Somali fighting kills at least 12; PM says more peacekeepers expected soon

October 6th, 2009 Somali defense minister kidnapped in UgandaMOGADISHU, Somalia — An official says Somalia's defense minister has been kidnapped in Uganda's capital. A Somali government spokesman says Defense Minister Yusuf Mohamed Siad was abducted Tuesday as he walked out of a mosque in the Ugandan capital, Kampala.

October 1st, 2009 5 dead as rival Somali Islamist groups fightMOGADISHU, Somalia — Fighting between rival Islamist factions over control of a key Somali port city killed at least five people on Thursday, residents and medical staff said, in the first concrete sign of a major split in the Islamist alliance threatening the fragile U.N.-backed government. The fighting between the al-Shabab militia and members of the Islamic Party broke out early Thursday morning in five areas of Kismayo, a port city around 310 miles (500 kilometers) south of the capital of Mogadishu, resident Aden Jibral said.

September 25th, 2009 Seattle FBI investigating Somali suicide bombingNAIROBI, Kenya — FBI are investigating whether an American Somali was involved in a suicide bombing on a peacekeeping base in Somalia that killed 21 people, a family friend said Friday. Abdirahman Warsame told The Associated Press that FBI agents in the city of Seattle took DNA samples from Mohamed Mohamud, cut off his phone lines and warned him not to speak to the media.

September 22nd, 2009 Somalia fighting kills 8, witnesses sayMOGADISHU, Somalia — Islamic insurgents attacked an African Union peacekeeping base Tuesday, sparking a battle that killed at least eight people and wounded more than a dozen, witnesses and officials said. A spokesman for the AU force, Bahoku Barigye, said no peacekeepers died in Tuesday's attack or the subsequent fighting.

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.

September 12th, 2009 Somali shelling kills 15, mostly disabled menMOGADISHU, Somalia — Mortars slammed into a home for disabled veterans in Somalia's capital, killing at least 12 disabled men and wounding nearly a dozen, officials said Saturday. Islamic insurgents fired mortars Friday night toward Mogadishu's port, but they landed in residential areas, including a home for former national army officers who lost limbs during the 1977 war with Ethiopia, said government spokesman Shiek Abdirisaq Qeylow.

July 16th, 2009 Somali minister: Gov't in talks with kidnappersPARIS — The Somali government is negotiating with the kidnappers of two French security advisers taken hostage in Mogadishu earlier this week, a Somali minister told French TV. Social Affairs Minister Mohammed Ali Ibrahim said the two men, abducted Tuesday from their hotel, had been separated and were being held by two different groups.

July 15th, 2009 Somali DM: Arrests made in French advisers kidnapMOGADISHU, Somalia — Somalia's defense minister tells French radio that authorities have arrested suspects in the kidnapping of two French security advisers in the Somali capital. Defense Minister Mohamed Abdi Ghandi said on France's RFI radio Wednesday that troops also have gone to areas where the hostages might be.

July 13th, 2009 Somalia clashes subside, rebels return to positionMOGADISHU, Somalia — Islamic insurgents have retreated from areas around Somalia's presidential palace after a day of fighting that killed dozens of people and wounded about 150, witnesses said Monday. Gunshots could still be heard Monday, but insurgent fighters and government troops returned to their positions.

July 12th, 2009 AU soldiers help Somali forces as fighting ragesMOGADISHU, Somalia — African Union peacekeepers in the Somali capital have directly intervened for the first time to support government forces fighting Islamist insurgents, a spokesman said. A witness reported at least eight people were killed on the second day of fighting.

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 17th, 2009 MOGADISHU - At least 16 people, including the police chief of the Somali capital, were killed and many others wounded Wednesday in a fierce fighting between the security forces and Islamist insurgents here, officials and eyewitnesses said. "Mogadishu police commander Col.

May 14th, 2009 MOGADISHU - Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed has signed a bill that will allow the implementation of Sharia or Islamic law in the country. Since Somalia has now implemented the Sharia, there is no reason for the continuation of hostilities in the country, Ahmed said Wednesday after signing the bill into law.

April 26th, 2009 Insurgents attack AU bases in Somalia, 3 killedMOGADISHU, Somalia — An official says insurgents have attacked two African Union peacekeepers' bases in the Somali capital, and a witness says at least three people were killed. Burundi peacekeeping spokesman Lt.

January 23rd, 2009 MOGADISHU - A car bomb attack in this Somali capital killed at least 14 civilians Saturday, according to agencies' reports. The attack took place near a base of African Union peacekeepers.