Fall of Kismayo
{{Infobox military conflict
|conflict=Fall of Kismayo
|partof=the War in Somalia (2006–2009)
|date=January 1, 2007
|image=
|caption=
|result= Ethiopian/TFG victory
- Government forces take control of Kismayo
|combatant1=22px Transitional Federal Government (TFG)
22px Ethiopia
|combatant2=22px Islamic Courts Union
22px Pro-Islamist Militias
22px Foreign Mujahideen
|commander1=22px TFG: Barre Adan Shire Hiiraale
|commander2=22px Sharif Sheik Ahmed
22px Yusuf Hassan
}}
{{Campaignbox War in Somalia (2006–2009)}}
The fall of Kismayo occurred on January 1, 2007, when the troops of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and Ethiopian forces entered the Somali city of Kismayo unopposed. It came after the Islamic Courts Union's forces faltered and fled in the Battle of Jilib, abandoning their final stronghold.
Background
The city of Kismayo had been the capital of the autonomous state of Jubaland under the administration of the Juba Valley Alliance (JVA) since the late 1990s. The JVA suffered the loss of Kismayo in September 2006 to an array of ICU forces with 130 technicals.[http://www.pinr.com/report.php?ac=view_printable&report_id=560&language_id=1 Somalia's Islamists Resume Their Momentum and Embark on a Diplomatic Path] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090422191900/http://www.pinr.com/report.php?ac=view_printable&report_id=560&language_id=1 |date=2009-04-22 }} PINR[http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=283959 Witnesses: Somali Islamists advance on key port] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150213204127/http://mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=283959 |date=2015-02-13 }}. Associated Press, 13 September 2006
Course of events
In December 2006, after the Fall of Mogadishu, much of the Islamists began a retreat towards Kismayo. According to the New York Times, when the Battle of Jilib began on December 31, 2006, clan elders within Kismayo demanded the ICU leave the city. Mohammed Arab, a clan leader said "We told them that they were going to lose, and that our city would get destroyed."{{cite news
| last =Gentleman
| first =Jeffrey
| title =Islamists, Cornered in Somalia, Lose Local Support
| work=The New York Times
| date = 2006-12-31
| url =https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/31/world/africa/31cnd-somalia.html?_r=1&hp&ex=1167627600&en=0f985fc2206a870b&ei=5094&partner=homepage&oref=slogin
| accessdate = 2002-01-02 }} After the ICU refused, sporadic gun battles broke out between the local clans and the ICU.
The Battle of Jilib saw the ICU frontlines collapse during the night to artillery fire, causing the ICU hardliners, known as Al-Shabaab (literally "The Youths" or "Young Men"[http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/global.php?id=255547 America’s Somali Policy Still Dangerously Adrift] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927234315/http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/global.php?id=255547 |date=2007-09-27 }} The Family Security Foundation, Inc.[http://forums.csis.org/africa/?p=18 Washington’s Self-Defeating Somalia Policy] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070108162806/http://forums.csis.org/africa/?p=18 |date=2007-01-08 }} Matt Bryden), to once again go into retreat, this time towards the Kenyan border. TFG and Ethiopian forces entered the town on January 1, 2007.{{cite news
| last=Rice
| first=Xan
| title =Somalia's Islamist fighters flee last urban base as pro-government alliance closes in
| publisher =Guardian Unlimited
| date = 2006-01-02
| url =https://www.theguardian.com/international/story/0,,1981021,00.html
| accessdate = 2002-01-02}}
With the Kenyan border blocked, the ICU remnants were described as holding up in Badhadhe district, either in the hills of the Buur Gaabo area, or in the village of Ras Kamboni along the coast near the border.[http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L02903953.htm Somalia disarmament starts, Kenya blocks Islamists] Reuters
Aftermath
In August 2008, Al Shabaab retook the city during the Battle of Kismayo (2008).
In September 2012, the Somali National Army assisted by AMISOM troops and Raskamboni militia re-captured Kismayo from the insurgents in the Battle of Kismayo (2012).{{cite news|title=Kenyan forces attack last remaining stronghold of al-Qaeda-linked militants in Somalia|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/kenyan-forces-attack-last-remaining-stronghold-of-al-qaida-linked-militants-in-somalia/2012/09/28/c6905994-0937-11e2-9eea-333857f6a7bd_story.html|accessdate=28 September 2012|newspaper=Associated Press|date=28 September 2012}}{{Dead link|date=January 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{cite news|last=Chonghaile|first=Clar Ni|title=Kenyan troops launch beach assault on Somali city of Kismayo|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/sep/28/kenyan-soldiers-capture-kismayo-somalia|accessdate=28 September 2012|newspaper=The Guardian|date=28 September 2012}}
References
{{reflist|2}}
Further reading
- Stig Jarle Hansen, Al-Shabaab in Somalia: The History and Ideology of a Militant Islamic Group 2005-12, Hurst & Co., 2013, 39-40.
{{coord missing|Somalia}}
{{War in Somalia (2006–09)}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kismayo 2007}}
Category:January 2007 in Somalia
Category:Battles of the War in Somalia (2006–2009)
Category:Battles of the Somali Civil War involving Ethiopia