2/09)(AP, 12/10/09)
2009 May 3, A French naval
vessel intercepted 11 suspected pirates traveling off the Somali
coast in two assault vessels and a so-called "mothership" loaded
with Kalashnikovs and rocket launchers.
(AP, 5/3/09)
2009 May 4, South Korean
snipers hovering in a helicopter chased away pirates pursuing a
North Korean freighter, while the Russian destroyer Admiral
Panteleyev freed eight Iranian citizens held hostage for more than
three months.
(AP, 5/4/09)
2009 May 5, Somali pirates
hijacked the MV Victoria, a German cargo ship carrying 11 crew
members in the Gulf of Aden. Pirates released the ship and its 11
Romanian crew members on July 18 following a ransom of $1.8 million.
(AP, 5/6/09)(AP, 7/18/09)
2009 May 7, Somali pirates
captured the Netherlands Antilles-flagged MV Marathon in the Gulf of
Aden. The ship listed 19 Ukrainian crew members. One of the crew
members died from a gun shot wound. On June 23 the Dutch Defense
Ministry reported that the ship was released.
(AP, 5/7/09)(AP, 6/23/09)
2009 May 10, In Somalia mortars
slammed into Mogadishu hitting a mosque and several homes. Weekend
fighting killed at least 35 people as pro-government Islamist
fighters clashed with gunmen who want to topple the Western-backed
government.
(AP, 5/10/09)
2009 May 12, In Somalia a human
rights activist said 113 civilians have been killed in fierce
fighting in Mogadishu in the past three days. Some 10,000 civilians
fled their homes, raising the number displaced by the fighting to
more than 27,000.
(AP, 5/12/09)
2009 May 13, South Korean
Destroyer ROKS Munmu the Great and the US guided missile cruiser
Gettysburg dispatched helicopters to aid Egypt’s MV Amira after it
came under attack. 17 suspected pirates were apprehended following
the attack in the Gulf of Aden. In 2010 a Kenya court freed all 17
pirates for lack of evidence. A magistrate blamed the loss of the
case on the US Navy for not providing video and photographic proof
that they claimed to have.
(AP, 5/14/09)(AP, 11/5/10)
2009 May 17, In Somalia Islamic
insurgents sustained their offensive on the nation's fragile
government and captured a strategic southeastern town, hours after a
key Islamic militia leader defected to the government. Several local
and foreign jihadists were killed in Mogadishu when a bomb-making
workshop blew up.
(AP, 5/17/09)(Econ, 5/23/09, p.49)
2009 May 18, Somalia's war-torn
government appealed for international help to set up a coast guard,
saying it would guarantee that sea piracy near its shores is wiped
out once it has such an agency. In Malaysia representatives of the
government, attending an international conference on piracy, ruled
out allowing foreign forces on Somali soil to destroy pirate bases.
(AP, 5/18/09)
2009 May 18, Hard-line Somali
Islamist fighters captured Mahaday, 70 miles (113 km) north of
Mogadishu, after a pro-government militia abandoned it.
(AP, 5/18/09)
2009 May 19, In Somalia
witnesses said that Ethiopian troops have crossed the border and
appear to be stationing themselves at a strategic crossroads.
Ethiopia denied the reports. Witnesses said they saw Ethiopian
troops in the Somali town of Kalabeyr, 14 miles (22 km) from the
Ethiopian border and 11 miles (18 km) north of Belet Weyne, the
provincial capital of the Hiran region.
(AP, 5/19/09)
2009 May 20, In Somalia an
attack by Islamic insurgents on Somali troops near an African Union
peacekeeping base in Mogadishu killed at least three civilians,
including one child, as regional leaders met to discuss ways of
aiding the beleaguered government.
(AP, 5/20/09)
2009 May 22, Hundreds of Somali
government troops attacked insurgent-held positions north and south
of Mogadishu and the heart of the city was heavily shelled. One
witness said a busload of fleeing civilians was hit. Fighting
between Somali government troops and Islamic insurgents killed 53
people in Mogadishu. Residents reported that the operation had
failed to dislodge the insurgents.
(AP, 5/22/09)(AP, 5/23/09)
2009 May 22, The African Union
called on the UN Security Council to take "immediate measures" to
impose sanctions on Eritrea over its support for Islamist insurgents
in Somalia.
(AFP, 5/22/09)
2009 May 22, An Italian warship
arrested nine pirates after helping a US-flagged container vessel
and another ship evade brigands off the coast of Somalia.
(AP, 5/22/09)
2009 May 24, In Somalia a
foreign suicide bomber killed six guards and a civilian at a
military base in Mogadishu, an attack that came after two weeks of
intense fighting.
(AP, 5/24/09)
2009 May 26, Somali insurgents
fired mortars at the presidential palace in Mogadishu, killing seven
civilians and two government soldiers. The UN Security Council voted
unanimously to condemn the recent surge in fighting in Somalia and
called for an end to actions that undermine the country's
Western-backed government.
(AP, 5/27/09)
2009 May 26, A Swedish Navy
ship detained seven suspected pirates after stopping them from
capturing a cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden.
(AP, 5/26/09)
2009 May 28, The Indian navy
thwarted a pirate attack on a merchant ship in the Gulf of Aden off
the coast of Somalia.
(AP, 5/29/09)
2009 May 29, The nonbinding New
York Declaration, an agreement between the signatory flag states
which condemns acts of piracy and armed robbery against vessels and
seafarers, was originally tabled by The Bahamas, the Republic of
Liberia, the Republic of Marshall Islands and the Republic of
Panama, four nations that account for more than half of global
shipping.
(www.unmultimedia.org/tv/unifeed/d/13476.html)
2009 Jun 1, In Somalia a
roadside bomb in Mogadishu killed at least 4 police officers in
several civilians.
(SFC, 6/2/09, p.A2)
2009 Jun 4, Ethiopia charged 46
people, most of them ex-military, of plotting to assassinate
government officials. Ethiopia also said it has undertaken military
reconnaissance operations in Somalia, but is not planning to
re-deploy.
(AFP, 6/4/09)
2009 Jun 6, Somali pirates
released the Yenegoa Ocean, a Nigerian tugboat they hijacked 10
months ago on Aug 4, 2008. A Dutch navy ship escorted it to a safe
harbor.
(AP, 6/7/09)
2009 Jun 7, In Somalia two
masked gunmen killed the director of one of the country’s largest
broadcasters, raising to five the number of journalists killed there
this year.
(AP, 6/7/09)
2009 Jun 10, The US Navy handed
over 17 suspected Somali pirates to Kenya, taking the total number
held in the east African nation to 101.
(AFP, 6/10/09)
2009 Jun 17, Somali government
forces attacked rebel strongholds in Mogadishu, triggering battles
that killed at least 17 people, including Col. Ali Said , the
capital's police chief.
(AP, 6/17/09)
2009 Jun 18, In western Somalia
a suicide bombing killed at least 25 people including National
Security Minister Omar Hashi Aden at the Medina Hotel in Belet
Weyne. Al-Shabab, an extremist group with alleged links to the
al-Qaida terror network, claimed responsibility.
(AP, 6/18/09)(AP, 7/26/09)
2009 Jun 20, Somali lawmakers
pleaded for international military intervention within 24 hours to
help fight Islamic insurgents, where fierce fighting has resumed in
Mogadishu. The government called for troops from Kenya and Ethiopia
to come to its aid.
(AP, 6/20/09)(Econ, 6/27/09, p.56)
2009 Jun 22, An Islamic court
in Somalia sentenced four men to have a hand and a leg cut off for
stealing mobile phones and guns. The court postponed the punishment
the next day saying the hot weather could cause them to bleed to
death.
(AP, 6/23/09)(SFC, 6/23/09, p.A2)
2009 Jun 22, Pirates off
Somalia were chased down and captured by NATO’s Portuguese warship,
the Corte-real, after an attempted hijacking of a Singaporean
freighter.
(SFC, 6/23/09, p.A2)
2009 Jun 25, In Somalia in a
brazen show of power in Mogadishu, Islamist rebels punished four
convicted thieves (ages 18-25) by cutting off a hand and a foot each
before hundreds of onlookers who gathered for the bloody spectacle.
(AP, 6/25/09)
2009 Jun 25, US officials
acknowledged that the US organized an arms shipment to the Somali
government earlier this month.
(SFC, 6/26/09, p.A3)
2009 Jun 26, The UN refugee
agency said that the bloody conflict in Somalia has created the
world's largest refugee camp, with 500 hungry and exhausted refugees
pouring into a wind-swept camp in neighboring Kenya every day.
(AP, 6/26/09)
2009 Jun 28, Somali pirates
released the entire crew of the Belgian the Pompei dredger, a ship
seized on April 18, after a ransom was paid.
(AP, 6/28/09)
2009 Jul 5, In Somalia heavy
shelling between rebels and government forces near the presidential
palace killed at least 12 people. PM Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke
looked for help from more African Union peacekeepers.
(AP, 7/5/09)
2009 Jul 6, Ethnic Somali
rebels (ONLF) in Ethiopia's Ogaden region claimed they killed 90
government troops in recent clashes, but the government denied any
losses, claiming victory instead.
(AFP, 7/6/09)
2009 Jul 8, Somali pirates
seized a Turkish ship with 23 crew and were being shadowed by a
Turkish warship in the Gulf of Aden. The pirates first surrounded
the Horizon-1 in speed boats and then boarded the ship, which was
carrying sulfate from Saudi Arabia to Jordan.
(AP, 7/8/09)
2009 Jul 10, Somali residents
said Islamist insurgent fighters in Baidoa have beheaded seven
people accused of abandoning their religion and of espionage, in the
largest mass execution since the Islamists were chased from power
two and a half years ago.
(AP, 7/10/09)
2009 Jul 11, In Somalia a
foreign fighter and Nor Daqli, head of security for the capital,
were among 16 people killed in fighting between UN-backed government
forces and Islamist insurgents in the north of Mogadishu.
(AP, 7/11/09)
2009 Jul 11, In Somalia a
foreign fighter and Nor Daqli, head of security for the capital,
were among 16 people killed in fighting between UN-backed government
forces and Islamist insurgents in the north of Mogadishu.
(AP, 7/11/09)
2009 Jul 12, Somali government
forces with the help of African Union tanks fought Islamic militants
in the capital, with clashes killing at least seven people.
Witnesses said dozens of people were killed and some 150 wounded.
(AFP, 7/12/09)(AP, 7/13/09)
2009 Jul 14, In Somalia two
French officials working as security advisers to the Somali
government were kidnapped in Mogadishu. Agent Marc Aubriere managed
to escape on August 26. Secret-agent Alexx Denis remained captive.
(Reuters, 7/14/09)(AP, 8/26/09)(SFC, 8/27/09,
p.A2)(Econ, 8/13/11, p.45)
2009 Jul 20, In Somalia Islamic
insurgents with alleged links with al-Qaida looted two United
Nations compounds in southern Somalia, and announced they will ban
three UN agencies from operating in areas the militants control.
(AP, 7/20/09)
2009 Jul 22, Somali Islamist
insurgents clashed with government forces and African Union
peacekeepers, killing 3 government, 3 insurgent fighters. The
renewed fighting between the radical Shebab militia and AU-backed
government forces killed at least 15 civilians in Mogadishu.
(AP, 7/23/09)(AFP, 7/24/09)
2009 Jul 24, Burundi army
officials said 3 of its soldiers serving with African Union
peacekeepers in Somalia have died of a mysterious illness in a
Kenyan hospital where more than 10 others are being treated.
(AFP, 7/24/09)
2009 Jul 24, Turkish commandos
captured five pirates in the Gulf of Aden as part of an
international mission to curb piracy off the coast of Somalia.
(AP, 7/24/09)
2009 Jul 26, Somali government
troops took full control of Belet Weyne, the strategic western town
where the national security minister was killed last month.
(AFP, 7/26/09)
2009 Jul 27, In Somalia mortar
attacks by rebels disrupted a parliamentary session as heavy
fighting between the militia and African Union-backed government
forces killed 7 civilians.
(AP, 7/27/09)
2009 Jul 28, The UN refugee
agency said thousands of Somalis are preparing to cross the Gulf of
Aden to Yemen after fleeing fighting around the capital of
Mogadishu.
(AP, 7/28/09)
2009 Aug 1, Burundi said it has
deployed a third battalion of 850 soldiers to Mogadishu to reinforce
the African Union peacekeeping mission there. With the new troops,
more than 5,000 soldiers from Burundi and Uganda are now taking part
in the AU Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), which began in March 2007 and
has cost the lives of 17 Burundian soldiers.
(AFP, 8/2/09)
2009 Aug 6, US Secretary of
State Hillary Rodham Clinton, speaking in Kenya, pledged to "expand
and extend" American support for Somalia's weak interim government
as it struggles against Islamist extremists believed linked to
al-Qaida.
(AP, 8/6/09)
2009 Aug 8, In Somalia’s pirate
stronghold of Harardhere, fighting over the last 24 hours killed at
least 12 people. A dispute over a car escalated as clan militias got
involved. Mortar shells slammed into a busy market in the capital,
Mogadishu, killing six people and wounding 18.
(AP, 8/8/09)
2009 Aug 11, In Somalia 4
European aid workers and two Kenyan pilots were released after being
held hostage for nine months.
(AP, 8/11/09)
2009 Aug 12, In Somalia masked
gunmen killed five Pakistani preachers outside the Tawfiq Mosque in
Galkayo following morning prayers.
(AP, 8/12/09)
2009 Aug 13, The crew of two
Egyptian fishing vessels overpowered Somali pirates after being held
hostage for four months and, with machetes and tools, killed at
least two pirates before sailing to freedom. The fight took place
near the coastal town of Las Qorey off the Gulf of Aden. The pirates
had demanded a ransom of $1.5 million.
(AP, 8/14/09)
2009 Aug 15, Somali pirates
found seven dead colleagues floating in the ocean and vowed to take
revenge against Egyptian fishermen they say killed them during an
August 13 escape.
(Reuters, 8/15/09)
2009 Aug 17, In Somalia gunmen
stormed a UN aid compound in Wajid overnight, sparking a gunbattle
that killed three of the attackers and wounded one. Hundreds of
pro-government militiamen rolled into Bula Hawa town near the Kenyan
border after al-Shabab fighters abandoned it.
(AP, 8/17/09)
2009 Aug 20, In central Somalia
fighting between government soldiers and Islamic insurgents killed
at least 40 people as the warring sides tried to gain ground in
strategic towns.
(AP, 8/20/09)(SFC, 8/21/09, p.A2)
2009 Aug 21, In Somalia an
insurgent attack on a peacekeeping base sparked gunbattles that
killed at least 22 people, as the undermanned African peacekeeping
force tried to maintain the government's tenuous hold on Somalia's
battered capital.
(Reuters, 8/21/09)
2009 Aug 22, In Somalia Islamic
insurgents attacked a government checkpoint in Mogadishu, sparking a
gunbattle that killed at least five people on the first day of the
Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
(AP, 8/22/09)
2009 Aug 25, The UN said
Somalia is facing its worst humanitarian crisis in 18 years, with
more than half of the population needing humanitarian aid amid an
escalating crisis.
(AP, 8/25/09)
2009 Aug 26, Somali pirates in
the Gulf of Aden fired at a US Navy helicopter as it made a
surveillance flight over the Win Far, a Taiwanese-flagged fishing
vessel seized in April, the first such attack by pirates on an
American military aircraft.
(AP, 8/27/09)
2009 Aug 29, Somali witnesses
said hundreds of Ethiopian troops have crossed the border and seized
control of the Somali town of Belet Weyne from Islamist insurgents.
(AP, 8/29/09)
2009 Sep 5, In Somalia at least
six civilians were killed and 18 others wounded in clashes that
erupted when insurgents attacked government and African Union forces
in Mogadishu.
(AFP, 9/6/09)
2009 Sep 6, Somali authorities,
who say they were not informed of a hostage exchange plan, stopped a
deal to swap three hostages held by Somali pirates with 23 suspected
pirates, who had been held in the Seychelles.
(AP, 9/7/09)
2009 Sep 8, Somalia graduated
its first 500 naval recruits hoping they would form the backbone of
the country’s first naval force in nearly two decades. 8 civilians
were killed and 31 wounded overnight during clashes pitting
insurgents against government and African Union forces in Mogadishu.
(SFC, 9/9/09, p.A2)(AFP, 9/8/09)
2009 Sep 9, A Somali Islamic
court cut off the hands of two men accused of theft and lashed
another accused of rape.
(AP, 9/9/09)
2009 Sep 9, The US, Britain,
Cyprus, Japan and Singapore signed on to an international plan, the
“New York Declaration,” to fight piracy off the coast of Somalia.
The New York Declaration is an agreement between the signatory flag
states which condemns acts of piracy and armed robbery against
vessels and seafarers and recognizes that self protection measures
taken by vessels can be highly effective in avoiding, delaying and
deterring acts of piracy. The nonbinding political document was
originally tabled on May 29, 2009.
(SFC, 9/10/09,
p.A2)(www.unmultimedia.org/tv/unifeed/d/13476.html)
2009 Sep 11, In Somalia mortars
slammed into Mogadishu, killing three civilians and at least 12 men
at a home for disabled veterans. Nearly a dozen other former
soldiers were wounded in the attack.
(AP, 9/12/09)
2009 Sep 14, In southern
Somalia foreign troops firing from 6 helicopters killed two people
in a car and then took two others captive in an insurgent-held
village near Barawe. Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan (30), a Kenyan citizen
and one of Africa's most wanted al-Qaida suspects, was one of the
dead. He was wanted for questioning in connection with the car
bombing of a beach resort in Kenya and the near simultaneous attempt
to shoot down an Israeli airliner in 2002. Forces from the US Joint
Special Operations Command were involved in the raid.
(AP, 9/14/09)(AP, 9/15/09)
2009 Sep 17, In Somalia
Islamist insurgents drove two stolen UN cars loaded with explosives
onto the main base of African Union peacekeepers and triggered
massive blasts that a witness said killed 21 people, including 4
suicide bombers, 16 officials from the government and AMISOM, the AU
peacekeeping force, and the Burundian deputy commander of the force.
Islamist insurgents said the attack was in revenge for a US commando
raid that killed an al-Qaida operative. An hour later missiles were
fired from the AU base strike rebel-controlled areas of Mogadishu,
killing seven people and wounded 16. It was later suspected that one
of the suicide bombers was a Somali-American teenager, Omar Mohamud
(18), of Seattle, Wa. Al-Shabab said the bombing was in retaliation
for a U.S. raid days earlier that killed an al-Qaida operative in
southern Somalia.
(AP, 9/17/09)(AP, 9/18/09)(AP, 9/25/09)(AP,
10/6/11)
2009 Sep 20, Somali al-Shabab
insurgents attacked a town near the border with Ethiopia, killing at
least 10 people.
(AP, 9/21/09)
2009 Sep 21, Coca Cola chose
the hip-hop song “Wavin’ Flag” by Somali-born singer K’naan (31) as
the anthem for the coming World Cup in South Africa. Born Keynaan
Warsame in Somalia’s seaside capital, Mogadishu, he is now a citizen
of Canada.
(www.thecoca-colacompany.com/presscenter/nr_20090921_fifa_world_cup.html)
2009 Sep 22, In Somalia Islamic
insurgents attacked an African Union peacekeeping base, sparking a
battle that killed at least 8 people and wounded more than a dozen.
(AP, 9/22/09)
2009 Sep 24, Swiss lawmakers
decided not to join the European Union's anti-piracy efforts, amid
concern that participating in the mission off Somalia could violate
the Alpine nation's long-standing neutrality.
(AP, 9/24/09)
2009 Sep 26, Turkey's navy
commandos aboard a frigate captured seven pirates in the Gulf of
Aden off Somalia's coast.
(AP, 9/26/09)
2009 Sep 28, In Somalia the
al-Shabab extremist Islamic group executed two Somali men in
Mogadishu, accusing them of being spies for foreign organizations.
Mortars and missiles pounded parts of Mogadishu, killing at least 13
civilians in two separate battles between Islamic militiamen and the
African Union peacekeeping force.
(AP, 9/28/09)
2009 Oct 1, In Somalia fighting
between rival Islamist factions over control of Kismayo, a key port
city, killed at least 12 people, in the first concrete sign of a
major split in the Islamist alliance threatening the fragile
UN-backed government.
(AP, 10/1/09)
2009 Oct 2, Somali pirates
hijacked the Alakrana, a Spanish tuna trawler, with a 36-member crew
in the Indian Ocean 415 miles (670km) from the Seychelles islands.
Two days later Spanish naval forces, taking part in the EU
anti-piracy mission, captured two suspected pirates as they tried to
travel ashore to Somalia from the Alakrana in a skiff. All of the
crew were released safe and sound 47 days later after a ransom of
four million dollars was paid.
(AP, 10/2/09)(AP, 11/5/09)(AFP, 9/24/11)
2009 Oct 3, In Minnesota Somali
Pres. Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed visited Minneapolis and St. Paul
and urged expatriates to help find solutions to the violence in
their homeland. The area is home to the largest Somali population in
the US.
(SSFC, 10/4/09, p.A10)
2009 Oct 7, Somali pirates in
two skiffs fired on a French navy vessel after apparently mistaking
it for a commercial boat. The French ship gave chase and captured
five suspected pirates.
(AP, 10/7/09)
2009 Oct 9, In Somalia an
Islamist spokesman says gunmen have killed Ahmed Abdurahamn Odawa,
aka "Taliban," a senior member of Somalia's insurgency in Mogadishu.
Odawa's bodyguard and a nearby civilian were also killed. Three
people were killed and six injured in a separate incident in the
central Somali village of Bacda. 6 masked men used machetes to carry
out amputations on three young men accused of robbery by a Somali
Islamist court in Kismayo.
(AP, 10/9/09)(AP, 10/10/09)
2009 Oct 10, The French
military fired on pirates in the Indian Ocean to protect two tuna
fishing vessels.
(Reuters, 10/10/09)
2009 Oct 13, French soldiers in
the Indian Ocean opened fire on pirates, warding off an attack on
two French tuna fishing vessels off the Seychelles Islands.
(AP, 10/13/09)
2009 Oct 15, Somali pirates
seized the Kota Wajar, a Singapore-flagged container ship, in the
Indian Ocean about 300 miles (480km) north of the Seychelles
islands.
(AP, 10/17/09)
2009 Oct 19, Somali pirates
seized a Chinese cargo ship with 25 people onboard. On Dec 27 a band
of Somali pirates split a $4 million ransom to release the bulk
carrier De Xin Hai, a Chinese cargo ship, and 25 sailors after two
months in captivity.
(AP, 10/19/09)(AP, 12/28/09)
2009 Oct 21, In Somalia a
powerful Islamist group linked to al-Qaida ordered two radio
stations in southwestern Somalia to stop broadcasts indefinitely.
(AP, 10/21/09)
2009 Oct 22, In Somalia mortar
bombs killed at least 30 people in Mogadishu after rebels launched
shells at the president's plane and African Union (AU) peacekeepers
responded with heavy artillery fire.
(Reuters, 10/22/09)
2009 Oct 22, Somali pirates
with automatic weapons seized the India-managed, Panamanian-flagged
MV Al Khaliq cargo ship off Africa's east coast and held its 26 crew
members hostage. Pirates also unsuccessfully attempted to hijack the
Italian-flagged MV Jolly Rosso off the Kenyan coast. The Al Khaliq
cargo ship was freed on Feb 9, 2010, after 3.1 million US dollars
were paid to the pirates.
(AP, 10/22/09)(AFP, 2/9/10)
2009 Oct 23, Somali Islamist
rebels threatened to attack the capitals of Burundi and Uganda, the
two central African countries that have deployed peacekeeping troops
to prop up Somali's transitional government.
(AFP, 10/23/09)
2009 Oct 23, British couple
Paul and Rachel Chandler were heading from the Seychelles to
Tanzania in their yacht, the Lynn Rival, when the distress signal
was sent. Reports followed that the couple were seized by pirates.
The couple were taken to the Somali pirate lair of Harardhere and $7
million was later demanded for their release. The Chandlers were
released on Nov 14, 2010, after a ransom of at least 750,000 dollars
was paid.
(AP, 10/27/09)(AFP, 10/29/09)(AP, 10/31/09)(AFP,
11/14/10)
2009 Oct 25, In Somalia
Islamist militants in the port town of Merca shot to death two men
accused by fighters of spying for the weak government.
(AP, 10/25/09)
2009 Oct 28, Somalia’s PM Omar
Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke said that many countries are fishing
illegally in Somali waters and have pushed formerly profitable
Somali fishermen into the pirate trade. "We estimate that the value
of the fish being taken from our waters is perhaps hundreds of
millions of dollars." 5 people were killed in fighting after
insurgents sent mortars toward the airport as the president was
arriving.
(AP, 10/28/09)(AP, 10/31/09)
2009 Oct 28, Somali pirates
exchanged fire with a French fishing vessel. They sped away, but
were soon stopped by a Spanish naval helicopter. 7 pirates were
detained on the German naval vessel, FGS Karlsruhe.
(AP, 10/28/09)
2009 Oct 29, Somali pirates
continued their rampage around the Seychelles and seized a
Thailand-flagged trawler, believed to be Russian-owned with a crew
of 25. Somali pirates currently held a total of nine ships and
around 200 crew. Pirates received a ransom and released the Thai
Union 3 on March 7.
(AP, 10/29/09)(AP, 3/7/10)
2009 Oct 31, Ahmed Gadaf, a
self-described spokesman for Somali pirates, said that boats from
other countries are plundering Somalia's fish-rich waters.
(AP, 10/31/09)
2009 Nov 1, Somali pirates
hijacked a Panamanian-flagged cargo ship with 18 crew off the east
coast of Africa, the latest in an increasing number of attacks. The
hijacking of the al-Mizan was not reported until Nov 10 when the
bandits demanded a $3 million ransom. The ship was reported released
on Nov 23. The pirates asked for and received $15,000 for
"expenses." A self-proclaimed pirate named Abdi Nor said that
pirates did not demand a ransom since the ship was bound for
Mogadishu and carried goods owned by Somalis.
(AP, 11/10/09)(AP, 11/23/09)
2009 Nov 1, Somaliland defense
minister Saleban Warsame Guled said a roadside bomb in the country's
semiautonomous northern region has killed two people, including
Osman Yusuf, an infantry division commander.
(AP, 11/1/09)
2009 Nov 5, Somali pirates
captured a Greek-owned bulk carrier with 21 crew on board. The
carrier, which is flagged in the Marshall Islands, had been heading
to Zanzibar but was last seen 300 miles east of Mombasa, Kenya. The
ship and crew were released on Dec 17.
(AP, 11/5/09)(AP, 12/18/09)
2009 Nov 9, The EU Naval Force
said pirates in two skiffs fired automatic weapons and
rocket-propelled grenades at the Hong Kong-flagged BW Lion about
1,000 miles (1,600 km) east of the Somali coast. The ship avoided
the attack and no casualties were reported. Some 14 Somali pirates
seized a Yemeni fishing boat, the Al Hilal or Al Halil.
(AP, 11/9/09)(AP, 11/11/09)
2009 Nov 10, Somali pirates
seized a Greek cargo ship, the 150 m (492 ft) Marshall
Islands-flagged MV Filitsa, after a 5-hour chase across the Indian
Ocean. 3 Greek officers and 19 Filipino sailors were aboard the
ship, which was carrying bulk urea from Kuwait to South Africa.
(AP, 11/11/09)
2009 Nov 11, In Somalia gunmen
in Bossaso killed High Court Judge Mohamed Abdi Aware, a top judge
who had sentenced many pirates and human traffickers to long jail
terms. 3 men were arrested the next day over the killing. Puntland
legislator Ibrahim Ilmi Warsame was also shot dead as he sat in a
restaurant with friends.
(AP, 11/12/09)
2009 Nov 13, The French
government said its navy has seized 3 boats of Somalia’s coast and
detained 12 suspected pirates, while seizing an arsenal including
assault rifles and rocket launchers.
(SFC, 11/14/09, p.A2)
2009 Nov 16, It was reported
that thousands of people, including children, are being secretly
recruited and trained inside Kenya to battle Islamic insurgents in
neighboring Somalia. Recruiters, about 2 months ago, started openly
operating in Kenyan towns and in nearby huts and tents of the
refugee camps.
(AP, 11/16/09)
2009 Nov 16, A North
Korean-crewed, Kiribati-flag, UK-British Virgin Islands owned,
single-hulled chemical tanker named the MV Theresa VIII was hijacked
with 28 crew members in the south Somali Basin, 180 nautical miles
North West of the Seychelles. The ship was released on March 16,
2010, following a ransom payment.
(AP, 3/16/10)(http://tinyurl.com/yeaum3r)
2009 Nov 17, Somali pirates
freed 36 crew members from the Spanish trawler Alakrana after
holding them since Oct 2. A self-proclaimed pirate said the
hostage-takers were paid $3.3 million in ransom, while Spain's PM
Zapatero said the country did what it had to do.
(AP, 11/17/09)
2009 Nov 18, Somali pirates
attacked the Maersk Alabama for the second time in seven months,
though private guards on board the US-flagged ship repelled the
attack with gunfire and a high-decibel noise device.
(AP, 11/18/09)
2009 Nov 20, Somali pirates
hijacked a Panamanian cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden between the
Arabian peninsula and the Horn of Africa.
(AP, 11/21/09)
2009 Nov 29, Somali pirates
seized the Greece-flagged Maran Centaurus, a tanker carrying more
about $150 million of crude oil from Saudi Arabia to the US, in the
waters off East Africa. The tanker was released on Jan 18 following
a $5.5 million ransom. A shootout between rival Somali pirate gangs
over their biggest ransom ever threatened to turn the supertanker
and the 28 hostages aboard into a massive fireball until bandits
begged the anti-piracy force for help. Ransom after 50 days was said
to be between $5.5 and $7 million.
(AP, 11/30/09)(AP, 12/4/09)(AP, 1/18/10)(Econ,
2/5/11, p.70)
2009 Nov 29, Pirates attacked a
Spanish fishing vessel in the Indian Ocean, firing small arms and a
rocket-propelled grenade, but private security guards aboard the
ship shot back and repelled them.
(AP, 11/29/09)
2009 Dec 1, Pirates off Oman
attacked the oil tanker, Sikinos. Using flares and hoses, the crew
of the Greek oil tanker fought off the pirate attack in the Arabian
Sea.
(AP, 12/1/09)
2009 Dec 2, Somali pirates on
speedboats tried to board the Antigua and Barbuda-flagged BBC Togo,
but were repelled after firing on the vessel. 13 pirates then fled
to a larger fishing boat 150 nautical miles (280km) south of Salalah
where a Dutch frigate captured them.
(AP, 12/3/09)
2009 Dec 3, In Somalia a male
suicide bomber dressed as a woman attacked a university graduation
ceremony in a small part of Mogadishu still under government
control, killing 24 people, including 3 Cabinet ministers, 3
journalists and a number of graduating doctors. The president of
Benadir University said 43 students were taking part in the
graduation ceremony at the Shamo Hotel. The bomber was later
reported to be a Danish citizen of Somali descent.
(AP, 12/3/09)(AP, 12/4/09)(AP, 12/10/09)(Econ,
12/12/09, p.54)
2009 Dec 7, In Somalia hundreds
of students marched in Mogadishu's streets in the first known
protest against Islamic militants, as Somalia's government warned
that militants are planning suicide attacks against key
installations in Mogadishu.
(AP, 12/7/09)
2009 Dec 8, Somali pirates
hijacked the MV Shahbaig, a Pakistan-flagged fishing vessel with 28
crew members aboard.
(AP, 12/9/09)
2009 Dec 14, In Somalia a
community leader said an explosion of an old land mine has killed
six children from the same family near the border with Ethiopia.
(AP, 12/14/09)
2009 Dec 17, Oxfam said some
areas of East Africa had received less than 5% of the normal
November rains and that many people are malnourished in Uganda,
Tanzania, Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia. It was the sixth failed rainy
season for war-ravaged Somalia and the worst drought there for 20
years. The European Commission announced that it would immediately
release an extra $75 million to fund emergency relief for
drought-stricken areas of East Africa. It estimated that 16 million
people will need aid in the coming months.
(AP, 12/17/09)
2009 Dec 18, The UN High
Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) said an estimated 74,000 Africans,
mainly from Ethiopia and Somalia, have fled to Yemen as refugees or
economic migrants. That's a 50 percent higher than in 2008.
(AP, 12/18/09)
2009 Dec 20, In Somalia Islamic
militants fired mortars into Mogadishu's police compound as the
force was celebrating its 66th anniversary, sparking a battle that
killed at least 12 civilians and a police officer.
(AP, 12/20/09)
2009 Dec 21, In Somalia a bomb
blast and a separate mortar attack on a radio station in Mogadishu
killed eight people.
(AP, 12/21/09)
2009 Dec 24, Witnesses in
Somalia said fighting spurred by a land dispute in Galkayo has
killed eight people.
(AP, 12/24/09)
2009 Dec 28, Somali pirates
seized the UK-flagged chemical tanker St James Park, the first
merchant vessel to be hijacked there in nearly six months. 3 hours
later the Navios Apollon, a Panamanian-flagged carrier with 19 crew
members, was seized by pirates 370km east of the Seychelles, over
1,300km from Somalia. A ransom for the Navios Apollon was dropped to
the ship on Feb 27, 2010.
(AP, 12/29/09)(Econ, 1/9/10, p.47)(AP, 2/27/10)
2009 Dec 30, Somali pirates
attacked the 105,000-ton MV Album, a Kuwaiti-flagged oil tanker, but
failed to seize it.
(AP, 12/30/09)
2009 Peter T. Leeson authored
“The Invisible Hook: The Hidden Economics of Pirates.”
(SSFC, 6/28/09, p.F1)
2009 Hijackings of ships this
year by Somali pirates rose to 42 from 32 in 2008. The average
ransom also rose from $1 million to $2 million.
(Econ, 1/9/10, p.47)
2009 The US helped fund a
training camp for nearly 1,000 Somali soldiers in neighboring
Djibouti. The French-trained troops were supposed to earn $100 per
month, but about half of them deserted because they were not paid.
Some returned to ordinary life and others joined the al-Shabab
rebels.
(SFC, 4/28/10, p.A3)
2010 Jan 1, Somali pirates
hijacked a British-flagged cargo ship, the Asian Glory, with 25 crew
including eight Bulgarians, 620 miles (1,000 km) east of Somalia. It
was transporting cars from Singapore to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. The
Singaporean-flagged Pramoni, a chemical tanker with a crew of 24,
was seized by pirates in the heavily defended Gulf of Aden. The ship
was carrying fertilizer from the US to India. The Pramoni was
released on Feb 26 after a ransom was delivered by parachute.
(AFP, 1/2/10)(AP, 1/2/10)(AP, 2/26/10)
2010 Jan 1, In Denmark Muhudiin
Mohamed Geele (29), a Somali man armed with an axe and suspected of
links with al Qaeda, broke into the home of Kurt Westergaard (74), a
Danish cartoonist, whose drawings of the Prophet Mohammad caused
global Muslim outrage. The attacker, who was shot and wounded by
police, was charged the next day with two counts of attempted
murder. On Feb 3, 2011, Geele was convicted of terrorism. The next
day he was sentenced to 9 years in prison to be followed by
permanent expulsion.
(Reuters, 1/2/10)(AP, 2/3/11)(Reuters, 2/4/11)
2010 Jan 2, In Somalia
Al-Shabab attacked Dusamareb, 500km north of the capital Mogadishu,
and captured it from Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a, a traditional Sufi group,
for a short while before being forced out again. At least 50 people
died in the fighting.
(http://tinyurl.com/ycmkkye)(SFC, 1/5/10, p.A2)
2010 Jan 5, The UN food agency
said it is stopping aid distribution to about 1 million people in
southern Somalia because of attacks against staff and demands by
armed groups that aid organizations remove women from their teams.
(AP, 1/5/10)
2010 Jan 10, In Somalia clashes
began between rival Islamic militias battling for control of in
Belet Weyne, a strategic western town. At least 14 people were
killed as the clashes continued into the next day.
(AP, 1/11/10)
2010 Jan 13, In Somalia 7
children were among ten people killed in shelling by Somali
government forces in Mogadishu as troops backed by African Union
peacekeepers fired mortars into districts held by Islamist
insurgents.
(AFP, 1/13/10)
2010 Jan 25, In Somalia a
mortar shell smashed into an African Union peacekeeping mission base
in Mogadishu, killing several people, including a soldier.
(AFP, 1/26/10)
2010 Jan 27, Ahmed Mohamed
Mohamoud (8), a Somali boy, died just days after undergoing
reconstructive surgery in Kenya. He had been horribly disfigured
months ago by a stray bullet in Mogadishu. Ahmed personified the
civilian toll in the brutal conflict in Somalia and drew offers of
aid from around the world.
(AP, 1/28/10)
2010 Jan 29, Somali insurgents
sparked the heaviest day of fighting in the capital in months,
launching simultaneous attacks on government forces and peacekeepers
that killed at least 15 people.
(AP, 1/29/10)
2010 Jan 31, In Somalia heavy
mortar fire between African Union peacekeepers and Islamist
insurgents killed at least 12 civilians and left scores wounded in
Mogadishu.
(AFP, 2/1/10)
2010 Jan 31, In Ethiopia UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon attended the AU's annual summit in
Addis Ababa and again failed to pledge peacekeepers for Somalia. Ban
Ki-Moon criticized power-grabs in Africa in a speech to the
continent's leaders as Libya's Moamer Kadhafi reluctantly handed
over the presidency of the African Union to Malawian President Bingu
wa Mutharika. The AU agreed to consider a Senegalese proposal to
resettle Haiti's earthquake homeless and possibly create a state for
them in Africa.
(Reuters, 1/31/10)(AFP, 1/31/10)(Reuters,
1/31/10)
2010 Feb 2, Somali pirates
hijacked a North Korean cargo ship with an unknown number of crew on
board. The MV Rim, owned by White Sea Shipping of Libya, was seized
in the Gulf of Aden, outside the internationally recommended transit
corridor patrolled by the anti-piracy naval coalition. The crew of
one Romanian and 9 Syrians fought their way free on June 2 with the
help of Ahmed, a pirate cook, who had smuggled food to the crew and
then guns.
(AP, 2/3/10)(SFC, 6/19/10, p.A3)
2010 Feb 5, Danish special
forces disrupted the takeover by Somali pirates of the cargo ship
Ariella in the Gulf of Aden. A frogmen unit scaled the sides of the
ship using grappling hooks, secured the bridge, released the crew
and then launched an hours-long search for a pirate the crew had
seen.
(AP, 2/5/10)
2010 Feb 10, In Somalia at
least 11 civilians were killed when African Union forces in
Mogadishu responded to an insurgent mortar attack on their base. At
least four security personnel and a civilian were killed when two
groups of security officers fought over where to collect their
salaries.
(AFP, 2/10/10)(AP, 2/10/10)
2010 Feb 12, In Somalia at
least eight people, including a six-year-old, were killed as mortars
pounded Mogadishu during an attack on government soldiers by
al-Shabab fighters. Hundreds of residents fled Mogadishu.
(AP, 2/12/10)
2010 Feb 26, Somali pirates
hijacked the Sakoba, a Kenyan-flagged fishing vessel. It was
reported freed on July 20, 2010.
(AP, 7/20/10)
2010 Mar 1, A World Food
Program spokesman militants in Somalia are preventing food from
reaching more than 366,000 people who need it, following a statement
by Islamists that aid agencies were helping "apostates" in the
war-ravaged Horn of Africa nation.
(AP, 3/1/10)
2010 Mar 1, Somali pirates
hijacked a Saudi tanker in the Gulf of Aden. The Al Nisr Al Saudi
usually carried fuel oil but was empty when it was taken with 14
crew onboard. NATO said one of its destroyers sank a pirate
mothership off the Somali coast. Pirate crew members were
transferred to a smaller boat and allowed to return to the mainland.
(AP, 3/3/10)(SFC, 3/2/10, p.A2)(SFC, 3/4/10,
p.A2)
2010 Mar 3, Somali pirates
seized the Sakoba, a Kenyan-flagged fishing vessel.
(AP, 3/9/10)
2010 Mar 4, Somali pirates hit
a Spanish fishing boat off the coast of Kenya with a
rocket-propelled grenade as private security on board returned fire
and fended off the would-be hijackers.
(AP, 3/4/10)
2010 Mar 5, Swarms of Somali
pirates moved into the waters off East Africa, triggering four
shootouts with French and Spanish fishing vessels including a
skirmish with French military personnel that sunk a pirate skiff.
Somali pirates near Madagascar hijacked the Norwegian-owned ship
with 21 crew members. The UBT Ocean chemical tanker was carrying
fuel oil.
(AP, 3/5/10)(AP, 3/6/10)
2010 Mar 9, In Somalia fighting
between Islamist insurgents and Somali government forces killed five
people in Mogadishu. 4 masked gunmen also shot dead an Islamist
commander in the capital's Bakara market.
(AP, 3/9/10)
2010 Mar 10, A UN Security
Council report said up to half the food aid in Somalia is being
diverted to corrupt contractors, radical Islamic militants and local
UN workers.
(SFC, 3/11/10, p.A2)
2010 Mar 11, In Somalia heavy
fighting between insurgents and pro-government troops has killed at
least 43 people over two days, as African Union peacekeepers used
tanks to help the beleaguered government beat back an insurgent
attack.
(AP, 3/11/10)
2010 Mar 12, Frightened Somalis
stacked household goods on carts pulled by donkeys and fled the
heaviest fighting the capital has seen in almost a year, after
hundreds of heavily armed insurgents moved into an area this week
previously controlled by government soldiers. Over 50 people had
died in fighting over the last 3 days.
(AP, 3/12/10)(SFC, 3/13/10, p.A2)
2010 Mar 13, In Somalia a fight
over land rights between two rival clans in northern Amara village
killed at least 15 people.
(AP, 3/14/10)
2010 Mar 15, Somalia's
transitional government (TFG) and a faction of the country's
moderate Ahlu Sunna Sufi sect signed a deal in Addis Ababa to
jointly fight extremist elements in Somalia.
(AFP, 3/15/10)
2010 Mar 19, In Somalia at
least three masked men armed with pistols shot Sheikh Daud Ali
Hasan, a senior commander of the insurgent group al-Shabab, several
times in the head and chest as he was coming out of a mosque in
Kismayo.
(AP, 3/20/10)
2010 Mar 23, Somali pirates
hijacked the Malta-flagged MV Frigia, a Turkish ship with 21 crew on
board. A 2nd hijacking, of the refrigerated MV Talca, took place off
the coast of Oman. Private security guards shot and killed a Somali
pirate during an attack on a merchant ship off the coast of East
Africa in what is believed to be the first such killing by armed
contractors. The guards were onboard the MV Almezaan when a pirate
group approached it twice. During the 2nd approach on the
Panamanian-flagged cargo ship, which is United Arab Emirates owned,
there was an exchange of fire between the guards and the pirates.
The Spanish warship Navarra intercepted two skiffs and a larger
vessel believed to be a pirate mothership. Spanish forces arrested
the six remaining pirates, took custody of the pirate's body and
sunk the larger boat. The 6 pirates were soon released after the
captain of the MV Almezaan said he could not identify the men
detained by the Spanish navy as the group of pirates who attacked
him. The Talca was freed on May 11 along with its 25 crew members 3
days after a ransom was paid. The Frigia was freed on July 29, 2010.
(AP, 3/23/10)(AP, 3/24/10)(SFC, 3/24/10,
p.A2)(AP, 3/25/10)(AP, 5/11/10)(AP, 7/29/10)
2010 Mar 27, In Somalia 3
people were killed and four injured in clashes between government
soldiers and armed protesters opposing the demolition of their
houses near Mogadishu's main airport.
(AP, 3/27/10)
2010 Mar 29, In Somalia
hundreds of women and children marched through the rubble-strewn
streets of Mogadishu to protest against al-Qaida-linked militants.
(AP, 3/29/10)
2010 Mar 29, Somali pirates
hijacked a cargo vessel, the Panama-flagged Iceberg I, off the coast
of Yemen. The 24-member crew came from Yemen, India, Ghana, Sudan,
Pakistan and the Philippines. On Dec 23, 2012, Puntland said its
forces had freed the ship and 22 hostages.
(AP, 3/29/10)(SFC, 12/24/12, p.A2)
2010 Mar 30, An Indian naval
spokesman said Somali pirates may be holding several dhows carrying
an estimated 100 Indian sailors they have seized over the past five
days.
(AP, 3/30/10)
2010 Mar 31, Taiwan officials
lost contact with the 79-ton Jih-chun Tsai 68 fishing trawler and
the government feared the boat may have been hijacked by pirates off
the Somali coast. On May 10, 2011, Wu Lai-yu, captain of the
Jih-Chun Tsai 68, was killed by ammunition fired from a US ship. He
was buried at sea from his vessel, which was "unseaworthy after the
exchange of fire and was sunk.
(AP, 4/1/10)(AFP, 7/25/11)
2010 Apr 1, Suspected Somali
pirates fired on a US Navy warship off East Africa in what appeared
to be a ransom-seeking attack on an American guided missile frigate.
The USS Nicholas returned fire on the pirate skiff, sinking it and
confiscating a nearby mothership. The Navy took five pirates into
custody.
(AP, 4/1/10)
2010 Apr 3, In Somalia at least
13 people were killed in overnight fighting in Mogadishu. Hizbul
Islam's Moalim Hashi Mohamed Farah ordered radio stations to stop
broadcasting music and said he has invited foreign fighters to the
Horn of Africa nation.
(AP, 4/3/10)(AP, 4/4/10)
2010 Apr 4, Somali pirates in
the Indian Ocean seized the Taipan, a Germany-flagged freighter. The
Dutch navy captured 10 Somalis hours after the seizure. In 2012 the
Somalis were convicted on piracy charges and sentenced to prison
terms of 2-7 years.
(SFC, 10/20/12, p.A2)
2010 Apr 4, The South Korean
Samho Dream oil supertanker was bound for the US with 24 crew
members when it was hijacked off the coast of Somalia by Somali
pirates. On Nov 6 South a Korean news agency said the ship was freed
following a ransom payment of $9.5 million.
(AFP, 4/4/10)(AP, 4/5/10)(AP, 11/6/10)(Econ,
2/5/11, p.70)
2010 Apr 6, Somali pirates
aboard the Faize Osamani tried to attack the MV Rising Sun. A
hostage onboard the hijacked Indian cargo dhow drowned after the
ship was used to attack another vessel and navies intervened. A
warship from Oman arrived and 9 hostages jumped overboard to try to
swim away from the pirates. One drowned and the other 8 were
rescued. The US destroyer USS McFaul arrived on the scene after the
Omani forces and helped persuade the ten pirates to surrender, which
they did after throwing their weapons overboard.
(AP, 4/7/10)
2010 Apr 6, An African Union
conference on maritime security opened in Ethiopia. Somali Deputy PM
Abdulrahman Adan Ibrahim Ibbi called for outside help to clear toxic
waste dumped illegally on his country's vast coastline, arguing that
the fight against dumping goes hand in hand with the fight against
piracy.
(AFP, 4/8/10)
2010 Apr 7, Somali pirates off
the coast of Kenya hijacked the MV Yasin C, a Turkish vessel with 25
crew onboard, the day after a hostage drowned during a separate
encounter between naval forces and a pirated vessel. The crew locked
themselves in the engine room and realized that the pirates had left
the ship on April 9.
(AP, 4/7/10)(AP, 4/10/10)
2010 Apr 9, In Somalia
witnesses said Islamists were seizing radio transmitters that let
the local population hear news programs from the British
Broadcasting Corporation. Al-Shabab said the BBC broadcasts
anti-Islamic propaganda.
(AP, 4/9/10)
2010 Apr 10, A US warship
captured six suspected pirates after a battle off the Horn of
Africa, the Navy's third direct encounter with seafaring bandits in
less than two weeks. On Aug 17 a federal judge in Richmond, Va.,
threw out piracy charges against the 6 Somali men, saying the
government had not shown that the men violated US piracy law. On Nov
29 Jama Idle Ibrahim, a Somali citizen, was sentenced to 30 years in
prison for his role in the attack.
(AP, 4/10/10)(SFC, 8/18/10, p.A4)(SFC, 11/30/10,
p.A9)
2010 Apr 11, Somali pirates
hijacked the St. Vincent and Grenadines-flagged Rak Afrikana cargo
ship west of the island nation of the Seychelles. The ship and 25
crew members were released on March 9, 2011.
(AP, 4/11/10)(AP, 3/10/11)
2010 Apr 13, Somali radio
stations stopped playing music after hardline militants called it
un-Islamic and ordered stations to take songs off the air. Somalis
in Mogadishu could still listen to music on two stations: one that
the government controls and another funded by the UN.
(AP, 4/13/10)
2010 Apr 14, Pres. Obama signed
an executive order freezing the assets of Somali militias. The order
could make it illegal for US ship owners to pay ransoms to Somali
pirates.
(SFC, 4/15/10, p.A2)
2010 Apr 18, In Somalia at
least 10 people died, including five government soldiers, when a
land mine exploded near a police station in south Mogadishu
overnight.
(AP, 4/18/10)
2010 Apr 18, Somali pirates
hijacked three Thai fishing vessels, the MV Prantalay 11, 12, and
14, with 77 crew aboard more than 1,200 miles (1,930 km) off the
Somali coast, the farthest-off-shore attack to date.
(AP, 4/20/10)
2010 Apr 18, Turkey's navy
commandos aboard the TCG Gelibolu frigate captured 13 Somali-based
pirates in the Indian Ocean. They destroyed two skiffs and
confiscated other pirate material.
(AP, 4/18/10)
2010 Apr 20, Two Somali radio
stations said the government has ordered them to close for obeying a
week-old order by an Islamic militant group to stop playing music.
Officials at Somaliweyn and Tusmo radio stations said they won't
obey the government order to resume playing music and shut down. The
government order was rescinded minutes after it was issued.
(AP, 4/20/10)(SFC, 4/21/10, p.A2)
2010 Apr 21, In Somalia
residents said 5 headless bodies have been found in a rebel-held
area of Mogadishu. They suspected the Islamist militant group
al-Shabab killed the men because they had helped construct the
parliament building. The men had been missing for the last five
days. Residents said clashes in central Somalia killed 12 people,
mostly combatants.
(AP, 4/21/10)
2010 Apr 21, Four suspected
Somali pirates carrying AK-47s and a rocket-propelled grenade seized
the Panamanian-flagged, Liberian-owned Voc Daisy, a bulk carrier
with 21 crew on board, the fourth ship pirates have seized in less
than a week.
(AP, 4/21/10)
2010 Apr 27, In Somalia a truck
full of explosives pulled up to a new AU base in Mogadishu. Two
soldiers opened fire on the truck and were wounded along with 2
civilians when the explosion went off. The suicide attacker was the
only one to die in the attack. Later at least 14 civilians were
killed during a prolonged battle between government soldiers and
Islamic insurgents.
(AP, 4/27/10)(SFC, 4/28/10, p.A2)
2010 May 1, In Somalia two
bombs exploded inside a small mosque in the Bakara market district
of Mogadishu killing at least 32 people.
(AP, 5/1/10)(AFP, 5/2/10)
2010 May 2, In Somalia dozens
of fighters from one of Somalia's most powerful rebel groups moved
into Haradhere, a northern town where pirates operate, sending the
pirates fleeing in a development that could upend the piracy trade.
(AP, 5/2/10)(SFC, 5/3/10, p.A2)
2010 May 5, Somali pirates
hijacked the China-bound oil tanker MV Moscow University 350 miles
off the coast of Yemen with 23 Russian crew and crude oil worth $52
million on board.
(Reuters, 5/5/10)
2010 May 6, Russian forces
freed a hijacked Russian oil tanker and rescued its crew in a
helicopter-backed operation that killed a Somali pirate.
Investigators said the 10 captured pirates, who seized the
China-bound MV Moscow University in the Gulf of Aden, will be
brought to Moscow for prosecution.
(Reuters, 5/6/10)
2010 May 6, A Taiwanese fishing
boat, the Tai Yuan 227, was hijacked by pirates off the Somali coast
who demanded a ransom for the crew.
(AP, 5/8/10)
2010 May 7, Russia’s Defense
Ministry said the pirates seized by a Russian warship off the coast
of Somalia have been released because of "imperfections" in
international law, a claim that sparked skepticism, and even
suspicion the pirates might have been killed.
(AP, 5/7/10)
2010 May 8, Somali pirates off
East Africa, armed with rocket-propelled grenades and automatic
guns, hijacked the Marida Marguerite, a chemical tanker, with 22
crew members on board. The ship was reported released on Dec 28.
(AP, 5/8/10)(AP, 12/28/10)
2010 May 14, In central Somalia
3 gunmen killed a World Food Program contracted driver in what is
believed to be clan-related violence.
(AP, 5/15/10)
2010 May 16, In Somalia
Islamist rebels shelled the newly rebuilt parliament in Mogadishu,
sparking clashes with government forces and African Union
peacekeepers that left 11 civilians dead.
(AFP, 5/16/10)
2010 May 17, Somalia’s Pres.
Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed dissolved the Cabinet to overcome divisions
that have paralyzed his administration in the face of an al-Qaida
linked Islamist insurgency. The UN-backed government currently only
controls a few city blocks in the capital of Mogadishu and has
failed to deliver either security or services to its people.
(AP, 5/18/10)
2010 May 18, In northern
Somalia security forces in the semiautonomous region of Puntland
arrested 12 pirates, including a prominent gang member whose
assets were frozen by the US Treasury Department last month. Abshir
Abdillahi, who is also known as Abshir Boyah, was captured as he
tried to flee the town of Garowe.
(AP, 5/20/10)
2010 May 18, A Yemeni security
court convicted six Somalis for piracy and sentenced them to death
for seizing an oil tanker. Six other convicted pirates received 10
year prison sentences and the pirates must together pay $2 million
compensation to an Aden refinery company, which owned a tanker that
was seized in April, 2009.
(AP, 5/18/10)
2010 May 19, The Bahrain-based
USS McFaul discovered the Panamanian-flagged M/V Iceberg I with as
many as 50 pirates and more than 20 crew members on board. It says
the location of the hijacked ship was previously unknown. The McFaul
followed the ship for more than a day and a half before the pirates
turned back toward the Somali coast.
(AP, 5/24/10)
2010 May 22, Dozens of nations,
meeting in Istanbul at a UN-sponsored conference for Somalia,
pledged to help Somalia build a strong police and military, achieve
peace and stability and eradicate piracy that has plagued
international maritime trade.
(AP, 5/23/10)
2010 May 23, In Somalia
Islamist militants attacked the presidential compound and other
government positions in Mogadishu. At least 15 people were killed
and 30 others wounded.
(AP, 5/23/10)
2010 May 25, In Germany a
private security firm's plan to deploy more than 100 ex-soldiers to
Somalia to work for a warlord triggered intense media coverage and
was harshly criticized by lawmakers, some of them calling it a
possible violation of UN sanctions against the war-ridden East
African country. Thomas Kaeltegaertner, the head of Asgaard German
Security Group, said the company would be in charge of providing
security and protection for persons, buildings and convoys in
Somalia as well as educating Somali security personnel.
(AP, 5/25/10)
2010 May 31, At least nine
people died and 40 were missing and feared dead after a boat sank
off the coast of northern Mozambique. All of those aboard the ship
were Somali.
(AP, 6/9/10)
2010 Jun 2, The crew of a
Libyan-owned cargo ship pounced on their sleeping Somali captors,
disarmed the pirates and killed five of them, regaining control of
their vessel, the MV Rim, that had been hijacked on Feb 2.
(AP, 6/2/10)(SFC, 6/19/10, p.A3)
2010 Jun 2, Somali pirates
hijacked a cargo ship, the QSM Dubai in the Gulf of Aden. The ship
flying a Panamanian flag, sailed from Brazil and included a crew of
24. The next day an official in the semiautonomous Somali region of
Puntland said security forces in his northern region stormed the QSM
Dubai and freed it after pirates refused pleas to surrender and
instead killed the Pakistani captain of the ship.
(AP, 6/2/10)(AP, 6/3/10)
2010 Jun 3, In Somalia at least
17 civilians were killed during heavy shelling and fierce gunbattles
between government forces and Islamist insurgents in Mogadishu.
(AP, 6/3/10)
2010 Jun 4, A Dutch court
ordered 10 suspected Somali pirates to be extradited to Germany,
where Hamburg prosecutors want to charge them with hijacking a
German container ship.
(AP, 6/4/10)
2010 Jun 17, Human Rights Watch
(HRW) released a report released saying Somalis seeking safety must
first get past abusive Kenyan police trying to take what little they
have left. Kenya's police rejected the report.
(Reuters, 6/17/10)
2010 Jun 17, A Dutch court
sentenced five Somali pirates, the first to stand trial in Europe,
to five years in prison for attacking a Dutch Antilles-flagged ship
in 2009.
(AP, 6/17/10)
2010 Jun 18, In Somalia
witnesses said five government soldiers, four fighters from an
al-Qaida-linked group and three civilians died during the one-hour
battle in Mogadishu.
(AP, 6/18/10)
2010 Jun 23, British-based risk
consultancy Maplecroft said African nations led by Mauritania,
Somalia and Sudan have the most precarious water supplies in the
world.
(Reuters, 6/23/10)
2010 Jun 28, Somali pirates
hijacked the Singaporean-flagged Golden Blessing carrying a
poisonous chemical used in antifreeze off the northern tip of
Somalia and took the 19 Chinese sailors onboard hostage. A ransom
was paid and the hostages were freed on Nov 6.
(AP,
6/28/10)(http://allafrica.com/stories/201011081306.html)
2010 Jul 1, Somali and African
Union troops launched a battle against an Al-Qaida-backed group in
Mogadishu. A total of 17 people were killed including 16 killed and
45 wounded in the Karan neighborhood.
(WSJ, 7/2/10, p.A2, A8)
2010 Jul 11, In Uganda twin
bombings in Kampala hit crowds watching the World Cup final killing
76 people. One of the targets was an Ethiopian restaurant, a nation
despised by Somali al-Shabab militants. On July 30 three were
charged with terrorism and murder. By Aug 17 had officials charged
32 people in connection with the bombings. One suspect, Haruna
Luyima, was supposed to set off a bomb at the dance club but changed
his mind at the last minute. Luyima told a news conference in August
that he did so because he didn't want to kill innocent people.
Police later found his discarded mobile phone, a huge lead that
helped unravel the plot.
(AP, 7/12/10)(AP, 7/30/10)(SFC, 8/18/10,
p.A2)(AP, 10/8/10)
2010 Jul 19, In Somalia at
least 12 people, including two government soldiers, were killed in
two days of battle between Islamist militants and government forces
backed by African Union peacekeepers. Government forces launched a
counterattack to recapture a government office they lost to
al-Shabab a day earlier.
(AP, 7/19/10)
2010 Jul 20, A Somali human
rights group said at least 53 civilians were killed over the past
week in clashes between government forces and Islamic militants.
(SFC, 7/21/10, p.A2)
2010 Jul 21, In Somalia 2
Ugandan soldiers were killed during clashes in Mogadishu's Bondhere
district. Al-Shabab introduced 3 former members of the presidential
guard, who said they had quit working for the government because it
was protected by AU forces who were killing Somali civilians with
indiscriminate shelling.
(AP, 7/23/10)(SFC, 7/23/10, p.A4)
2010 Jul 21, It was reported
that security forces from Somalia's semiautonomous northern region
of Puntland were rounding up hundreds of southerners. Officials said
they posed a security threat. Activist Khadija Dahir said about 500
people were deported. She called the move unacceptable and clear
violation against innocent refugees.
(AP, 7/21/10)
2010 Jul 23, The African Union
said its forces battling Al-Qaeda-linked rebels in Mogadishu will be
boosted by a battalion from Guinea and could further swell to reach
10,000 troops.
(AFP, 7/23/10)
2010 Jul 26, In Somalia African
Union forces propping up government troops launched an offensive
against Islamist rebels in Mogadishu, killing at least 11 people,
mainly fighters.
(AFP, 7/26/10)
2010 Jul 26, The island nation
of Seychelles said it has prosecuted and convicted Somali pirates
for the first time. A Seychelles court sentenced 11 Somali pirates
to 10 years in prison each for their attempt to hijack the
Seychelles coast guard patrol boat Topaz last December.
(AP, 7/26/10)
2010 Jul 27, In Somalia clashes
in Mogadishu, pitting Islamist insurgents against government troops
backed by African Union forces, killed at least 17 civilians.
(AFP, 7/28/10)
2010 Jul 27, In Uganda African
Union leaders wrapping up a three-day summit in Kampala agreed to
send thousands of extra troops to reinforce its military contingent
battling Al Qaeda-linked insurgents in Somalia.
(AFP, 7/27/10)
2010 Aug 2, In southern Somalia
Islamist rebels ordered business people to donate cash and jewelry
for a holy war against African Union peacekeeping troops and the
Somali government.
(Reuters, 8/3/10)
2010 Aug 2, Somali pirates
hijacked the MV Suez, a Panamanian-flagged cargo ship with 23 crew
onboard, during an early morning raid.
(AP, 8/2/10)
2010 Aug 5, Somali pirates
seized the Syria Star, a freighter with 24 Syrian and Egyptian crew
members in the lawless waters of the Gulf of Aden, in the second
pirate capture this week. Somali pirates left the cargo ship a day
after they hijacked it.
(AFP, 8/6/10)(AP, 8/7/10)
2010 Aug 9, A Somali militant
group with links to al-Qaida announced it had banned three Christian
aid agencies from its territory, and one aid group said militants
had occupied their offices in southern Somalia.
(AP, 8/9/10)
2010 Aug 24, In Somalia a
suicide bomber and gunmen wearing military uniforms attacked a hotel
near the presidential palace in Mogadishu, sparking a one-hour gun
battle with security forces. At least 32 people were killed,
including six Somali parliamentarians. Al-Shabab claimed
responsibility.
(AP, 8/24/10)(AP, 10/6/11)
2010 Aug 25, In Somalia
fighting in Mogadishu flared for a third straight day, killing eight
people and pushing the week's death toll past 80 as insurgents tried
to force government troops back toward the presidential palace.
(AP, 8/25/10)
2010 Aug 30, In Somalia 4
Ugandan peacekeepers were killed in Mogadishu when al Shabaab
Islamist rebels fired mortars at the presidential palace. Clashes
pitting Islamist radicals against government troops backed by
African Union forces killed at least six civilians and wounded 16.
(Reuters, 8/30/10)(AFP, 8/30/10)
2010 Sep 3, An AU official said
African Union peacekeepers have established nine new bases in
Somalia's capital in recent months and will help develop Somali
government forces to defeat al-Qaida-linked Islamist insurgents.
(AP, 9/3/10)
2010 Sep 6, A Kenyan court
convicted and sentenced seven Somali pirates to five years in jail.
A court in the Kenyan port town of Mombasa found the Somalis guilty
of attacking a German naval supply ship in the Gulf of Aden on March
29 last year.
(AP, 9/7/10)
2010 Sep 7, UN officials said
fighting in Mogadishu has killed over 230 people in the past 2 weeks
after al-Shabab threatened a massive war against the government.
(SFC, 9/8/10, p.A2)
2010 Sep 8, Somali pirates
hijacked the Malta flagged cargo ship MV Olib G and its crew of 15
Georgian and 3 Turkish sailors. The ship was just carrying ballast.
(AP, 9/8/10)
2010 Sep 8, Somali pirates
hijacked the German-owned Magellan Star, flagged under Antigua and
Barbuda. The next day US Marine commandos stormed the cargo vessel
off the Somalia coast, and reclaimed control of the ship, taking
nine prisoners without firing a shot.
(AP, 9/9/10)
2010 Sep 9, In Somalia at least
2 African Union troops, 3 civilians and 5 attackers were killed in a
suicide raid on Mogadishu airport. Al-Shabab claimed responsibility
and said the attack was aimed at a high-level meeting of UN, African
Union and Somali officials at the airport.
(AFP, 9/9/10)(AP, 10/6/11)
2010 Sep 16, In Somalia mortar
rounds fired by suspected Islamist insurgents hit the government
complex in Mogadishu killing 3 soldiers triggering a counterattack
that killed a dozen more people.
(SFC, 9/17/10, p.A2)
2010 Sep 21, Somali PM Omar
Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke resigned as fighting rattled across
Mogadishu. His resignation ended a dispute with Pres. Ahmed over a
draft constitution.
(SFC, 9/22/10, p.A2)
2010 Sep 23, In Somalia heavy
fighting between Islamist militants and pro-government troops raged
in several parts of Mogadishu, killing at least 22 people and
wounding nearly 78.
(AP, 9/23/10)(SFC, 9/24/10, p.A4)
2010 Sep 25, The MV Lugela, a
cargo ship carrying steel bars and wires, sent a distress call to
its Greek operator when pirates attacked it about 900 nautical miles
east of the Somali pirate den of Eyl.
(AP, 9/25/10)
2010 Sep 27, A boat with 85
African migrants capsized off Yemen drowning at least 13 people. It
was being towed by the US Navy back to Somalia a day after being
discovered.
(SFC, 9/28/10, p.A2)(http://tinyurl.com/2wxgqmv)
2010 Sep 27, Representatives of
45 nations and international bodies met in Madrid to consider plans
to strengthen an African Union peacekeeping force in war-torn
Somalia.
(AFP, 9/27/10)
2010 Sep 28, Somali pirates
hijacked the Asphalt Venture, a cargo ship with 15 Indian crew on
board, off East Africa.
(AP, 9/29/10)
2010 Oct 2, At least seven
Somali civilians were killed in a fire fight between African Union
forces and hardline Islamist rebels.
(AFP, 10/2/10)
2010 Oct 3, In Somalia fighting
in Mogadishu left at least eight people dead.
(AP, 10/3/10)
2010 Oct 4, In Somalia two
women, a boy and two men were killed in Mogadishu by stray bullets
from fighting taking place between pro-government forces and
Islamist militants.
(AP, 10/4/10)
2010 Oct 5, In Somalia fighting
in Mogadishu left seven people dead.
(AP, 10/6/10)
2010 Oct 6, In Somalia sporadic
clashes between Islamic fighters and government soldiers killed four
men in Mogadishu.
(AP, 10/6/10)
2010 Oct 6, Ugandan President
Yoweri Museveni called for financial support to increase his
country's troop levels in the African Union force in Somalia.
(AFP, 10/6/10)
2010 Oct 9, Somali pirates
attacked the 241-ton Kenya-registered trawler. 2 South Koreans, 2
Chinese and 39 Kenyans were aboard the trawler when it was attacked
in the waters off Kenya's Lamu Island.
(AP, 10/17/10)
2010 Oct 10, Somali pirates
seized the Panama-flagged Izumi, a Japanese-owned cargo ship with 20
Filipino crew members onboard. The Izumi was released on Feb 25,
2011.
(AP, 10/11/10)(AP, 2/28/11)
2010 Oct 11, Somali pirates
kidnapped Said Mohamed Rage, fisheries minister of the regional
Puntland government. A soldier guarding the minister was killed and
a civilian wounded. Pirates ambushed Rage's convoy because they
thought he wanted to expel them from their bases. Rage was freed 2
days later.
(AP, 10/12/10)(AP, 10/13/10)
2010 Oct 14, Somalia’s Pres.
Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed named Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, a Somali
American, as the new prime minister. In western Somalia masked
gunmen abducted a Briton, Frans Barnard, and a Somali working for
aid agency Save the Children from a compound in town of Adado. The
Somali worker was soon released. Barnard was released on Oct 20.
(SFC, 10/15/10, p.A2)(AP, 10/15/10)(AP, 10/20/10)
2010 Oct 18, Somali officials
said an offensive launched a day earlier by government troops has
killed at least 15 people. The weak, UN-backed government was
attempting to win back control of areas held by militants. Al-Shabab
announced that residents in areas under its control can no longer
use mobile money transfer services.
(AP, 10/18/10)
2010 Oct 21, In Somalia a
failed offensive by al-Shabab left at least 20 people dead as the
Islamist group attempted to recapture a district in the southwest
from government forces.
(AP, 10/22/10)
2010 Oct 23, Somali pirates
seized the MV York, a Singapore-registered liquefied gas tanker, 105
miles (165 km) off the coast of Kenya in the Somali Basin.
(AP, 10/24/10)
2010 Oct 24, Somali pirates
seized the Beluga Fortune, a German freight ship, off the coast of
Kenya, the second foreign vessel to be captured in the region in as
many days. Rescue forces the next day freed the ship, but the
hijackers got away.
(AP, 10/24/10)(SFC, 10/26/10, p.A2)
2010 Oct 26, Somali pirates
failed to get control of the French flagged Maido, a liquefied
petroleum gas carrier, because the crew had locked itself in a safe
room.
(AP, 10/27/10)
2010 Oct 26, The UN refugee
agency said some 60,000 civilians in Somalia have fled their homes
over the past week as fresh fighting between Islamist insurgents and
a government-allied militia claimed the lives of at least 10 people.
(AP, 10/26/10)
2010 Oct 26, An annual report
by Transparency Int’l. marked Somalia as the most corrupt county in
the world, followed by Afghanistan, Myanmar and Iraq. Denmark, New
Zealand and Singapore tied as the world’s least corrupt nations. The
US declined to 22nd from 19th last year.
(SFC, 10/27/10, p.A2)
2010 Oct 26, Deborah Calitz and
Bruno Pelizzari of South Africa were captured by Somali pirates from
a yacht, the SY Choizil, off the coast of Tanzania. Skipper Peter
Eldridge (61) escaped. A ransom of $10 million was later demanded.
(http://tinyurl.com/4nen4cw)(AP, 1/31/11)
2010 Oct 27, In Somalia
al-Shabab executed two girls by firing squad for spying for
government soldiers. Ayan Mohamed Jama (18) and Huriyo Ibrahim (15)
were brought before hundreds of residents. Ten masked men opened
fire on the girls, who were blindfolded, soon after the sentencing.
(AP, 10/28/10)
2010 Oct 30, Somali pirates
overnight took control of the MV Polar, a cargo vessel with 24 crew
members aboard. Pirates seized the Liberian-owned ship some 684
miles (1,100 km) east of the Indian Ocean island of Socotra. One of
them, Prudente Cabral, died of a stroke in captivity in November.
Pirates released the vessel on Aug 26, 2011.
(AP, 10/30/10)(AFP, 8/26/11)
2010 Oct 31, Somalia's
parliament approved Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, a Somali-American as
the country's prime minister. An attack by Islamic militants against
government soldiers in Mogadishu left at least 15 people dead.
(AP, 10/31/10)(AP, 11/1/10)
2010 Nov 3, Somali pirates
seized the Aly Zoulfecar, a Comoros-flagged ship, en route to the
Tanzanian port city of Dar es Salaam with 29 people on board.
Pirates surrendered the Aly Zoulfecar upon arrival in Madagascar on
Feb 27, 2011. 12 pirates were arrested.
(AP, 11/4/10)(AP, 2/28/11)
2010 Nov 6, Pirates near
Somalia fired on French naval forces from a private yacht they had
captured. The yacht ran aground the next day and the South African
skipper escaped captivity, but the pirates took two crew members
hostage onto land.
(AP, 11/8/10)
2010 Nov 8, Three gunmen from
Somalia crossed the Kenyan border and killed a community organizer
working with Somali refugees.
(AP, 11/8/10)
2010 Nov 9, A judge in Kenya's
second-highest court said that the country does not have
jurisdiction to try pirates if attacks have taken place outside
Kenya's waters, a decision that could harm US and international
efforts to have pirates tried in East Africa.
(AP, 11/9/10)
2010 Nov 11, Somali pirates
overran the Panamanian-flagged MV Hannibal II, a chemical tanker,
capturing the vessel and 31 crew members. The hijacking took place
nearly 900 nautical miles east of the Horn of Africa, which is
closer to India than Somalia. In December one crew member was
evacuated for possible appendicitis. The Hannibal II and 30 crew
members were released in March 2011.
(AP, 11/11/10)(AP, 3/17/11)
2010 Nov 15, A California
woman, Nima Ali Yusuf (24), was charged with conspiring to provide
money and people to a Somali terrorist group to help carry out
killings in the African nation, according to a federal indictment
unsealed today. She was the fourth person charged in the past month
in San Diego with helping al-Shabab.
(AP, 11/15/10)
2010 Nov 17, In Somalia
artillery shelling and gunfire between African Union troops and
Islamist insurgents killed at least 21 civilians in Mogadishu.
(AFP, 11/17/10)
2010 Nov 21, In central Somalia
at least 13 people were killed in heavy clashes that began a day
earlier between armed groups fighting for control of villages.
(AP, 11/21/10)
2010 Nov 22, Somalia’s
Parliament Speaker Sharif Hassan Sheik Aden indefinitely postponed a
session scheduled to endorse or reject the proposed Cabinet of PM
Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed. Parliamentarians complained that he has
reduced the number of ministers, tapped technocrats from outside
Somalia and reduced some clans' influence.
(AP, 11/23/10)
2010 Nov 23, East African
leaders met in the Ethiopian capital to discuss beefing up the
African Union force in Somalia and tensions in Sudan ahead of
January's referendum on autonomy for the south.
(AFP, 11/23/10)
2010 Nov 23, The EU’s
anti-piracy naval force said that have caught 16 suspected Somali
pirates over the past 5 days in the Indian Ocean with the help of
the Seychelles coast guard.
(SFC, 11/24/10, p.A2)
2010 Nov 24, In Somalia Bashir
Ahmed Abdi (51), a Minneapolis-based Somali lawyer, was shot dead in
Mogadishu. Relative Abdirahman Moalin said he was driving Abdi to a
meeting in Mogadishu when a single shot fired from what looked like
a government pickup truck hit Abdi beneath his shoulder, killing him
instantly.
(AP, 11/25/10)
2010 Nov 24, In Virginia 5
Somali men, accused of attacking the USS Nicholas on April 1, were
convicted on federal piracy charges. On March 14, 2011, the 5 men
were sentenced to life in prison.
(SFC, 11/25/10, p.A19)(SFC, 3/15/11, p.A4)
2010 Nov 26, The Dutch navy
said it has captured 20 suspected pirates off the Somali coast in
two operations in the last week and is holding them on a warship on
suspicion of involvement in hijacking a South African yacht.
(AP, 11/26/10)
2010 Nov 26, US federal agents
in a sting operation arrested Mohamed Osman Mohamud (19), a
Somali-born teenager, just as he tried blowing up a van he believed
was loaded with explosives at a crowded Christmas tree lighting
ceremony in Portland.
(AP, 11/27/10)
2010 Nov 27, Somalia's
parliament passed the proposed Cabinet of new PM Mohamed Abdullahi
Mohamed.
(AP, 11/27/10)
2010 Nov 29, In Virginia Jama
Idle Ibrahim, a Somali citizen, was sentenced to 30 years in prison
for his role in an attack on a US Navy ship on April 10.
(SFC, 11/30/10, p.A9)
2010 Dec 1, The UN said it is
seeking $530 million for aid projects in Somalia next year, and it
called the country's 20 years of strife a catastrophe that is "as
urgent as ever."
(AP, 12/1/10)
2010 Dec 2, In Somalia clashes
between Islamic fighters and government soldiers killed at least
five people in Mogadishu. Fighting between two Islamist groups in
the southern town of Burhakaba entered a second day and left 9 dead
and 15 wounded.
(AP, 12/2/10)
2010 Dec 5, Suspected Somali
pirates hijacked the M.V. Jahan Moni, a Bangladeshi ship carrying
nickel ore in the Arabian Sea and appeared to headed to the lawless
East African nation. The 25 Bangladeshis on the cargo ship included
the wife of one crewman. The Moni was released on March 14, 2011,
followed an ransom said to be $4.2 million.
(AP, 12/6/10)(AP, 3/14/11)
2010 Dec 6, In Somalia 18
people were reported killed in weekend fighting. Mogadishu ambulance
service chief Ali Muse said that 66 civilians were also wounded in
the fighting. In central Somalia clashes between rival Majerteen and
the Sa'ad clans killed at least 20 people.
(AP, 12/6/10)(AP, 12/7/10)
2010 Dec 10, Somali pirates
hijacked the MV Panama just east of the Tanzania-Mozambique border,
making it one of the most southerly attacks Somali pirates have
pulled off. All 23 crew members were from Myanmar.
(AP, 12/10/10)
2010 Dec 11, Somali pirates
captured the MV Renuar, a Panama-flagged, Liberian-owned cargo
vessel, about 1,000 miles (1,610 km) east of Somalia.
(AP, 12/12/10)
2010 Dec 13, The Oriental Rose,
Japanese-operated chemical tanker, was strafed by gunfire from an
unidentified vessel off the Somali coast slightly wounding two crew
members.
(AP, 12/14/10)
2010 Dec 19, In Somalia a
merger was announced between al-Shabab and Hizbul Islam. Analysts
and fighters said the weak, UN-backed government could face an
increase in attacks from Islamist insurgents after the two largest
groups dropped their running feud and merged.
(AP, 12/20/10)
2010 Dec 20, Somali pirates
hijacked the MV Orna cargo vessel after firing rocket propelled
grenades and small arms at the ship, a Panama-flagged, bulk cargo
vessel owned by a company in the United Arab Emirates. In June,
2011, pirate a said an undisclosed number of pirates and hostages
were forced to abandon the bulk cargo carrier MV Orna. Abdi said it
is believed the fire was caused by an electrical problem in the
ship's kitchen.
(AP, 12/20/10)(AP, 6/15/11)
2010 Dec 22, The UN Security
Council voted to increase by half the number of African Union
peacekeepers supporting Somalia's transitional government against
Al-Qaeda-inspired rebels.
(AP, 12/22/10)
2010 Dec 24, Dutch police
arrested 12 Somali men in the key port city of Rotterdam on
suspicion of preparing a terrorist attack. Dutch authorities on Dec
26 cleared five of the 12 Somali men who were detained Christmas Eve
on suspicion of preparing a terrorist attack. By Dec 30 the
remaining Somalis were released but 3 were still considered suspect.
(AP, 12/25/10)(AP, 12/27/10)(AP, 12/30/10)
2010 Dec 25, Somali pirates in
the Arabian Sea hijacked the MV Thor Nexus, a Thai-owned cargo ship
with 27 crew members. Suspected Somali pirates attacked the
Taiwanese ship FV Shiuh Fu No. 1, some 120 nautical miles off the
northeastern tip of Madagascar. All communication was lost and there
were strong indications that it may have been seized with its 26
crew members.
(AP, 12/25/10)(AP, 12/30/10)
2010 Dec 27, Somali pirates
seized a ship with eight crew onboard. The MV EMS River was seized
approximately 175 miles (280 km) northeast of the port of Salalah,
Oman.
(AP, 12/28/10)
2010 Dec 29, The spokesman for
the EU's anti-piracy force said Somali pirates over the Christmas
weekend unsuccessfully targeted two ships, going farther south than
ever before to attack vessels.
(AP, 12/29/10)
2010 Dec 31, The FV Vega 5,
hijacked by Somali pirates, was spotted near the Mozambique coast,
approximately 200 nautical miles southwest of the Comoros islands.
It was seen towing what looked to be a pirate attack skiff and did
not respond to any calls.
(AP, 1/1/10)
2010 Somali pirates stages 219
attacks in 2010. Ransoms climbed to $238 million, an average of $5.4
million per ship.
(Econ, 2/5/11, p.16)
2010 Eritrea supplied arms and
supplies to Al Shabab militants in Somalia.
(SSFC, 4/29/12, p.E9)
2011 Jan 1, Somali pirates
hijacked the MV Blida, a Greek-operated, Algerian-flagged bulk
carrier. The crew included 17 Algerians, six Ukrainians including
the captain, two Filipinos, an Indonesian and a Jordanian. On Oct 12
Algeria announced that pirates have released 2 of the ship’s 27
crewmen on humanitarian grounds. The MV Blida was released on Nov 3
after a bag full of money was parachuted down to the pirates from a
plane.
(Econ, 2/5/11, p.69)(AFP, 10/12/11)(AP,
11/3/11)(AFP, 11/20/11)
2011 Jan 12, A Danish cargo
ship, the M/V Leopard, came under fire from pirates approaching in
two skiffs. Since then, there's been no contact with the crew, four
Filipinos and two Danes.
(AP, 1/14/11)
2011 Jan 15, Somali pirates
seized a South Korean freighter with 21 crew members in the Arabian
Sea.
(AP, 1/15/11)
2011 Jan 17, In Somalia mortars
fired at the Somali parliament missed the building but killed four
civilians in Mogadishu. A village elder said eight people died of
hunger-related illnesses in the southern village of Torotorow and
the surrounding areas.
(AP, 1/17/11)
2011 Jan 18, The South Korean
commandos aboard a speedboat and a Lynx helicopter were dispatched
to rescue a Mongolian ship from Somali pirates. The firefight left
several pirates missing and believed killed.
(AP, 1/21/11)
2011 Jan 20, The EU Naval Force
said that Somali pirates have seized a Vietnamese-owned bulk
carrier, the MV Hoang Son Sun, with 24 crew onboard. All crew
members returned to Vietnam on Sep 23 after shipping firm Hoang Son
Ltd Co. paid more than $2 million in ransom.
(AP, 1/20/11)(AFP, 9/26/11)
2011 Jan 21, The Royal
Malaysian Navy commandos wounded three pirates in a gunbattle and
rescued the 23 crew members on the Malaysian-flagged chemical tanker
MT Bunga Laurel, shortly after the pirates stormed the vessel in the
Gulf of Aden with assault rifles and pistols. On Jan 31 Malaysian
police took custody of the 7 captured Somali pirates.
(AP, 1/22/11)(AP, 1/31/11)
2011 Jan 21, South Korean navy
commandos stormed the Samho Jewelry, a ship hijacked by Somali
pirates in the Indian Ocean, rescuing all the 21 crew and killing
eight pirates. The pirates had seized the 11,500-ton chemical
freighter Samho Jewelry on January 15. Five pirates were captured.
(AFP, 1/21/11)(AP, 1/31/11)(Econ, 2/5/11, p.69)
2011 Jan 21, It was reported
that Erik Prince, head of Xe Services (formerly known as Blackwater
Worldwide) private security company, was currently involved in an
Arab-financed program to mobilize 2000 Somali recruits to fight
pirates.
(SFC, 1/20/11, p.A2)
2011 Jan 28, A Danish warship
rescued two men who escaped from pirates off the coast of East
Africa. The men were among several crew members who attempted to
shake their captors two days after their ship, the MV Beluga
Nomination, was hijacked.
(AP, 1/28/11)
2011 Jan 31, In Somalia
fighting between government troops and police killed 16 people in
Mogadishu, underscoring the weak UN-backed government's inability to
control its armed forces. The fighting began when police executed a
plainclothes soldier they suspected of being an Islamist insurgent.
(AP, 1/31/11)
2011 Feb 1, Maj. Gen. Buster
Howes, commander of the EU Naval Force, said Somali pirates have
begun systematically torturing hostages and using them as human
shields.
(AP, 2/1/11)
2011 Feb 4, The US and the UN
sharply criticized a vote by Somali parliamentarians to extend their
term by 3 years. The 500-member body voted on the extension despite
failing to pass any laws in the past 6 years.
(SFC, 2/5/11, p.A2)
2011 Feb 6, The Indian navy and
coastguard captured 28 suspected Somali pirates after a firefight
with a "mothership" off southwestern India. At least some of 24
other men on board were believed to be hostages rescued as a result
of the firefight on the Thai fishing vessel that had been hijacked
up to six months ago off the coast of Somalia.
(AFP, 2/6/11)
2011 Feb 8, Somali pirates
firing guns and rocket propelled grenades hijacked the Savina
Caylyn, an Italian oil tanker, and diverted the medium-sized vessel
towards Somalia. The tanker was reported freed on Dec 21 along with
22 crew members.
(AP, 2/8/11)(AP, 12/21/11)
2011 Feb 9, Pirates seized the
Irene SL, a Greek-flagged supertanker, off the coast of Oman bound
for the US carrying a crew of 25 and a load of more than 1.9 million
barrels of oil.
(AFP, 2/9/11)
2011 Feb 11, Malaysian
prosecutors filed charges carrying the death penalty against seven
suspected Somali pirates accused of attacking a Malaysian-operated
ship in the Gulf of Aden, in the first such charges in Asia against
the African sea bandits.
(AP, 2/11/11)
2011 Feb 13, Fifty illegal
Somali migrants and a Tanzanian captain died after a ship sank off
the coast of northern Mozambique. Mozambican marines sent 89 Somali
and Ethiopian survivors to a refugee camp which holds about 3,000
illegal migrants.
(AP, 2/16/11)
2011 Feb 15, In Norway
Stolt-Nielsen, founder of the Stolt-Nielsen shipping group, wrote
the following in the financial newspaper Dagens Naeringsliv: "When
(piracy) implies a great risk of being caught and hanged, and the
cost of losing ships and weapons becomes too big, it will decrease
and eventually disappear."
(AP, 2/16/11)
2011 Feb 18, Somali pirates
hijacked the yacht Quest with four Americans on board in the Arabian
sea off the coast of Somalia. The Americans were identified as Jean
and Scott Adams, a retired couple from southern California, and
Phyllis Macay and Robert Riggle of Seattle.
(AP, 2/19/11)(SSFC, 2/20/11, p.A5)
2011 Feb 19, In Somalia 4
civilians were killed after clashes broke out between Somali
soldiers backed by African Union forces and Al Qaeda-inspired
insurgents in Mogadishu. The fighting was triggered by its discovery
of a mile-long trench system used by the Al Qaeda-inspired Shebab
insurgents in the capital.
(AP, 2/19/11)(AFP, 2/20/11)
2011 Feb 20, In Somalia at
least 15 civilians, two African Union soldiers and six foreign
fighters were killed in weekend fighting in Mogadishu.
(AP, 2/20/11)
2011 Feb 21, In Somalia a
suicide bomber detonated an explosives laden car at a police station
in Mogadishu killing at least 8 people. Al-Shabab claimed
responsibility.
(SFC, 2/22/11, p.A2)
2011 Feb 21, Four Americans
(Jean and Scott Adams, Phyllis Macay and Robert Riggle) taken
hostage by Somali pirates were shot and killed by their captors,
marking the first time US citizens have been killed in a wave of
pirate attacks plaguing the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. US
naval forces, who were trailing the Americans' captured yacht with
four warships, quickly boarded the Quest after hearing gunfire. Two
pirates died during the confrontation and 13 were captured and
detained. On March 10 the pirates were indicted in Norfolk, Va., on
various charges including piracy and kidnapping. On August 22 two
Somali men were sentenced to life in prison. 9 others remained
including 3 charged with murder. In 2012 Mohammad Saaili Shibin was
convicted for his role as a hostage negotiator.
(AP, 2/22/11)(SFC, 3/11/11, p.A7)(SFC, 3/11/11,
p.A7)(SFC, 8/23/11, p.A5)(SFC, 4/28/12, p.A4)
2011 Feb 23, Somali government
forces backed by African Union troops launched a fresh offensive
against Al Qaeda-inspired rebels, claiming forays into parts of
Mogadishu long held by the insurgents. Militants paraded the bodies
of five African Union peacekeepers. They also claimed they captured
an AU soldier from Burundi.
(AFP, 2/23/11)(AP, 2/24/11)
2011 Feb 24, In Somalia
Al-Shabab displayed the bodies of eight men they said were the
attackers in Belet Hawo, a Somalia-Kenya border town. In Mogadishu
at least 39 civilians have been killed and more than 120 wounded in
four days of fighting.
(AP, 2/24/11)
2011 Feb 24, Somali pirates
captured a sailboat carrying Danish couple Jan Quist Johansen his
wife Birgit Marie and three children (12-16), along with two adult
crew members, also Danes. All seven were released on September 6.
(AP, 3/1/11)(AP, 9/7/11)
2011 Feb 25, Somalia's
president said that government forces are gaining ground after a
week of fighting against al-Qaida-linked militants who had for years
confined his administration to a few blocks of the capital.
(AP, 2/25/11)
2011 Feb 27, Somali officials
said at least 115 people have been killed in an operation against
Al-Qaida-linked militants that began Feb 23. At least 60 militants
and 6 peacekeepers were among the dead.
(SFC, 2/28/11, p.A2)
2011 Feb 27, Officials in
Madagascar arrested 12 suspected pirates after they surrendered the
Aly Zoulfecar upon arriving in the Indian Ocean island nation. The
ship, controlled by pirates since Nov. 3, carried 20 passengers and
9 crew members and had been badly ravaged by a tropical storm before
arriving in Madagascar.
(AP, 2/28/11)
2011 Feb 28, Somali pirates
northeast of the Omani port of Salalah hijacked the MV Dover, a
Greek-owned cargo vessel with 23 crew on board.
(AP, 2/28/11)
2011 Feb, The UN estimated that
about 700 suspected and convicted pirates were being held in 12
countries.
(Econ, 2/5/11, p.70)
2011 Mar 4, Two Nairobi-based
diplomats said at least 43 Burundian and 10 Ugandan troops have been
killed in Somalia since Feb. 18. A major offensive against Islamist
militants began on Feb 19.
(AP, 3/4/11)
2011 Mar 5, In Somalia
militiamen allied with the weak transitional government took control
of Belet Hawo, a town bordering Kenya, from Islamist militants after
several hours of fighting. 5 militiamen were killed along with 42
al-Shabab militants.
(AP, 3/5/11)(SSFC, 3/6/11, p.A4)
2011 Mar 5, Pirates attacked
the MV Guanabara, a Japanese-owned oil tanker, and 24 crew members
took refuge in a protected part of the vessel after reporting they
were under attack. A special unit from the destroyer USS Bulkeley
boarded the tanker the next day and detained the suspected pirates
off the coast of Oman.
(AP, 3/6/11)
2011 Mar 7, Somali President
Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed claimed victory over the insurgents, and he
called for the "final elimination" of al-Shabab, though it was far
from clear that the militants have been defeated.
(AP, 3/8/11)
2011 Mar 9, Somali pirates
released the MV Rak Afrikana cargo ship with 25 crew onboard. The
sailors were forced to abandon the ship shortly after they were
freed because the it had a hole in the hull and was taking on water.
The Rak Afrikana was seized by pirates in April 2010.
(AP, 3/10/11)
2011 Mar 10, Forces from
Somalia’s northern region of Puntland failed in a rescue attempt of
a Danish family and 2 crew members. 5 soldiers were killed.
(SFC, 3/12/11, p.A2)
2011 Mar 13, The Indian navy
captured 61 pirates who jumped into the Arabian Sea to flee a
gunfight and fire on the hijacked ship from which they had staged
several attacks. Two Indian navy ships also rescued 13 crew members
from the Mozambique-flagged Vega 5, a fishing boat seized in
December.
(AP, 3/14/11)
2011 Mar 14, Burundi said it
has deployed an additional 1,000 soldiers for the African Union
force protecting the Somali government.
(AFP, 3/14/11)
2011 Mar 15, In Somalia 13
people died in mortar attacks in Mogadishu.
(SFC, 3/16/11, p.A2)
2011 Mar 16, Somali pirates
captured the Indonesian-flagged MV Sinar Kudus in the Arabian Sea,
then used it to attack a Liberian-flagged cargo ship nearby. On May
1 pirates released the bulk carrier Sinar Kudus and its 20 sailors
after a ransom was paid.
(AP, 3/17/11)(AFP, 5/1/11)
2011 Mar 22, Somalia said that
pro-government troops have made "remarkable" gains during an
offensive in Mogadishu over the last 2 days, where the latest
fighting killed at least 7 people.
(AP, 3/22/11)
2011 Mar 27, The Somali
government voted to extend its term for another year, despite int’l.
calls for it to leave office when its mandate expires in August.
(SFC, 3/28/11, p.A2)
2011 Mar 27, India's navy and
coast guard captured 16 Somali pirates after a three-hour-long
battle in the Arabian Sea. The pirates were trying to seize a
merchant ship, MV Maersk Kensington, using a hijacked trawler. 16
crew members who had been taken hostage by the pirates were rescued
from the hijacked Iranian trawler off India's western Lakshadweep
islands.
(AP, 3/28/11)
2011 Apr 1, The Emirates-owned
MV Arrilah-1 came under attack in the Arabian Sea off the coast of
Oman while sailing from Australia to Dubai. Emirati special forces,
with support from the US Navy's 5th Fleet, launched a mission to
rescue the vessel while 21 crew members kept safe by locking
themselves in a secure room during the hijacking. 10 pirates were
captured and handed over to Abu Dhabi.
(AFP, 4/2/11)(AP, 4/6/11)
2011 Apr 2, A Danish assault
team backed by helicopters freed 16 Pakistanis and 2 Iranians held
by suspected Somali pirates.
(SFC, 4/12/11, p.A2)
2011 Apr 3, In Somalia
pro-government forces reportedly captured Dobley town near Kenya
from al-Qaida-linked militants after hours of fighting.
(AP, 4/3/11)
2011 Apr 3, Dutch marines
killed 2 pirates and captured 16 others during an operation to free
a hijacked Iranian fishing boat of Somalia.
(www.dailybulletin.com/ci_17767176)
2011 Apr 14, Somalia's
government rejected the outcome of a UN-backed meeting on the Horn
of Africa nation that called for the ouster of the current
leadership to prepare the country for new elections.
(AP, 4/14/11)
2011 Apr 15, Somali pirates
took a multi-million ransom and released the Asphalt Venture,
hijacked last Sep 28, and some crew members. 7 Indian crew members
were kept hostage in retaliation for the holding of over 100 Somali
pirates by the Indian Navy.
(AP, 4/16/11)(SFC, 4/16/11, p.A2)
2011 Apr 19, Somali citizen
Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame was captured by the US military. He was
interrogated aboard a US warship for two months before facing
terrorism charges in NYC.
(SFC, 7/6/11, p.A6)
2011 Apr 21, Somali pirates
captured an Italian cargo ship headed for Iran with 21 crew members
on board, including 6 Italians and 15 Filipinos, in the Arabian Sea
near Oman. The Rosalia D'Amato was released on Nov 25 after a ransom
was dropped onto the ship.
(AFP, 7/24/11)(AFP, 11/26/11)
2011 May 1, Singapore shipper
Glory Ship Management Pte. Ltd. said Somali pirates have likely
hijacked the palm oil tanker MT Gemini and its 25-member crew off
the coast of Kenya.
(AP, 5/1/11)
2011 May 5, China’s Xinhua News
Agency said in a brief report that a Panama-registered cargo ship
with 24 Chinese sailors was hijacked by seven pirates in the Arabian
Sea.
(AP, 5/5/11)
2011 May 12, In Somalia AU
forces killed several militants in a battle in Mogadishu. Three AU
soldiers were also wounded. AU mission spokesman Paddy Ankunda said
al-Shabab militants, who are trying to overthrow the government,
lost ground in the battle. The body of a fighter who appeared to be
a member of the AU's peacekeeping mission was pulled through the
streets by a rope.
(AP, 5/12/11)(AP, 5/13/11)
2011 May 16, In Somalia a bomb
explosion in Mogadishu killed five pro-government troops at a base
militants fled last week. An AU spokesman said his forces began an
operation May 12 that has gained 500 yards (meters) of territory
from insurgents.
(AP, 5/16/11)
2011 May 18, In Somalia shells
fired in battles between insurgent militant Islamists and African
Union forces at a Mogadishu market left at least 14 civilian dead.
(AFP, 5/18/11)
2011 May 22, Somali government
troops backed by African Union forces advanced towards Mogadishu's
main market, a stronghold of the Islamist Shebab rebels, amid a
heavy firefight that claimed two lives.
(AFP, 5/22/11)
2011 May 30, In Somalia a
suicide bomber in Mogadishu was shot at by AU forces and immediately
blew up.
(AP, 5/30/11)
2011 Jun 2, In Somalia clashes
pitting government forces and their African Union allies against
Islamist rebels for control of Mogadishu's main market left at least
17 civilians dead.
(AFP, 6/2/11)
2011 Jun 7, In Somalia Fazul
Abdullah Mohammed (37), one of the most wanted Al-Qaeda terrorists,
was killed by security forces at a government-run checkpoint in
Mogadishu. He died when the security forces discovered that he and
another man with whom he was traveling were armed. Mohammed was
believed to be the mastermind behind the 1998 bombings of embassies
in Kenya and Tanzania, in which 224 people died.
(AP, 6/11/11)(Econ, 6/18/11, p.55)
2011 Jun 10, In Somalia
Interior Minister Abdishakur Sheikh Hassan and a suicide bomber,
said to be his niece, were killed in an explosion in his home.
(SFC, 6/11/11, p.A3)
2011 Jun 18, A Somali court
sentenced 3 British nationals, an American and 2 Kenyans to at least
10 years in prison each for bringing millions of dollars intended
for pirate ransom into the country. Discussions were underway to
overturn the sentences.
(SSFC, 6/19/11, p.A4)
2011 Jun 19, Somalia's PM
Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed said that he would resign, reversing a
pledge he made last week that he would not step down after Somalis
took to the streets in support of the Somali-American politician.
President Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed named Abdiwali Mohamed Ali as a
caretaker of the prime minister's position until a new prime
minister is appointed.
(AP, 6/19/11)
2011 Jun 23, Somalia’s Pres.
named Abdiweli Mohamed Ali, a Somali American economist, as the
country’s new prime minister. He was elevated from his position as
minister of planning and int’l. cooperation.
(SFC, 6/24/11, p.A2)
2011 Jun 23, In southern
Somalia an airstrike from military aircraft hit a convoy carrying
al-Qaida-linked militants. Foreign fighters were among those killed
in the attack carried out by a "partner country." A US drone fired
on two senior commanders of Somalia's Shebab Islamist insurgency
after they were found to have ties to Al-Qaeda. US military forces
landed to retrieve the bodies of dead or wounded militants following
the drone strike.
(AP, 6/24/11)(AFP, 6/29/11)(AP, 7/1/11)
2011 Jun 26, Somalia said it
has freed six foreigners sentenced to at least 10 years in prison
each for bringing millions of dollars intended for pirate ransom
into the country.
(AP, 6/26/11)
2011 Jun 28, Somali lawmakers
overwhelmingly approved the appointment of a new, Harvard-educated
prime minister. Abdiweli Mohamed Ali said that he would focus on
combating the country's al-Qaida-linked militants who are trying to
topple his fragile government.
(AP, 6/28/11)
2011 Jun 28, In Kenya the aid
group Save the Children said more than 800 Somali children arrive
each day at overcrowded refugee camps in the northeast to escape a
devastating drought in their war-ravaged country. They were among
nearly 1,300 people who arrive each day at the Dadaab refugee camps.
(AP, 6/28/11)
2011 Jun 30, In Kenya two
people were killed and dozens injured after a riot broke out in part
of the Dadaab camp, Africa's biggest refugee camp, where thousands
of Somali refugees have been arriving weekly in search of food and
shelter. The population at Dadaab camp surpassed 370,000 last week
and showed no sign of stabilizing.
(AP, 7/1/11)
2011 Jun, UN Statistics
Division said 70 territories would be holding censuses in 2011. Only
Iraq, Lebanon, Myanmar, Somalia, Uzbekistan and Western Sahara would
fail to hold a count in this ten-year round.
(Econ, 6/4/11, p.71)
2011 Jul 5, The UN High
Commission for Refugees said persistent violence compounded by a
serious drought have forced 54,000 Somalis to flee in June, bringing
the total number of displaced Somalis to a quarter of the country's
population.
(AFP, 7/5/11)
2011 Jul 6, Somalia’s Shebab
rebels appealed for help for thousands of people devastated by a
severe drought that has hit the Horn of Africa region, saying they
would allow aid through to their fiefdoms.
(AFP, 7/17/11)
2011 Jul 10, The head of the UN
refugee agency said that drought-ridden Somalia is the "worst
humanitarian disaster" in the world. The World Food Program
estimated that 10 million people already need humanitarian aid. More
than 380,000 refugees had moved into Kenya’s Dabaab refugee camp.
(AP, 7/10/11)
2011 Jul 13, The United Nations
made its first aid delivery to a rebel-held Somalia region after the
insurgents lifted a ban on the operations of foreign aid agencies.
The worst drought in 60 years affected over 10 million people in
northern Kenya, south-eastern Ethiopia, southern Somalia and
Djibouti.
(AFP, 7/17/11)(Econ, 7/9/11, p.44)
2011 Jul 15, Somali pirates
holding South Korean hostages demanded that the South Korean
government release pirate prisoners and pay compensation for a
commando raid that killed several pirates earlier this year.
(AP, 7/15/11)
2011 Jul 15, UNICEF said at
least 17,584 measles cases, including 114 deaths, have been reported
by Ethiopian health officials in the first half of the year. The WHO
said says at least 462 cases of measles, including 11 deaths, have
been confirmed in recent months among Somali refugee children in the
Kenyan refugee complex known as Dadaab.
(AP, 7/15/11)
2011 Jul 20, The United Nations
said it faces a $4.3 billion shortfall in helping the 50 million
people worldwide in need of emergency food, shelter and other
humanitarian aid. The UN declared famine in 2 regions of southern
Somalia.
(AP, 7/20/11)(SFC, 7/21/11, p.A2)
2011 Jul 21, In Somalia Shebab
spokesman Sheik Ali Mohamud Rage said Shebab won't allow banned aid
workers into the areas it controls. He called the UN's declaration
of famine in parts of Somalia politically motivated and pure
propaganda. Shebab rebels in Balad abducted and detained Asha Osman
Aqiil, a newly appointed woman minister, while she was on her way to
take up office in Mogadishu.
(AFP, 7/21/11)(AP, 7/22/11)
2011 Jul 26, The UN refugees
agency said some 40,000 famine-hit people have fled to the Somali
capital Mogadishu over the past month in search of food and water.
An estimated 3.7 million people in Somalia, around a third of the
population, are on the brink of starvation and millions more in
Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda have been affected by the worst
drought in the region in 60 years.
(AFP, 7/26/11)
2011 Jul 28, In Somalia heavy
fighting erupted in Mogadishu as African Union peacekeepers launched
an offensive aimed at protecting famine relief efforts from attacks
by al-Qaida-linked militants. At least six people were killed. The
WFP said that it has a funding shortfall of $252 million for the
famine relief efforts in the Horn of Africa.
(AP, 7/28/11)
2011 Jul 29, In Somalia 3
African Union troops were killed and dragged through the streets in
Mogadishu as fighting erupted between pro-government forces and
Islamist rebels.
(AFP, 7/29/11)
2011 Jul 31, In Somalia tens of
thousands of famine-stricken refugees were cold and drenched after
torrential rains pounded their makeshift structures overnight,
leading to appeals for aid. The World Food Program said it cannot
reach 2.2 million Somalis who live in al-Shabab controlled territory
in south-central Somalia. Armed men in Mogadishu shot and killed
Somali lawmaker Kalif Jire Warfa.
(AP, 7/31/11)(AFP, 8/1/11)
2011 Aug 1, In Somalia 2
African Union soldiers and two would-be suicide bombers, dressed as
government soldiers, were killed during a shootout in Mogadishu.
(AFP, 8/1/11)
2011 Aug 3, The drought and
famine in Somalia have killed more than 29,000 children under the
age of 5, according to US estimates, the first time such a precise
death toll has been released related to the Horn of Africa crisis.
(AP, 8/4/11)
2011 Aug 5, Somali government
troops opened fire on hungry civilians, killing at least seven
people, as both groups made a grab for food at a UN distribution
site in Mogadishu.
(AP, 8/5/11)
2011 Aug 6, Somali Islamist
fighters withdrew overnight from almost all their bases in the
famine-struck capital of Mogadishu, the most significant gain for
the embattled UN-backed government in four years. Al-Shabab still
held most of southern Somalia, where tens of thousands are estimated
to have starved.
(AP, 8/6/11)
2011 Aug 8, Residents of
Somalia's war-torn capital fled fighting after remnants of extremist
Shebab rebel forces, who pulled out of Mogadishu at the weekend,
battled with government troops overnight.
(AFP, 8/8/11)
2011 Aug 9, The World Food
Program said it is sending 800 metric tons of high energy biscuits
to East Africa to help fight the famine in Somalia. The UN food
agency said that the series of nine airlifts will be enough to feed
1.6 million people for a day.
(AP, 8/9/11)
2011 Aug 10, Tanzania pledged
300 tons of maize for Somalia's drought-hit people during a visit by
Somali President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.
(AFP, 8/10/11)
2011 Aug 12, A Dutch court sent
two Somalis to jail for up to seven years for hijacking a South
African yacht last year and seizing a South African couple who are
still missing. Three others also were convicted of piracy. The five
men were caught by the Dutch navy in the Gulf of Aden in November,
heavily armed with machine guns and bazookas.
(AP, 8/12/11)
2011 Aug 15, The UN's World
Food Program for the first time acknowledged it has been
investigating food theft in Somalia for two months. Vast piles of
food sacks with stamps on them from the World Food Program, the US
government aid arm USAID and the Japanese government were found for
sale in Mogadishu markets.
(AP, 8/15/11)
2011 Aug 17, The United Nations
appealed for $1.2 billion for famine victims in Somalia and its Horn
of Africa neighbors and Muslim nations pledged to contribute $350
million.
(AP, 8/17/11)
2011 Aug 19, The UN said tens
of thousands of people have already died in Djibouti, Ethiopia,
Kenya and Somalia. It warned that the famine has not peaked and that
12 million people in the area need food aid.
(AP, 8/20/11)
2011 Aug 23, Thousands of
Somalis attended a rally to celebrate the withdrawal of Islamist
rebels from bases in Mogadishu, Al-Shabab militants executed two men
and a 16-year-old boy by firing squad after accusing them of spying
in a de facto court.
(AP, 8/23/11)(AP, 8/26/11)
2011 Aug 26, It was reported
that Somali Islamist rebels have beheaded at least 11 civilians in
the capital in the past two weeks.
(AP, 8/26/11)
2011 Sep 2, Puntland soldiers
raided neighborhoods searching for gunmen linked to Al
Qaeda-inspired Shebab militants. At least 21 people were killed and
31 others wounded in two days of heavy fighting on the border of
Somalia proper and the breakaway state of Puntland.
(AFP, 9/2/11)
2011 Sep 2, In Somalia
Malaysian cameraman Noramfaizul Mohd Nor was killed in Mogadishu by
4 Burundi peacekeepers. The 4 were later discharged from the force
and faced trial in Burundi.
(AP, 9/26/11)
2011 Sep 4, Somali leaders
began gathering for a 3-day national reconciliation conference under
UN auspices amid high security in war-shattered Mogadishu.
(AFP, 9/4/11)
2011 Sep 5, The UN said famine
has spread into Somalia’s southern Bay region, where nearly 60% of
people are acutely malnourished, four times the rate at which an
emergency is declared. Hundreds were reported dying every day, with
at least half of them children.
(AP, 9/5/11)
2011 Sep 7, In Somalia the
al-Shabab Islamist militia said they have captured two Kenyan
soldiers near the country's shared border.
(AP, 9/7/11)
2011 Sep 14, Somalia's PM
Abdiweli Mohamed Ali pleaded with the UN Security Council to send
more peacekeepers to help his beleaguered government fight Islamist
militants.
(AFP, 9/14/11)
2011 Sep 15, Somalia officials
and residents said Kenyan helicopter gunships fired missiles around
Elwak region near the Kenyan border. Explosions were also heard
around the Islamist controlled Kismayo region in the south of the
conflict-torn country.
(AFP, 9/16/11)
2011 Sep 20, Gunmen shot and
killed a Somali lawmaker in the northern breakaway state of
Puntland, where fighting between political and clan groups is on the
rise recently.
(AFP, 9/21/11)
2011 Sep 20, Matt Bryden, head
of the UN arms monitoring group, said that corrupt Somali
politicians could face travel bans and have their foreign bank
accounts and property frozen under tough new UN sanctions.
(AP, 9/20/11)
2011 Sep 21, Twenty aid
agencies warned that drought and famine-blighted Somalia is at a
"turning point" as conditions decline with hundreds of thousands
more people likely to die in coming months.
(AFP, 9/21/11)
2011 Sep 24, In Somalia at
least one person was killed by a powerful explosion at the offices
of the UN Mine Action Service in Mogadishu.
(AFP, 9/24/11)
2011 Sep 30, In Somalia heavy
fighting broke out close to the border with Kenya. Extremist Shehab
fighters launched a dawn attack on the town of Dhobley, but were
later repelled.
(AFP, 9/30/11)
2011 Oct 1, In Kenya 10 gunmen
snatched Marie Dedieu (66), a disabled Frenchwoman, from her home
near a luxury resort on Manda island and then fled towards Somalia.
Kenyan coastguards attempted to intercept them at sea. Several of
the abductors were injured but they managed to enter Somalia.
(AP, 10/1/11)(AFP, 10/2/11)
2011 Oct 3, A US court
sentenced two more Somali pirates to life in prison over the
hijacking of a yacht off the coast of Africa in February that left
four Americans on board dead. Muhidin Salad Omar (30) and Mahdi Jama
Mohamed, (23-24), became the third and fourth Somali pirates to be
sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty over the fatal
hijacking in May. Seven more have pleaded guilty to charges of
piracy and awaited mandatory life sentences. Three others faced the
death penalty.
(AFP, 10/4/11)
2011 Oct 4, In Somalia a truck
bomb exploded in front of the education ministry in Mogadishu as
students and parents crowded around to learn about scholarships,
killing 82 people and wounding dozens. Bashar Abdullahi Nur,
identified as the al-Shabab suicide bomber, gave an interview before
the attack that was later aired on a militant-run radio station.
(AP, 10/4/11)(AP, 10/5/11)(AP, 10/6/11)(AFP,
10/30/11)
2011 Oct 10, In Somalia heavy
fighting broke out in Mogadishu after pro-government forces attacked
militant positions. At least 8 civilians and one AU soldier were
killed in the fighting. This followed what the African Union force
said were the deaths a day earlier of at least 12 Somali civilians
because of militants' mortars.
(AP, 10/10/11)
2011 Oct 10, Pirates of Somalia
attacked the Italian cargo ship Montecristo carrying a crew of 23.
US and British Navy ships freed the ship and 11 pirates were
apprehended.
(AP, 10/11/11)
2011 Oct 13, Somali Islamist
Shebab rebels kidnapped two female Spanish aid workers from Kenya's
Dadaab refugee camp, the third kidnapping of foreigners in just over
a month.
(AFP, 10/13/11)
2011 Oct 14, Somali lawmaker
Mohamed Ananug lost his legs in a bomb blast whilst driving a car in
southern Mogadishu.
(AFP, 10/14/11)
2011 Oct 15, Somali government
troops and allied militia wrested control of an Islamist Shebab
stronghold in the south of the country after reported bombing by
military aircraft.
(AFP, 10/16/11)
2011 Oct 16, Kenyan military
forces moved into southern Somalia, a day after top Kenyan defense
officials said the country has the right to defend itself after a
rash of militant kidnappings of Europeans inside Kenya.
(AP, 10/16/11)
2011 Oct 17, Somalia's
al-Shabab militant group threatened Kenya with suicide attacks,
saying Nairobi's skyscrapers would be destroyed and its tourism
industry ruined in an ominous warning one day after Kenyan troops
poured into Somalia.
(AP, 10/17/11)
2011 Oct 18, In Somalia a
suicide car bomb exploded near the Foreign Ministry, killing at
least four people even as Somali and Kenyan leaders met and agreed
to cooperate on military action against Islamist insurgents. Kenyan
operations were limited to the Lower Juba region.
(AP, 10/18/11)(AP, 10/19/11)
2011 Oct 19, Kenyan jets struck
in Somalia in a bid to rid the border area of Islamist rebels blamed
for a spate of abductions, including that of a French woman who died
in captivity. The foreign ministry in Paris announced the death of
Marie Dedieu (66), a wheelchair-bound woman who was snatched from
her beach house in the Kenyan resort of Lamu earlier this month and
taken to Somalia by her kidnappers. The first attack reportedly saw
the death of 73 Shebab. Kenyan deaths included five killed in a
helicopter crash.
(AFP, 10/19/11)
2011 Oct 20, In Somalia
pro-government forces supported by foreign troops chased al-Shabab
out of Mogadishu’s northernmost neighborhood, Deynile, in a dawn
offensive. Al-Qaida-linked militants claimed to have killed 70
foreign African Union peacekeepers but an eyewitness said many of
the bodies put on display were likely Somali government soldiers. An
AU spokesman the next day said that the insurgents had stolen
uniforms and dressed up scores of their own dead. The AU said 10
soldiers were killed, including 6 from Burundi, with two missing
after intense fighting with insurgents. A week later it was reported
that 51 Burundian soldiers were killed in the clash.
(AP, 10/20/11)(AP, 10/21/11)(AFP, 10/22/11)(AP,
10/28/11)
2011 Oct 20, France said that
the Somali kidnappers of Marie Dedieu (66), a disabled Frenchwoman
who died after being snatched from her home in Kenya, are demanding
a ransom for the return of her body.
(AFP, 10/20/11)
2011 Oct 20, Kenya said it
intends to push its troops to Somalia's insurgent stronghold of
Kismayo and will stay until there are no Islamist insurgents left.
(AP, 10/20/11)
2011 Oct 23, Kenya warplanes
targeted the Shebab-held Somali port city of Kismayo as troops
advanced on the insurgents. The US warned of an imminent threat of
attack on foreigners in Kenya.
(AFP, 10/23/11)
2011 Oct 24, A French military
spokesman said France would soon help supply Kenyan troops fighting
al-Qaida-linked militants. A grenade attack wounded a dozen people
at a downscale Nairobi pub early in the day.
(AP, 10/24/11)
2011 Oct 24, US Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton pledged another $100 million in food aid to
drought-hit East Africa amid warnings that millions of people face
starvation for drought-affected areas in Ethiopia, Kenya and
Somalia.
(AFP, 10/24/11)
2011 Oct 25, In northern
Somalia gunmen kidnapped a female American aid worker (32) and a
Danish man (60), working for the Danish Demining Group. Their Somali
colleague was placed under police custody.
(AP, 10/25/11)(AP, 10/26/11)
2011 Oct 27, Kenyan troops
clashed heavily with Shebab fighters in southern Somalia, the latest
battle since an unprecedented military incursion 12 days ago, while
four people were killed in a rocket attack in northern Kenya.
(AFP, 10/27/11)
2011 Oct 29, In Somalia at
least 10 people died during an insurgent attack on an African Union
base in Mogadishu. Kenya said its troops will stay in southern
Somalia until Kenyans feel safe again, raising questions about
whether Kenya risks becoming bogged down in an open-ended occupation
of its war-ravaged neighbor. The Shebab claimed to have killed 80
Ugandan soldiers in the battle. A Shebab spokesman said American
citizen of Somali origin was said to have been one of the two
suicide bombers behind the twin attack.
(AP, 10/29/11)(AP, 10/30/11)
2011 Oct 30, A Kenyan raid on a
southern Somali town killed at least five civilians, including three
children. Kenya insists it hit a Shebab target but witnesses and aid
sources said one bomb ploughed into a camp of displaced civilians.
The air raid struck a camp hosting 9,000 internally-displaced
Somalis in Jilib.
(AFP, 10/31/11)
2011 Oct 31, Somali pirates
captured a Greek chemical tanker and were commandeering it to a
hideout in the north of the war-torn country. The MT Liquid Velvet
had 21 Filipinos and one Greek sailor on board.
(AFP, 11/2/11)
2011 Oct 31, Kenya and Somalia
called for other nations to help in their fight against Islamist
insurgents.
(SFC, 11/1/11, p.A3)
2011 Nov 1, Somali government
spokesman Abdirahman Omar Osman said the district commissioner of
Mogadishu's Hamar Jajab neighborhood has been fired over missing
aid. The district commissioner in Karan was suspended following
looting incidents and assaults on women collecting food.
(AP, 11/1/11)
2011 Nov 1, Kenya's military
said it had reliable information that two aircraft landed in the
Somali town of Baidoa with weapons on board intended for al-Shabab
militants.
(AP, 11/2/11)
2011 Nov 2, Kenyan military
spokesman Maj. Emmanuel Chirchir said that military planes would
target and attack weapons flown into the Somali town of Baidoa so
they cannot be used. A July UN report said illicit flights with
weapons or fighters for Somali militants could be originating from
Eritrea, Yemen or the United Arab Emirates. The report also said
Eritrea gives about $80,000 a month to al-Shabab-linked individuals
in Nairobi.
(AP, 11/2/11)
2011 Nov 3, Somali pirates
freed the MV Blida an Algerian-owned ship with 25 crew members
onboard after 10 months of captivity. The Blida was seized on Jan 1.
(AP, 11/3/11)
2011 Nov 6, Fishermen on a
Taiwanese boat fought back against Somali pirates and freed
themselves after a hijacking in the Indian Ocean. 5 Vietnamese war
vets on the Chin Yi Wen overcame the hijackers and then the boat met
up with British anti-piracy vessels nearby. The war fighters had
been recruited by Taiwan to be part of a 28-man crew on the 290-ton
vessel, along with 9 Chinese, 8 Filipinos and 6 Indonesians. The
crew forced the six armed Somali pirates to jump overboard, and
successfully took back control of the ship.
(AP, 11/6/11)(AFP, 11/7/11)
2011 Nov 9, In Somalia several
armed and masked men shot to death a Somali deputy in front of his
house in the capital Mogadishu.
(AFP, 11/9/11)
2011 Nov 11, Kenyan military
and Somali government forces killed 4 al-Shabab members.
(AP, 11/12/11)
2011 Nov 12, In Somalia 3
refugees queuing for food were killed in crossfire when corrupt
Somali government security forces tried to loot aid supplies in
famine-hit Mogadishu.
(AFP, 11/12/11)
2011 Nov 12, A Kenyan official
said more than 30 Kenya-based members of Somalia's top militant
group have accepted a police amnesty and are providing information
to help Kenyan police secure the country against threatened suicide
attacks by the group. Kenyan and Somali government troops killed
nine members of an al-Qaida-linked militant group they were pursuing
in Somalia.
(AP, 11/12/11)(AP, 11/13/11)
2011 Nov 13, In Somalia
explosions in Afgoye, a heavily populated corridor along a main road
leading out of the Somali capital, came during a meeting of Islamist
insurgent leaders as the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab militia fought to
defend itself on two fronts. None of the militant leaders were
believed to have been killed and no one claimed responsibility for
the attacks.
(AP, 11/16/11)
2011 Nov 14, A Kenya government
statement said PM Raila Odinga asked Israeli President Shimon Peres
for assistance in building the capacity of the Kenyan police to deal
with attacks by al-Shabab militants.
(AP, 11/14/11)
2011 Nov 16, The presidents of
Kenya, Uganda and Somalia said the dual-fronted fight against
Islamist al-Shabab militants presents a "historic opportunity" to
restore stability in Somalia.
(AP, 11/16/11)
2011 Nov 17, Somalia's Islamist
rebels attacked government and African Union troops positions in
Mogadishu, killing four civilians and wounding 12 others.
(AFP, 11/17/11)
2011 Nov 17, The UN refugee
agency said Yemen has seen a surge of refugees from Somalia and
Ethiopia, with a record 12,545 arriving by sea last month as they
fled unrest, famine and persecution.
(AFP, 11/17/11)
2011 Nov 18, The UN downgraded
famine declarations in three Somali regions, but warned the crisis
remains the worst in the world with nearly 250,000 people facing
imminent starvation.
(AFP, 11/18/11)
2011 Nov 19, Several hundred
Ethiopian troops crossed into southern and central Somalia, local
elders said, but Addis Ababa dismissed the reports as "absolutely
not true."
(AFP, 11/19/11)
2011 Nov 20, A convoy of
Ethiopian troops entered the central Somali town of Guriel in a
possible attempt to open a third front against Al-Qaida-linked
al-Shabab insurgents.
(SFC, 11/21/11, p.A2)
2011 Nov 22, Somali civilians
bore the brunt of violence in the war-torn nation, with a roadside
bomb killing 10 in the capital and fighter jet strikes in the south
claiming three lives.
(AFP, 11/22/11)
2011 Nov 24, Kenya said its
warplanes destroyed two Islamist insurgent bases in neighboring
Somalia. Two grenade attacks in the eastern town of Garissa close to
the border with Somalia killed three people and injured 27.
(AFP, 11/24/11)
2011 Nov 24, The UN warned that
Ethiopia's reported deployment of troops into Somalia could worsen
what is already the world's most severe humanitarian
crisis.
(AFP, 11/24/11)
2011 Nov 25, Three Somali
soldiers and a civilian were killed when a roadside bomb the
officers picked up to detonate elsewhere exploded inside their
vehicle in Mogadishu.
(AFP, 11/25/11)
2011 Nov 25, Ethiopia said it
may contribute troops to the African Union force in Somalia fighting
al-Qaida-affiliated insurgents.
(AP, 11/25/11)
2011 Nov 28, Somalia's Islamist
Shebab rebels ordered 16 international aid agencies shut in areas
they control after armed raids on several offices, and warned more
would follow if they did not toe the line.
(AFP, 11/28/11)
2011 Nov 29, The World Health
Organization said its offices in southern Somalia were looted during
rebel raids while children's relief agency UNICEF said its base in
the area remained occupied.
(AFP, 11/29/11)
2011 Nov 30, In Somalia a
suicide bomber dressed in a military uniform triggered his
explosives at army headquarters in Mogadishu, killing four soldiers.
(AP, 11/30/11)
2011 Nov 30, A French court
jailed five Somali men for between four and eight years and
acquitted a sixth in the Sep 2, 2008, hostage taking of a French
couple on their yacht in the Gulf of Aden.
(AFP, 11/30/11)
2011 Dec 1, Britain’s navy
arrested 7 suspected pirates after a helicopter chase off the coast
of Somalia. A Spanish fishing vessel had come under attack by a
group of pirate vessels.
(SFC, 12/2/11, p.A2)
2011 Dec 3, The Kenyan army
said it had lost four troops killed in action against Somalia's
Shebab Islamist rebels while 10 had been hospitalized with wounds
since it launched its incursion in mid-October.
(AFP, 12/3/11)
2011 Dec 5, Kenya military jets
bombed two al-Shabab camps in Somalia, killing an unknown number of
militants. 5 al-Shabab fighters on a boat attacked a Kenyan naval
vessel. The navy sunk the attacking boat. A roadside bomb exploded
in Kenya’s largest refugee camp near the border with Somalia,
killing one police officer and wounding three.
(AP, 12/5/11)(AP, 12/6/11)
2011 Dec 6, Somali police
appeared to make a deadly error by returning a suspected suicide car
bomber they had arrested to his bomb-laden vehicle, where the
suspect then detonated a blast that killed four people.
(AP, 12/6/11)
2011 Dec 6, Kenya’s military
reported a large battle over the weekend (Dec 3-4) in which it said
11 Somali government soldiers and more than 40 al-Shabab fighters
were killed.
(AP, 12/6/11)
2011 Dec 9, UN chief Ban
Ki-moon urged Somalia's Al Qaeda-linked insurgents to end violence
during a surprise visit to war-torn Mogadishu.
(AFP, 12/9/11)
2011 Dec 14, In Somalia a rowdy
parliament session degenerated into fistfights and kicks after
disagreements over the sacking of speaker Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan.
Supporters of Sheikh Adan argued that his impeachment a day earlier
did not follow procedure.
(AFP, 12/14/11)
2011 Dec 18, Somali journalist
Abdisalan Sheik Hassan was shot dead in Mogadishu by a man in a
Somali government uniform.
(AP, 12/18/11)
2011 Dec 20, In Somalia 200
troops from Djibouti arrived in Mogadishu to join the African Union
force that helps protect the government and fight Islamist
insurgents.
(AP, 12/20/11)
2011 Dec 20, Kenyan military
jets targeted several locations in Hosingow in the Lower Juba region
of Somalia, close to the Kenyan border. 11 people, most of them
civilians, were reported killed in the raid.
(AFP, 12/21/11)
2011 Dec 23, In central Somalia
a resident of a refugee camp at Mataban shot and killed three aid
workers, including two workers with the UN's World Food Program.
(AP, 12/23/11)
2011 Dec 27, Somali pirates
hijacked the Enrica Ievoli, an Italian ship carrying 15,000 tons of
caustic soda from Iran to Turkey. A ransom was paid on April 22,
2012, and the 18 crew members and ship were freed.
(AP, 5/1/12)
2011 Dec 29, In Somalia a
disgruntled former employee shot at least two international workers
from the aid group Doctors Without Borders at the group's office in
Mogadishu. Philippe Havet (53) from Belgium and Andrias Karel
Keiluhu (44) from Indonesia were killed.
(AP, 12/29/11)(AP, 12/30/11)
2011 Dec 29, Kenyan troops
clashed with Somalia's Al-Qaeda linked Shebab militants leaving
several dead, the latest casualties in weeks of dragging conflict in
southern Somalia.
(AFP, 12/30/11)
2011 Dec 29, Minnesota based
Sunrise Community Banks apologized for shutting the accounts of
money transfer shops handling Somalia-related business. It called
for unspecified government remedies to allow them to continue the
business. The association of three banks, announced in early
December that it would close the accounts of a dozen or so money
transfer shops serving an estimated 30,000 Somalis in the region.
(AFP, 12/30/11)
2011 Dec 31, Ethiopian troops
captured Beledweyne, a rebel-held town in central Somalia, leaving
at least 18 people dead.
(Reuters, 12/31/11)(AFP, 12/31/12)
2011 Jay Bahadur (27), a
Canadian writer, authored "The Pirates of Somalia: Inside Their
Hidden World."
(AP, 7/19/11)
2011 Somali exile author
Nuruddin Farah published “Crossbones,” the 3rd volume of his “Past
Imperfect” trilogy. The opening novel was “Links” (2004) followed by
“Knots” (2007).
(Econ, 9/17/11, p.90)
2011 In Somalia at least 80,000
people died this year of famine. A large amount of food sent by the
UN to Mogadishu during the famine never reached the starving people
it was intended for. Some of the World Food Program supplies went to
the black market, some to feed livestock. One warehouse full of
rations was looted in its entirety by a government official. Across
the city, feeding sites handed out far less food than records
indicate they should have.
(Econ, 2/25/12, p.58)(AP, 3/17/12)
2012 Jan 4, Kenya's military
said its forces killed three militant fighters from al-Shabab in a
battle in Somalia. A Kenyan soldier was also killed in the battle.
(AP, 1/4/12)
2012 Jan 5, The African Union
asked the UN to authorize an increase of its peacekeeping force in
war-torn Somalia by 5,700 to 17,700 amid mounting attacks by
Islamist rebels.
(AFP, 1/5/12)
2012 Jan 5, A US Navy destroyer
rescued 13 Iranian fishermen, more than 40 days after their boat was
commandeered by suspected Somali pirates in the northern Arabian
Sea. The event was made public a day later and Iran's government on
Jan 7 welcomed the rescue, calling it a positive humanitarian
gesture. Iran's hard-line Fars news agency called the rescue
operation a Hollywood dramatization of a routine event.
(AP, 1/7/12)
2012 Jan 6, In Somalia at least
60 al-Shabab militants were killed in Kenyan airstrikes on
Garbaharey town, a base of the al-Qaida-linked group.
(AP, 1/7/12)
2012 Jan 7, In Somalia the
Alhidaya mosque in Mogadishu was hit during an attack by the
Islamist Shebab insurgents on African Union Mission (AMISOM)
soldiers. At least one Muslim cleric was killed and several other
people wounded.
(AFP, 1/9/12)
2012 Jan 7, The Danish navy
captured a suspect pirate mothership off the Horn of Africa. They
arrested 25 suspected pirates and freed 14 people from Iran and
Pakistan.
(AP, 1/8/12)
2012 Jan 11, In Kenya alleged
Somali Islamist gunmen killed six Kenyans including four policemen
and abducted three others, in the northeastern region bordering
Somalia.
(AFP, 1/12/12)
2012 Jan 12, Human Rights
Watch (HRW) warned that Kenyan security forces were abusing
civilians and Somali refugees in northeastern regions. The ICRC said
it has suspended food aid to 1.1 million people in southern and
central Somalia because of obstruction by local militia. Gunmen
killed a local aid worker and his driver in central Somalia.
(AFP, 1/12/12)
2012 Jan 13, The International
Committee of the Red Cross called on local authorities in war-torn
Somalia's south and center to release 140 trucks carrying aid for
240,000 needy.
(AFP, 1/13/12)
2012 Jan 13, Kenyan police
arrested 29 Ugandans suspected of seeking to join Islamist rebels in
Somalia.
(AFP, 1/15/12)
2012 Jan 15, Two Kenyan fighter
jets, apparently targeting a southern Somali militant camp, instead
killed five children in Jilib according to an insurgent spokesman
and residents. A resident said she saw 2 dead al-Shabab fighters
being transported after the attack.
(AP, 1/16/12)
2012 Jan 16, In southern
Somalia at least nine people were reportedly killed after jets
bombed an al-Shabab militant camp in the town of Afmadow.
(AP, 1/17/12)
2012 Jan 19, In Somalia a bomb
exploded in a crowded refugee camp in Mogadishu, only minutes after
a group of UN officials and international journalists left a nearby
feeding site. The blast killed two Somalis.
(AP, 1/19/12)
2012 Jan 20, In Somalia African
Union-backed government forces raided Islamist rebel hideouts in
Mogadishu with tanks and artillery, sparking a retaliation that
killed 3 government soldiers and one official.
(AFP, 1/20/12)
2012 Jan 20, The UN refugee
agency raised concern over the record numbers of Ethiopians and
Somalis flocking to Yemen, despite the deteriorating security
situation there. Last year 103,000 refugees, asylum seekers and
migrants crossed the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea, almost double the
2010 figure of 53,000.
(AFP, 1/20/12)
2012 Jan 21, In Somalia gunmen
kidnapped an American man in the northern town of Galkayo.
Bilal-Berjawi, a British-Lebanese commander of the al-Shabab
militant group, was killed along with two others when a US drone
missile struck the car they were traveling in outside Mogadishu.
Another airstrike killed six people near the insurgent stronghold of
Kismayo.
(AP, 1/21/12)(AP, 1/22/12)
2012 Jan 22, In Somalia 2
Kenyan and one Somali soldiers were killed during an attack on
hardline Shehab positions at Delbio and Hosingo.
(AFP, 1/23/12)
2012 Jan 24, In Somalia a truck
bomb targeted an Ethiopian military base. Islamist militants claimed
responsibility for the attack. Al-Shabab on its Twitter feed claimed
that 33 Ethiopian troops were killed in the attack.
(AP, 1/24/12)
2012 Jan 25, US Navy SEAL Team
6, the same unit that killed Osama bin Laden, parachuted into
Somalia under cover of darkness and crept up to an outdoor camp
where an American woman and Danish man were being held hostage. 9
kidnappers were killed and American Jessica Buchanan and Poul Hagen
Thisted were freed.
(AP, 1/25/12)
2012 Jan 25, At least 15 Somali
migrants were killed and 40 left missing after their boat capsized
off the coast of Libya. The boat had been carrying 55 Somalis and
the other passengers were still missing.
(AFP, 1/28/12)
2012 Jan 27, Ethiopian PM Meles
Zenawi said he would pull troops out of Somalia "as soon as
feasible," admitting for the first time that forces had crossed into
the war-torn neighboring country.
(AFP, 1/27/12)
2012 Jan 28, In Somalia
unidentified gunmen shot dead Hassan Osman Abdi (29), a station
director at a Mogadishu radio station.
(AFP, 1/28/12)
2012 Jan 30, Somalia's Islamist
Shebab rebels banned the International Committee of the Red Cross
(ICRC), ordering it to close its emergency relief operations in the
war-torn regions it controls.
(AFP, 1/30/12)
2012 Jan 31, In Somalia two
guards and a suicide bomber were killed in an attack on the home of
Abdi Hasan Qeybdid, a senior militia commander in the central town
of Galkayo.
(AFP, 1/31/12)
2012 Feb 2, Britain sent
Foreign Secretary William Hague to Mogadishu and appointed an
ambassador (Matt Baugh), for the first time in two decades. The last
British ambassador left Somalia 21 years ago, as the Horn of Africa
spiraled into chaos during the 1991 ouster of president Siad Barre.
(AFP, 2/2/12)
2012 Feb 3, In Somalia refugees
and soldiers in Mogadishu's Badbado camp say they watched a
surveillance drone crash into a hut made of sticks, corrugated cans
and plastic bags. Kenya's military said some 100 Somali militants
were killed after helicopter gunships targeted a gathering of more
than 200 al-Shabab fighters near Badhade.
(AP, 2/3/12)
2012 Feb 7, Somali pirates
seized the MV Free Goddess, a Liberian-flagged Greek-owned ship and
its crew of 21 Filipinos. They were held hostage by pirates for
eight months until a payment of $2.3 million was made in ransom.
(AP, 10/12/12)
2012 Feb 8, In Somalia a
suicide car bomber slammed his vehicle into a cafe outside the Muna
Hotel, where lawmakers gather in Mogadishu, killing at least 15
people.
(http://tinyurl.com/89an85t)(AFP, 2/17/12)
2012 Feb 8, Eleven Somalis
drowned and another 34 were missing after a smugglers' boat headed
for Yemen capsized in the Gulf of Aden. Survivors told how the three
smugglers crewmen forced 22 people overboard when the boat's engine
failed soon after departure.
(AFP, 2/10/12)
2012 Feb 9, In a video posted
on an Islamic Internet forum Al-Qaida's leader, Ayman al-Zawahri,
said that the Somali militant group al-Shabab has formally joined
al-Qaida.
(AP, 2/9/12)
2012 Feb 13, Across Somalia
gun-toting Shebab insurgents staged rallies to celebrate their
group's recognition by Ayman al-Zawahiri as a member of the Islamist
Al-Qaeda network.
(AP, 2/13/12)
2012 Feb 14, Somali government
forces backed by the African Union attacked Islamist Shebab rebel
posts on the outskirts of the war-torn capital Mogadishu with tanks
and artillery.
(AFP, 2/14/12)
2012 Feb 15, Somalia's
president asked the United Nations to lift the arms embargo against
his country, saying the recent merger between al-Qaida and al-Shabab
has made the dropping of the arms ban necessary.
(AP, 2/15/12)
2012 Feb 17, In Somalia a car
bomb exploded inside the compound of a major police building in
Mogadishu, wounding at least one police officer.
(AP, 2/17/12)
2012 Feb 18, Somalia's
disparate leaders agreed on the basic structure of a new parliament
and government to replace the fragile transitional body that has
failed to bring peace to the war-torn country. The accord proposed a
parliamentary system for anarchic Somalia, with both Puntland and
Galmudug recognized as states within a federal system.
(AFP, 2/19/12)
2012 Feb 21, Ethiopian troops
in battle tanks thrust into rebel-held Somalia regions, sparking
heavy fighting as they advanced towards the major Shebab stronghold
of Baidoa.
(AFP, 2/21/12)
2012 Feb 22, In Somalia
truckloads of Ethiopian and Somali troops captured the strategic
city of Baidoa from Al-Qaeda allied Shebab insurgents, who vowed to
avenge their loss. The blow to the insurgency coincided with the UN
Security Council boosting the strength of an African force in
Mogadishu by more than 5,000 troops and came on the eve of
conference in London aimed at reviving peace efforts.
(AFP, 2/22/12)
2012 Feb 23, Somali and int’l.
participants at a conference in London agreed to develop a federal
system in Somalia based on 5-6 zones of influence.
(Econ, 2/25/12, p.58)
2012 Feb 24, In southern
Somalia a US military drone missile strike killed four Al-Qaeda
allied Shebab rebels, as the extremists were squeezed on three
fronts by regional forces.
(AFP, 2/24/12)(SFC, 2/25/12, p.A2)
2012 Feb 27, In Somalia an
explosion killed three people at a football match in Mogadishu.
(AFP, 2/27/12)
2012 Feb 27, Off Somalia's
coast, 2 hostages were killed as the Danish warship HDMS Absalon
intercepted a cargo vessel that had been hijacked by pirates. 17
suspected pirates were found along with 18 hostages. In July Danish
military prosecutors say a Danish soldier "very likely" caused the
death of the two hostages, but that the soldier would not be
prosecuted since anti-pirate operations are inherently fraught with
deadly risks.
(AP, 2/28/12)(AP, 7/3/12)
2012 Feb 28, In Somalia gunmen
shot down Abukar Hassan Kadaf, the head of the Somaliweyn radio
station in Mogadishu.
(AFP, 2/28/12)
2012 Mar 2, It was reported
that the UN-backed Somali government spent only $1 million on social
services despite having $58 million in revenue, according to an
unpublished report by Abdirazak Fartaag, a former Somali government
official.
(AP, 3/3/12)
2012 Mar 3, In Somalia a car
bomb exploded near a military base housing Burundian soldiers from
an African Union peacekeeping force in Mogadishu, killing the
driver.
(AFP, 3/3/12)
2012 Mar 5, In Somalia a
Burundi soldier with the African Union troops was killed and another
injured in Mogadishu, when a bomb they were defusing was detonated
by Shebab rebels.
(AFP, 3/5/12)
2012 Mar 6, Turkish Airlines
started flying into Somalia's war-torn capital, becoming the first
international company to fly passenger planes into Mogadishu in more
than 20 years. Flights were scheduled for twice a week.
(AP, 3/6/12)
2012 Mar 10, In Somalia an
offensive by Islamist Shebab fighters on Ethiopian troops left at
least 23 people dead including 17 al-Shabab fighters and 6 Ethiopian
troops.
(AFP, 3/10/12)(SSFC, 3/11/12, p.A4)
2012 Mar 12, Kenya said it will
avail 4,660 soldiers to the African Union force in Somalia, where it
already has troops fighting the Al Qaeda-linked Shebab insurgents.
(AFP, 3/12/12)
2012 Mar 13, Somalia's Shebab
rebels banned the aid group Save the Children from operating in
regions under their control. It accused Save the Children of
distributing expired porridge to children, as well as corruption and
failing to comply with the rules laid down by the Al Qaeda-linked
group.
(AFP, 3/13/12)
2012 Mar 14, In Somalia a
suicide bomber blew himself up at the compound of President Sharif
Sheikh Ahmed, killing at least 5 people, in an attack claimed by
Al-Qaeda affiliated Shebab rebels.
(AFP, 3/14/12)
2012 Mar 19, In Somalia several
mortars hit houses as families slept in Mogadishu. A father, mother
and two children were killed in one house. Another round killed two
other civilians. An additional 12 people were wounded.
(AFP, 3/19/12)
2012 Mar 19, Somalia's national
theatre reopened in the war-ravaged capital Mogadishu for the first
time in 20 years with the president voicing hope it would mark a
watershed in the long quest for peace.
(AFP, 3/19/12)
2012 Mar 20, In Somalia
Al-Qaeda-allied Islamist gunmen seized Dhusamareb, a key central,
driving out the pro-government militia Ahlu Sunna Wal Jamaa, an
Ethiopia-backed force who follow Somalia's traditional Sufi branch
of Islam. Shebab fighters also fired mortar bombs at the presidency
in Mogadishu as their commanders called for more attacks on the
government. The pro-government militia later in the day wrested back
Dhusamareb in fierce clashes both sides claimed killed several of
their rivals.
(AFP, 3/20/12)
2012 Mar 21, British hostage
Judith Tebbutt (57), captured in Kenya on Sep 11, 2011, ago by
gunmen who killed her husband, was released in central Somalia and
flown out to Nairobi.
(AP, 3/21/12)
2012 Mar 23, Abdullahi Yusuf
(78), former president of the Transitional Federal Government of
Somalia (2004-2008), died in a hospital in Dubai. He rose from a
guerrilla warrior to president of Somalia only to watch his
administration crumble under a ferocious Islamic insurgency.
(AP, 3/23/12)
2012 Mar 24, In central Somalia
hundreds of heavily armed Ethiopian troops advanced into Dhusamareb
with the aim of attacking the main stronghold of the Al Qaeda-linked
Shebab militia in the region.
(AFP, 3/24/12)
2012 Mar 26, In central Somalia
Ethiopian forces seized El Bur, the main regional base of the Al
Qaeda-linked Shebab insurgents. Shebab rebels in Mogadishu killed
two civilians at a camp for the displaced near the presidential
compound, which they targeted with mortar bombs.
(AFP, 3/26/12)
2012 Mar 26, Somali pirates
seized an Iranian-owned cargo ship and its 23-strong crew in the
first hijacking within Maldivian territory. The MV. Eglantine was
seized off the north-western Hoarafush island in the Indian Ocean
atoll nation. The Bolivian-flagged vessel was freed on April 2, and
continued on to Iran with its sugar shipment.
(AFP, 3/27/12)(AFP, 4/3/12)
2012 Mar 29, Human rights Watch
said pro-government Somali militia are torturing and executing
civilians in two southern towns of the war-torn nation where
Ethiopian troops recently ousted Islamist rebels.
(AFP, 3/29/12)
2012 Mar 30, Somali government
troops backed by African forces said they took control of one of the
Islamist rebellion's last strongholds, sparking intense clashes on
the outskirts of Mogadishu.
(AFP, 3/30/12)
2012 Apr 2, A Bolivian-flagged
vessel seized by Somali pirates since last week was freed, and is
continuing on to Iran with its sugar shipment.
(AFP, 4/3/12)
2012 Apr 4, In Somalia an
explosion at the national theater in Mogadishu killed at least 4
people including two top sports officials in an attack by an
Islamist group. Officials said a female suicide bomber was
responsible, but al-Shabab said it was a planted device. The
explosion at the newly reopened theater happened as PM Abdiweli
Mohamed Ali was standing at the podium to deliver a speech.
(AP, 4/4/12)(SFC, 4/5/12, p.A3)
2012 Apr 5, In Somalia African
Union troops deployed in the city of Baidoa, the first time the
force has dispatched troops outside Mogadishu since it was set up
five years ago. Baidoa, located 250 km (155 miles) northwest of
Mogadishu, was the seat of Somalia's transitional parliament until
the hardline Shebab captured it three years ago.
(AFP, 4/5/12)
2012 Apr 6, A Chinese cargo
ship was hijacked by pirates in the Gulf of Oman, not far off the
south of Iran. The Xianghuamen, owned by Yuanyang shipping company,
was sailing with a crew of 28. Iran’s navy rescued the 28 crew
members and detained 9 Somali pirates.
(AFP, 4/6/12)(AP, 4/6/12)
2012 Apr 9, In Somalia a blast
rocked a vegetable market in Baidoa, the country’s third-largest
city, killing at least twelve people and wounding at least 30.
(AFP, 4/9/12)
2012 Apr 11, Somalia’s PM
Abdiweli Mohamed Ali said that al-Shabab is in "tatters" and that
its high-ranking leaders are now moving to the Galgala Mountains.
(AP, 4/11/12)
2012 Apr 11, The Danish navy
stopped a pirate ship off the Somali coast, rescuing 12 Iranian and
Pakistani hostages and arresting their 16 captors.
(AFP, 4/12/12)
2012 Apr 17, In Somalia unknown
military jets fired several missiles at a suspected pirate base in
the north of the war-torn country, wounding two civilians. Last
month the EU authorized its navies to strike Somali pirate equipment
on land, with a mandate for warships or helicopters to fire at fuel
barrels, boats, trucks or other equipment stowed away on beaches. A
suicide bomber killed a soldier in the southern town of Baidoa, when
he detonated an explosive vest as he tried to enter a government
security building.
(AFP, 4/17/12)
2012 Apr 18, The German
government approved an extension of the EU's anti-piracy operation
off the Horn of Africa to include targeting equipment stored on
Somali beaches.
(AFP, 4/18/12)
2012 Apr 19, In Somalia
Burundian troops with the AU force seized areas of Mogadishu’s
Banadir district late today, including securing the Deynile
airstrip, part of long-running efforts to drive the militants from
the city.
(AFP, 4/20/12)
2012 May 1, Bomb attacks in
Somalia claimed by Islamist rebels killed at least eight people
including two lawmakers, as the international community warned that
"spoilers" threaten the fragile progress in the war-torn nation.
(AFP, 5/1/12)
2012 May 2, In Somalia 2 armed
men shadowed radio journalist Farhan Abdulle after he left his
station, then shot him dead. He became the fifth Somali journalist
killed this year.
(AP, 5/4/12)
2012 May 7, In Somalia a mortar
shell fired into a crowded Mogadishu neighborhood and killed seven
civilians, including two children.
(AFP, 5/8/12)
2012 May 15, The EU naval force
patrolling the Indian Ocean carried out its first air strikes
against pirate targets on shore, with a pirate reporting that the
raid destroyed speed boats, fuel depots and an arms store.
(AP, 5/15/12)
2012 May 19, In Somalia at
least 7 people, mostly Somali soldiers, were killed in bomb
explosions in Mogadishu.
(AFP, 5/19/12)
2012 May 22, In the UAR a
federal court convicted 10 Somali pirates captured during a raid to
retake MV Arrilah-1 on April 1, 2011, and sentenced them to life
behind bars.
(AP, 5/22/12)
2012 May 24, In Somalia
thousands of people fled a region north of Mogadishu amid the sounds
of gunfire and explosions as government troops and their allies
tried to take more ground from Islamist insurgents in the Afgoye
corridor. An estimated 400,000 refugees had been in the agricultural
town.
(AP, 5/24/12)
2012 May 25, Somali and African
Union troops said they have captured the strategic town of Afgoye
from Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab insurgents without major resistance.
Somali troops were reported to be pushing northwards towards the
Shebab-held town of Balad, some 35 km (21 miles) north of Mogadishu.
(AFP, 5/25/12)
2012 May 29, Somalia's
president Sharif Shekh Ahmed escaped an ambush unharmed as Al-Qaeda
linked Shebab fighters attacked his armored convoy in the Afgoye
corridor. Shebab insurgents said they had fired on two foreign
warships that came in close to the key rebel port of Kismayo, the
first such reported incident as they face growing military pressure.
(AFP, 5/29/12)
2012 May 30, The Somali
militant group al-Shabab threatened to bring down skyscrapers in
Kenya within two weeks, a warning that followed a bomb attack in
Nairobi's city center. Kenya naval forces bombarded the Somali town
of Kismayo, a key stronghold of the Al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab.
Ground troops attacked Afmadhow.
(AP, 5/31/12)(SFC, 5/31/12, p.A2)
2012 May 31, In Turkey
representatives from 54 countries gathered in Istanbul for a 2-day
conference to find a path towards a better future for Somalia for
which the term "failed state" was coined two decades ago.
(AFP, 5/31/12)
2012 Jun 2, Kenyan troops were
officially integrated into the African Union's peacekeeping mission
in Somalia (AMISOM), with Kenya's defense minister signing an
agreement at AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
(AFP, 6/2/12)
2012 Jun 7, The US announced
$33 million in rewards for information leading to the location of
top terrorist suspects in Somalia.
(SFC, 6/8/12, p.A2)
2012 Jun 14, Somali government
spokesman Abdirahman Omar Osman said that some 500 al-Shabab
fighters have defected to the government side.
(AP, 6/15/12)
2012 Jun 16, In Somalia a
suicide bomber attacked a military base housing African Union
soldiers and Somali troops about 30 km (20 miles) from the capital
Mogadishu.
(AFP, 6/16/12)
2012 Jun 21, Somali security
forces rescued a South African couple kidnapped by pirates in the
Indian Ocean and held for 18 months. Debbie Calitz and Bruno
Pelizzari were sailing in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Kenya on
Oct 26, 2010, when their yacht was hijacked by 12 pirates who set
course for Somalia and took the couple ashore at Baraawe.
(AFP, 6/21/12)
2012 Jun 22, Somali leaders
approved the draft constitution. The president, prime minister and
four other leaders signed the document at a meeting in Nairobi,
Kenya. Somali PM Abdiweli Mohamed Ali said the constitutional is
only provisional until Somali citizens can vote on it.
(AP, 6/22/12)
2012 Jun 26, In Somalia
hundreds of pro-government troops swept into Balad town 30 km north
of Mogadishu, forcing al-Shabab fighters to flee.
(AP, 6/26/12)
2012 Jun 26, In Tanzania a
truck driver abandoned Ethiopian and Somali migrants after letting a
number of them suffocate to death inside his vehicle. He dumped 43
bodies and abandoned survivors.
(AP, 6/27/12)
2012 Jun 28, In Dubai Somali
President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and his counterpart Ahmed Mohamed
Silanyo of Somaliland agreed to boost cooperation between their
different factions. The two men signed the "Dubai Charter" in the
presence of the leaders of Puntland and Galmudug, two
self-proclaimed autonomous regions in Somalia.
(AFP, 6/28/12)
2012 Jun 29, In Kenya gunmen
killed at least one person and kidnapped 4 aid workers in the Dadaab
refugee camp complex near the border with war-torn Somalia. The 4
aid workers were released safely in southern Somalia after a short
overnight gunfight on July 2.
(AFP, 6/29/12)(AFP, 7/2/12)
2012 Jul 5, The United States
placed sanctions on six alleged backers of Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab
rebels in Somalia, naming them as two Eritrean government officials,
a Sudanese national and three Kenyans.
(AFP, 7/5/12)
2012 Jul 7, Somali security
forces said they had detained over 500 people in a two-day operation
in the Mogadishu area who were either Islamist rebel fighters or had
have links to them.
(AFP, 7/8/12)
2012 Jul 11, In northern
Somalia 2 Kenyan aid workers and a Somali doctor were kidnapped.
Police suspected pirates.
(AFP, 7/11/12)
2012 Jul 16, In Somalia a car
bomb went off in Mogadishu killing Mohamed Abdinur Garweyne, a
former trade minister, and wounding six people nearby.
(AFP, 7/16/12)
2012 Jul 16, A UN Security
Council report said that for every $10 received, $7 never made its
way into Somalia state coffers. The report cited systematic
misappropriation, embezzlement and outright theft. Somali PM
Abdiweli Mohamed Ali condemned the allegations.
(SFC, 7/17/12, p.A2)
2012 Jul 20, Puntland security
forces of the semi-autonomous region in northern Somalia seized a
boat carrying weapons that were being smuggled from al-Qaida
militants in Yemen to fighters in Somalia.
(AP, 7/21/12)
2012 Jul 22, Somalia's most
powerful militant group publicly executed three of its members
because they had spied on the militants for the US and British
intelligence agencies.
(AP, 7/22/12)
2012 Jul 31, In Somalia gunmen
in Mogadishu shot dead Abdi Jeylani Malaq Marshale, a well-known
comedian known for poking fun at Al-Qaeda linked Shebab insurgents.
(AFP, 8/2/12)
2012 Aug 1, Somali leaders
voted overwhelmingly to adopt a new constitution that contains new
individual rights and sets the country on a course for a more
powerful and representative government. The vote came after two
thunderous blasts at the gates of the meeting site from a failed
suicide attack. Security forces shot dead two bombers at the gate to
the meeting area.
(AP, 8/1/12)
2012 Aug 13, Dutch sailors
taking part in NATO's pirate-busting operation Ocean Shield helped
rescue the crew of a Somali dhow hijacked by pirates in the Gulf of
Aden.
(AFP, 8/14/12)
2012 Aug 20, Somalia's
parliament held its inaugural session as the chief justice swore in
211 new members of parliament. Leaders were to have chosen 275
members of parliament and vote for a new president by today, the end
of the UN-backed Transitional Federal Government. The process has
been slowed by corruption and intimidation. Some seats were said to
be sold for up to $25,000.
(AP, 8/20/12)(Econ, 8/25/12, p.37)
2012 Aug 27, In Somalia African
Union forces seized the port city of Merca from rebels linked to
al-Qaida. At least 5 children were killed and more than 10 others
wounded in a blast in a school in Balad, after they played with
explosives left over from fighting in the area.
(AP, 8/27/12)(AFP, 8/27/12)
2012 Aug 29, Somali pirates
killed a Syrian hostage crew member and wounded another to protest a
delayed ransom payment for the MV Orna, hijacked on Dec 20, 2010.
(SSFC, 9/2/12, p.A9)
2012 Sep 1, Somalia's
Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab militants put on show the bodies of four
"enemy" soldiers (2 Somalis and 2 Kenyans) killed in combat in
Kismayo, southern Somalia.
(AFP, 9/1/12)
2012 Sep 4, The Kenyan Navy
said it has shelled Somalia's port town of Kismayo, the remaining
significant stronghold of al-Qaida-linked militants, in preparation
for the ground forces to capture the town. 7 people believed to be
members of the al-Shabab militia group were killed in the shelling
that occurred on Sep 1 and Sep 3.
(AP, 9/4/12)
2012 Sep 10, Somalia's
Parliament elected a new president of the country's fledgling
government. Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, a political newcomer, won the
election against outgoing President Sheik Sharif Sheikh Ahmed by the
legislative vote of 190 to 79.
(AP, 9/10/12)
2012 Sep 12, In Somalia a day
after the election of the new president, two explosions at the gate
of his temporary residence killed at least five people and wounded
three others.
(AP, 9/12/12)
2012 Sep 18, Somali officials
said Islamist extremist fighters have started to leave their coastal
stronghold of Kismayo in the face of advancing allied African
troops.
(SFC, 9/19/12, p.A2)
2012 Sep 20, In Somalia a
suicide bombing killed 14 people at a Mogadishu cafe frequented by
politicians and journalists.
(AP, 9/21/12)
2012 Sep 23, In Somalia a
Kenyan soldier allegedly shot dead six Somalis believed to be
civilians caught up in the ongoing battle between allied African
troops and extremist insurgents.
(AP, 9/24/12)
2012 Sep 25, Kenya's military
said that its bombing of the Somali port city of Kismayo destroyed a
warehouse and armory belonging to the Islamist militant group
al-Shabab, which controls the city.
(AP, 9/25/12)
2012 Sep 28, One Somali
journalist was shot dead by gunmen. A second journalist, a day
earlier, was beheaded and his body dumped in the street. The two
attacks brought the number of Somali journalists killed this year to
15. Kenyan troops invaded Kismayo, al-Shabab's last stronghold in
Somalia, coming ashore in a predawn assault.
(AP, 9/28/12)
2012 Sep 29, In southern
Somalia Al-Shabab rebels pulled out of Kismayo, a day after Kenyan
troops invaded and marched toward the city center and seaside port
that long served as the militants' key source of funding.
(AP, 9/29/12)
2012 Oct 1, Somali troops
entered Kismayo for the first time since Kenyan troops carried out
an amphibious assault on the coastal port city last week, causing
al-Shabab militants to flee.
(AP, 10/1/12)
2012 Oct 8, Somalia’s Al-Shabab
said on Twitter that it had banned the British-registered aid group
Islamic Relief. The extremists accused the group of working with the
United Nations' World Food Program, which the militants will not
allow in its territory.
(AP, 10/8/12)
2012 Oct 11, Somali pirates
released the MV Free Goddess, a Liberian-flagged Greek-owned ship
and its crew of 21 Filipinos, following a payment of a $2.3 million
ransom. They were held hostage for eight months. Pirates still held
six ships and 156 crew members.
(AP, 10/12/12)
2012 Oct 19, In Somalia a cargo
ship was freed after being held captive for nearly two years. A
$600,000 ransom was paid for the MV Orna, hijacked on Dec 20, 2010.
Six hostages were still being held by the pirates on land. Pirates
shot and killed one of the ship's crew members in August over
delayed ransom payments.
(AP, 10/20/12)
2012 Oct 23, Somali journalist
Ahmed Farah Sakin, a reporter for the Somali television station
Universal, was shot to death in the town of Lasanod in the breakaway
region of Somaliland. This brought the number of journalists killed
in Somalia this year to 16.
(AP, 10/24/12)
2012 Oct 28, Somali journalist
Mohamed Mohamud Turyare, a reporter at Shabelle radio, died of
wounds following an attacked by gunmen last week. This brought
the number of journalists killed in targeted attacks in Somalia this
year to 17.
(AP, 10/29/12)
2012 Oct 29, In Somalia Warsame
Shire Awale, who worked at a Mogadishu radio station, was shot dead
by two men near his home. This brought the number of Somali
journalists killed this year to 18.
(AP, 10/30/12)
2012 Oct 31, A top a top Kenyan
official said more than 2,700 African Union troops from Uganda have
died in Somalia. About three dozen Kenyan forces have died there
over the last year.
(AP, 10/31/12)
2012 Nov 3, In Somalia a
security guard died while fending off suicide bombers who were
trying to storm into a popular Mogadishu restaurant.
(AP, 11/3/12)
2012 Nov 23, Somali journalists
urged their new government and the international community to help
end the impunity they say is contributing to making Somalia one of
the world's most dangerous countries to practice journalism.
Journalist Mohamed Bashir Hashi said they are being targeted to
silence them from speaking against corruption, violence and
violations of human rights by radical Islamist groups.
(AP, 11/23/12)
2012 Dec 4, In northeastern
Somalia militants attacked an army post, killing 12 soldiers in one
of the deadliest attacks in recent months by the al-Qaida-linked
group.
(AP, 12/5/12)
2012 Dec 9, In Somalia African
Union and Somali troops took Jowhar, a rebel al-Shabab stronghold
north of Mogadishu.
(AP, 12/9/12)
2012 Dec 13, A Kenyan official
said an intelligence message intercepted from an al-Qaida-linked
Somali militant group shows that the rebels are being offered up to
$8,000 as a reward for killing Kenyan security officers.
(AP, 12/13/12)
2012 Dec 14, In Somalia a
suicide car bomb explosion in Mogadishu killed only the bomber. 3
bystanders were wounded.
(AP, 12/14/12)
2012 Dec 18, In the Gulf of
Aden 55 people drowned or were missing after an overcrowded boat
capsized off the Somali coast.
(AP, 12/21/12)
2012 Dec 23, Puntland forces,
after a two-week seige, captured back the Panamanian-flagged MV
Iceburg 1 and rescued 22 hostages who had been held by pirates since
May 29, 2010. The hijackers had killed a Yemeni sailor who tried to
escape. The pirates near the coastal village of Gara’ad escaped.
(SFC, 12/24/12, p.A2)(AP, 12/29/12)
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