Insurgents impose Islamic law in Somali town

October 9th, 2009 Somali Islamist commander gunned down in capitalMOGADISHU, Somalia — An Islamist spokesman says gunmen have killed a senior member of Somalia's insurgency in the country's capital. Hizbul Islam spokesman Mohammed Osman Aros says the group does not know who killed Ahmed Abdurahamn Odawa, known as "Taliban".

September 21st, 2009 10 killed in Somalia border fight, witnesses sayMOGADISHU, Somalia — Somali insurgents attacked a town near the border with Ethiopia, killing at least 10 people, witnesses and officials said. Daud Omar, a resident in the Somali border town Yed, said militants from the al-Shabab insurgent group clashed with government soldiers late Sunday.

August 29th, 2009 Ethiopia troops chase Somali Islamists out of townMOGADISHU, Somalia — Hundreds of Ethiopian troops have crossed the border and seized control of a Somali town from Islamist insurgents, witnesses said Saturday. The overnight incursion into the strategically important town of Belet Weyne is the first time Ethiopian troops have seized control of a town in war-ravaged Somalia since leaving the country in January as part of a peace deal.

August 22nd, 2009 5 killed in violence in Somali capitalMOGADISHU, Somalia — Islamic insurgents attacked a government checkpoint in Somalia's capital on Saturday, sparking a gunbattle that killed at least five people on the first day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Insurgents seeking to overthrow Somalia's Western-backed government have been threatening to increase attacks during Ramadan, a monthlong period of prayer, reflection and sunrise-to-sunset fasts.

August 12th, 2009 Witnesses: 5 Pakistani preachers killed in SomaliaMOGADISHU, Somalia — Masked gunmen killed five Pakistani preachers Wednesday outside a mosque in Somalia following morning prayers, witnesses said. Six gunmen with assault rifles and pistols stormed Tawfiq Mosque in Galkayo and forced six Pakistani preachers and a Somali man outside, said Ismail Mohamud Hassan, who was in the mosque at the time.

July 26th, 2009 Somali gov't takes control of key western townMOGADISHU, Somalia — With a show of force, Somali government troops on Sunday took full control of the strategic western town where the national security minister was killed last month. Hundreds of heavily armed government soldiers rolled into the town of Belet Weyne in 18 pickups with machine-guns just before dawn, resident Abshir Haji Damal told The Associated Press.

July 20th, 2009 Militants raid UN compounds, ban 3 relief agenciesMOGADISHU, Somalia — Islamic insurgents with alleged links with al-Qaida looted two United Nations compounds in southern Somalia on Monday, and announced they will ban three U.N. agencies from operating in areas the militants control.

July 11th, 2009 Foreign fighter may be among 16 killed in SomaliaMOGADISHU, Somalia — A foreign fighter and a top government security official are among 16 people killed in Saturday's fighting between U.N.-backed government forces and Islamist insurgents in the north of the capital, a Somali official said. Presidential information officer Abdulkhadir Wehliye said the foreign fighter is believed to be Bangladeshi because of identity documents found on the body.

July 11th, 2009 MOGADISHU - At least 15 people, including the security head of Mogadishu, were killed and 43 others injured in clashes between the security forces and Islamic militants in the Somali capital Saturday, officials said. Nur Hassan Ali, in charge of Mogadishu security, was killed in one of the battles between Somali government forces and militants in the Abdelaziz district here, an official said.

June 29th, 2009 Somali insurgents to seize US arms supplyMOGADISHU, Somalia — A spokesman for radical Islamic insurgents says his group will seize weapons the U.S. has supplied to Somalia's embattled government.

June 29th, 2009 Somali rebels threaten violent response to US armsMOGADISHU, Somalia — A radical Islamic group in Somalia has threatened to seize weapons and ammunition the U.S. has supplied to the nation's embattled government.

June 23rd, 2009 MOGADISHU - The Somali government has declared a state of emergency in the war torn country as government forces battled insurgents. "The Somali government decided to impose a state of emergency on the country so that we can overcome the difficult situation the country is going through," President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed said at a press conference in Mogadishu.

June 20th, 2009 Somali Cabinet OKs state of emergencyMOGADISHU, Somalia — Somalia's government is calling for a state of emergency to be declared in the lawless country. Information Minister Farhan Ali Mohamud says the Cabinet made the decision Saturday because Somalia "is in danger" and is facing a deteriorating humanitarian crisis.

June 2nd, 2009 Somali Islamist claims he's uniting insurgentsMOGADISHU, Somalia — A hardline Somali leader on a U.N. list of terror suspects claimed Tuesday to be making progress in uniting two Islamist insurgent factions as a single front against the Western-backed government.

May 17th, 2009 MOGADISHU - The Somali insurgent group al-Shabaab Sunday took control of Jowhar, a key strategic town north of Mogadishu, after two hours of fierce fighting, witnesses and town elders said. 'There was fierce fighting at Jowhar's outskirts before al-Shabaab entered Jowhar,' Mo'alim Muhidin, an elder in Jowhar, told DPA.