Somalia
Current Operations
EUTM
EU Military Mission to Contribute to the Training of Somali Security Forces (EU)
Since: 05/10
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AMISOM
African Union Mission in Somalia (Other)
Since: 01/07
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UNPOS
United Nations Political Office for Somalia (UN-Peacebuilding)
Since: 04/95
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Fighting forces 18,500 to flee Mogadishu (29.09.2008)
(Quelle: Irinnews) Fighting between insurgents and Somali government forces backed by Ethiopian troops and AU peacekeepers has sparked another exodus of civilians from Mogadishu, a local human rights group said. 'From 20 September, our figures show that 18,500 people have fled their homes due to the fighting and shelling,' Ali Sheikh Yassin, acting chairman of the Mogadishu-based Elman Human Rights Organisation, told IRIN.
Blue helmets should be deployed in Somalia, General Assembly told (26.09.2008)
(Quelle: UN News) Somalia urgently needs a fully-fledged United Nations peacekeeping force to restore peace and stability in the war-torn country, the Foreign Minister of its Transitional Federal Government (TFG) told the General Assembly tonight. Addressing the high-level segment of the General Assembly, Ali Ahmad Jama Jengeli said the deployment of a force of UN blue helmets would also help “create a secure environment for institution-building and socio-economic development.”
Battles and looting in Mogadishu (26.09.2008)
(Quelle: BBC) At least nine people have been killed during fighting in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, where hungry crowds have looted trucks carrying food aid. The unrest came as Somali pirates seized a Ukrainian ship reported to be carrying about 30 T-72 tanks. In the capital, insurgents launched a surprise attack on Somali army posts and fighting took place near the palace of President Abdullahi Yusuf.
Peacekeepers targeted in Somalia (24.09.2008)
(Quelle: BBC) Renewed fighting has broken out in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, with African Union peacekeepers coming under attack from Islamist insurgents. At least seven civilians are reported to have been killed since the clashes erupted late on Tuesday. Insurgents attacked Ugandan peacekeepers, who responded with tank and artillery fire. On Monday about 30 people were killed and dozens wounded in some of the worst violence Mogadishu has seen in months.
Latest talks to further Somali peace deal wrap up in Djibouti (21.09.2008)
(Quelle: UN News) Two key committees set up as a part of a United Nations-brokered accord aiming to bring peace to war-torn Somalia have wrapped up their second meeting in neighbouring Djibouti, during which they discussed practical ways to carry out the June agreement.
AU plane sparks Mogadishu battle (19.09.2008)
(Quelle: BBC) A peacekeeping plane has landed in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, defying Islamist threats that have kept the airport closed for four days. Militants responded by launching mortars, provoking a return of fire from government and Ethiopian troops. The al-Shabab militants who issued the threat that has blocked the arrival of medical and other supplies are not part of peace negotiations in Djibouti. A ceasefire due to be signed on Friday in Djibouti has been postponed.
UN-led group discusses how to implement recent Somali peace deal (17.09.2008)
(Quelle: UN News) A United Nations-chaired international group of countries and organizations supporting the consolidation of peace in conflict-wracked Somalia has met in neighbouring Djibouti to discuss how to put a recent reconciliation agreement by the Horn of Africa nation’s warring political groups into practice.
Nearly 9,500 Somalis die in insurgency - group (16.09.2008)
(Quelle: Reliefweb) Fighting in Somalia has killed 838 people since June, local rights activists said on Tuesday, bringing the total to have died in an insurgency that began early last year to 9,474.
Gunmen attack AU troops in Mogadishu (08.09.2008)
(Quelle: allAfrica) Residents of Hodon, Waberi and Madina districts in Mogadishu heard heavy gunfire being exchanged by Somali insurgents and forces serving the African Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) early this morning. The battle occurred at the strategic Km 4 Area where AU peacekeepers keep a unit from Uganda.
Malaysia deploys navy to Somalia (05.09.2008)
(Quelle: BBC) Malaysia is sending three navy ships to the coast of Somalia to protect merchant vessels from piracy. The ships, carrying troops and helicopters, are expected to begin patrolling in the Gulf of Aden in the next few days.
UN ready to send troops to Somalia at 'appropriate time' (05.09.2008)
(Quelle: The Daily Star (Lebanon)) The Security Council on Thursday hailed a recent UN-brokered intra-Somali peace deal and restated its readiness to consider deploying UN peacekeepers in the lawless Horn of African country. The council unanimously adopted a nonbinding statement that reaffirmed its willingness to deploy 'at an appropriate time' a peacekeeping operation to take over from the African Union mission to Somalia, AMISOM, 'subject to progress in the political process and improvement in the security situation on the ground.'
The prospect of a UN Peace Support Mission in Somalia (03.09.2008)
(Quelle: Reliefweb) Finally some good news about the conflict in Somalia. At a UN-brokered meeting held in Djibouti on 18 August 2008, the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia and an opposition alliance called the Re-Liberation of Somalia (ARS) signed a peace agreement, following negotiations that started in June of this year. This latest deal addresses different aspects of the peace process. Among others, it calls upon the United Nations (UN) 'to authorize and deploy an international stabilization force from countries that are friends of Somalia, excluding neighboring countries.'
Southern town tense after clashes (02.09.2008)
(Quelle: Irinnews) Tension is high in the strategic town of Jowhar, 90km north of Mogadishu, two days after factions of opposition militia clashed in the area, locals told IRIN. The weekend clashes pitted militias of the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC), which support the Djibouti agreement with the Transitional Federal Government, against a faction of the opposition Alliance for the Reliberation of Somalia. In June the TFG and a faction of the Eritrea-based alliance signed an agreement in Djibouti on the cessation of hostilities.
Somali Prime Minister survives no-confidence vote (01.09.2008)
(Quelle: Mail & Guardian) Somalia's Prime Minister, Nur Hassan Hussein, survived a no-confidence vote on Monday after he received a majority backing from lawmakers. Only seven of the 200 MPs present in Parliament voted to oust Hussein, who had been accused by some lawmakers of embezzling state funds, Parliament speaker Aden Mohamed Nur announced.
Somalia fighters 'making comeback' (01.09.2008)
(Quelle: Al Jazeera) Opposition fighters in Somalia appear to have made a major comeback after being ousted by Somali government troops backed up by Ethiopian forces last year. The fighters and remnants of the Islamic Courts Union first took the key port city of Kismayo and now they say they are making headway across southern Somalia, slowly wresting back from the government control of towns such as Dhoble, near the Kenyan border. But a Somali government adviser says the opposition is exaggerating the extent of its alleged comeback.
Ethiopia hints at leaving Somalia (29.08.2008)
(Quelle: BBC) Ethiopia is prepared to withdraw troops from Somalia even if the interim government is not stable, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has said. Ethiopia invaded its neighbour in 2006 to oust an Islamist militia and re-install the transitional government. He told the UK's Financial Times paper that financial pressures had to be taken into account and said the commitment was not open ended. The withdrawal of Ethiopians is a key demand of the Islamist insurgents.
Ethiopia’s military support to Somali is not open-ended – Zenawi (28.08.2008)
(Quelle: Sudan Tribune) Ethiopia’s military commitment to Somalia is not open-ended, and it has to balance its responsibilities in Mogadishu with domestic political priorities, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said in an interview published Thursday. Speaking to the Financial Times, Meles said Ethiopia was 'not joined at the hip' with Somalia, and added that a stronger and more effective Somali government was 'not necessarily a precondition for our withdrawal'.
Piraten im Visier (OEF steps up efforts to secure coastal waters of Somalia) (27.08.2008)
(Quelle: taz) Angesichts zunehmender Piratenangriffe vor Somalia zeichnet sich ein verstärktes militärisches Eingreifen ab. Die US-Marine beschloss gestern die Einrichtung einer maritimen Sicherheitszone (Marine Security Patrol Area) im Golf von Aden, der Somalia von Jemen trennt. Die ohnehin im Rahmen der Anti-Terror-Operation 'Enduring Freedom' dort präsenten Marineeinheiten werden jetzt unter kanadischem Kommando auch zivile Handelsschiffe schützen, erklärte das Central Command des US-Militärs.
More than three million Somalis in need of aid (25.08.2008)
(Quelle: Mail and Guardian) The number of people needing humanitarian aid in Somalia has leapt 77% this year to more than 3,2-million, an authoritative new study has shown.
"Djibouti agreement does not concern us" - Al Shabaab (25.08.2008)
(Quelle: allAfrica) A spokesman for Somalia's al Shabaab insurgent group has rejected a peace agreement signed between the country's interim government and the opposition Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS).
Somalia top leaders reach agreement on solving differences (25.08.2008)
(Quelle: Reliefweb) Somali President Abdulahi Yusuf Ahmed and his Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein have finally reached an agreement on solving their differences in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, easing the tension that had jeopardized the stability of the interim Somali government, local media reported on Sunday.
Somali insurgents 'take key port' (22.08.2008)
(Quelle: BBC) Islamist insurgents in Somalia say they have taken control of the southern port of Kismayo amid fighting that has left dozens of people dead.
African Union force extended in Somalia (19.08.2008)
(Quelle: New York Times) The United Nations Security Council on Tuesday authorized the presence of an African Union force in Somalia for an additional six months, a day after Somalia’s government signed a peace agreement with some opposition figures. The mission in Somalia, known as Amisom, was supposed to deploy as many as 8,000 troops, but it has only 2,600 on the ground, most of them from Uganda.
UN-brokered peace deal signed in Somalia (19.08.2008)
(Quelle: UN News) Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and an opposition group have formally agreed to end all armed confrontation between them in a peace deal mediated by the top United Nations envoy to the war-ravaged Horn of Africa nation.
UN says two employees feared dead in Somali kidnapping (18.08.2008)
(Quelle: Reliefweb) A World Food Programme employee and his chauffeur are feared dead in Somalia after a botched kidnapping, a UN official said Sunday citing a third member of their party who got away.
Senior UN envoy in Somalia welcomes plan to hold key meetings on peace deal (13.08.2008)
(Quelle: UN News) The top United Nations envoy to Somalia said today he was encouraged that two key committees set up as a part of a June accord aiming to bring peace to the war-torn country are set to convene this weekend.
AU concerned about differences within Somali government (13.08.2008)
(Quelle: Reliefweb) The African Union's Special Representative for Somalia, Nicolas Bwakira, said on Wednesday in Mogadishu that the Peace and Security Council of African Union was concerned about the 'tension' within the Somali transitional government and called for unity among Somali leaders.
Terror bomb kills 20 in Mogadishu, political crisis deepens (03.08.2008)
(Quelle: Reliefweb) A roadside bomb killed 20 female cleaners and seriously injured 45 others after explosive materials hidden in a pile of rubbish exploded just after they began their work Sunday, the bloodshed coinciding with a worsening of the political situation after 11 cabinet ministers resigned from the government.
Somali bombing kills peacekeeper (01.08.2008)
(Quelle: BBC) A Ugandan soldier serving with the African Union (AU) peace force in Somalia has been killed by a roadside bomb in the capital, Mogadishu. The attack took place near the international airport where most of the peacekeepers in Somalia are based. So far only about 2,200 of a planned 8,000-strong AU peacekeeping force have been sent to Somalia.
Somali prime minister sacks Mogadishu mayor (30.07.2008)
(Quelle: Reliefweb) Somalia's prime minister has sacked Mogadishu's powerful mayor, a government spokesman said on Wednesday, exposing a possible rift at the top of the country's embattled interim administration. Mohamed Dheere, a former warlord who has run the anarchic capital since early last year, is seen as a close ally of President Abdullahi Yusuf. A senior official said Yusuf had not approved Dheere's dismissal.