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Battle of Mogadishu (March–April 2007)

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Battle of Mogadishu (2007)
Part of the War in Somalia

Mogadishu skyline during the fighting in March 2007
Date21 March – 26 April 2007
Location
Mogadishu
Result Tactical Ethiopian/TFG victory, insurgency not quelled
Belligerents
Popular Resistance Movement (PRM)
Somalia Hawiye clan militiamen		  Ethiopia
Somalia Somalia
 Uganda
Casualties and losses
427 killed
150 captured[1][2]		 11 killed
(Somalia)
37 killed
68 wounded
(Ethiopia)[3][4][5][6]
1 killed[7]
5 wounded
(Uganda)
1 Mil Mi-24 helicopter gunship shot down
2 tanks damaged

Civilian casualties:
1,176 Somali civilians killed (Hawiye claim)[8] 4,600 Somali civilians wounded[9][10]


11 Belarusian civilians killed

The Battle of Mogadishu began on 21 March 2007 in the Shirkole area of Mogadishu between Somali Transitional Federal Government forces and allied Ethiopian troops, and Islamist insurgents. The battle usually includes the dates, when referenced, in order to distinguish it amongst the nine major Battles of Mogadishu during the decades-long Somali Civil War.

The battle

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First round of fighting

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A failed 21 March and 22 disarmament operation by the TFG resulted in the capture of TFG troops.[citation needed]

Cargo plane shot down

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Main article: 2007 Mogadishu TransAVIAexport Airlines Il-76 crash

On 23 March 2007, a TransAVIAexport Airlines Ilyushin Il-76 plane crashed in Mogadishu. The plane is thought to have been shot down. There were 11 people on board the aircraft, all but one Belarusian crew members died in the crash. The other remaining survivors were found wandering around the crash site and later died in hospitals.[citation needed]

2nd round of fighting

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On 1 April, it was reported that the death toll of the previous four days of heavy fighting in the capital is at least 849 killed civilians, 200 insurgents and 36 Ethiopian soldiers along with the one Ugandan soldier, for a total of 1,086 dead.[citation needed]

2nd ceasefire

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Fighting was essentially halted for 2 April, after Hawiye clan leaders declared a truce with Ethiopian military officials starting 2 pm 1 April. They further called on Ethiopian troops to withdraw from areas they had occupied during the past few days of fighting.[11] Although there had been a lull in fighting on 2 April,[12] Salad Ali Jelle, the deputy Defence Minister of the TFG denied that there had been or would be any ceasefires between Hawiye clan leaders and Ethiopian military forces. Jelle stated that it was not Hawiyes involved in the recent fighting, but "remnants of the defeated Islamist" and called upon civilians residing in insurgent positions to evacuate the area.[13]

3rd round of fighting

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On 11 April, at least two people have been killed and three others were wounded in a renewed fighting that erupted in north of the Somalia capital between interim government troops and local insurgents overnight.[14] However, on 12 April Somalia's Ambassador to Ethiopia Abdikarin Farah stated that Mogadishu was now peaceful for the first time in sixteen years.[15]

Early in the morning of the first day, bullets started flying between the insurgents and the government; we could not even leave our homes. The militia [insurgents] that were fighting were behind our compound, I don’t know if they were Al-Shaabab or Hawiye fighters. They were firing mortars and then running away. They were firing the mortars at the TFG and the Ethiopians, at the Presidential Palace and at the Ministry of Defense where the Ethiopians were based. Whenever the insurgents fired mortars at the Ethiopians, the Ethiopians responded with shells, but the Ethiopians shot them un-targeted, they killed many civilians and even our animals.

— 42-year-old woman from Towfiq district, describing the events of 29 March 2007.[16]

On 14 April, two government soldiers are killed in an ambush in the capital.[17]

On 17 April, heavy street fighting renewed in the northern part of Mogadishu, with at least 11 dead civilians. And on the next day heavy mortar fire erupted killing another 3 civilians.[18] The fighting continued into 19 April, with another 12 civilians dead, while a suicide car bomb exploded at an Ethiopian army base wounding at least 10 Ethiopian soldiers. In addition 10 more soldiers were wounded when their truck hit a landmine in the city.[19]

Aid workers report that nearly half a million people fled the city, almost 1/2 of the population and only fighters and men protecting their property remain in the city.[20]

It was reported that in the latest round of fighting from 17 to 24 April, at least 358 people had been killed, including 45 insurgents, and 680 were wounded. It is estimated that close to 320,000 Somalis have fled Mogadishu since February, with many more still trapped there.[21][22]

On 26 April, Ethiopian troops took insurgent strongholds in Northern Mogadishu. They first occupied Tawfiq and Ramadan, before moving further north and capturing the Balad checkpoint in Northern Mogadishu, the main one for Mogadishu and an important supply line for insurgents.[23]

Somali Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Ghedi declared victory over the insurgents on 26 April, saying "the worst of the fighting in the city is now over" and urging displaced residents to return to their homes. He also claimed that his forces, backed by Ethiopian tanks and artillery, had overrun an insurgent stronghold in northern Mogadishu, capturing at least 100 enemy fighters.

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Aweys Osman Yusuf (20 May 2007). "Ethiopia says 1,000 insurgents killed in Mogadishu clashes". Shabelle.net. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 20 May 2007.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. ^ [1][dead link]
  3. ^ Somalia: Death toll reaches 22 in Mogadishu clashes Archived 22 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine – Somalinet.com
  4. ^ "Two soldiers on patrol killed in ambush – Worldnews.com". Article.wn.com. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 9 July 2011.
  5. ^ [2][dead link]
  6. ^ Heavy fighting in Somali capital – BBC News
  7. ^ Al Jazeera English – News – Shelling Continues In Mogadishu Archived 5 July 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ "Mogadishu clashes 'killed 1,000'". BBC. 10 April 2007. Archived from the original on 18 April 2007. Retrieved 10 April 2007.
  9. ^ "Africa | Mogadishu clashes 'killed 1,000'". BBC News. 10 April 2007. Retrieved 9 July 2011.
  10. ^ "Business & Financial News, Breaking US & International News | Reuters.com". Today.reuters.com. 9 February 2009. Archived from the original on 11 July 2007. Retrieved 9 July 2011.
  11. ^ "Truce declared by clan on Mogadishu Fighting". Garoweonline. 1 April 2007. Archived from the original on 26 September 2007. Retrieved 2 April 2007.
  12. ^ "Thousands flee Somalia fighting". BBC. 2 April 2007. Archived from the original on 16 April 2007. Retrieved 2 April 2007.
  13. ^ Abdi Farah, Mohamed (2 April 2007). "Somalia: Mogadishu resumes calm as gun shots could be heard". Somalinet. Archived from the original on 6 February 2012. Retrieved 2 April 2007.
  14. ^ "Home". Shabelle. 3 November 2010. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 9 July 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  15. ^ "People's Daily Online - Somali ambassador says Mogadishu becomes peaceful in 16 years". English.people.com.cn. 12 April 2007. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 9 July 2011.
  16. ^ VI. Patterns of Abuses by Parties to the Conflict in Mogadishu, Human Rights Watch
  17. ^ "Two soldiers on patrol killed in ambush - Worldnews.com". Article.wn.com. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 9 July 2011.
  18. ^ "Heavy Street Fighting Renewed in the Northern Part of Mogadishu".[dead link]
  19. ^ "Fighting in Somali capital kills 12 - World news - Africa - msnbc.com". MSNBC. 19 April 2007. Archived from the original on 29 June 2007. Retrieved 9 July 2011.
  20. ^ "Heavy Somali fighting amid crisis". BBC News. 20 April 2007. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
  21. ^ "News: Somalia, 51 killed as Somalia fighting rages". ReliefWeb. 22 April 2007. Retrieved 9 July 2011.
  22. ^ "Nearly 350 dead in fierce Somali fighting". USA Today. 24 April 2007. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
  23. ^ Independent Newspapers Online (26 April 2007). "Ethiopian troops take back Mogadishu - Africa | IOL News". IOL.co.za. Archived from the original on 26 October 2007. Retrieved 9 July 2011.
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