Somali Islamist commander gunned down in capital as tensions within insurgency escalate

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 20th, 2009 MOGADISHU - The radical Islamist rebel leader of Somalia, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, has called for more suicide attacks against forces of the African Union (AU) peacekeeping Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), days after deadly twin suicide car bombs targeted the troops' headquarters in Mogadishu. Aways, who heads the armed opposition Islamist faction of Hezbul Islam, was speaking Sunday after a mass prayer on the outskirts of Mogadishu to celebrate Eid Ul Fidr festival marking the end of the month-long fasting during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

September 9th, 2009 Somali Islamists cut off 2 men's hands in capitalMOGADISHU, Somalia — A Somali Islamic court hacked a hand each from two screaming men accused of theft and lashed another accused of rape on Wednesday, officials and a witness said, the latest in a series of harsh punishments that have elicited both admiration and revulsion from the war-weary population. A witness said two masked men carried out the amputations immediately after Sheik Abdibasit Mohamed, an Islamic judge in northern Mogadishu, pronounced the sentence in front of a crowd of around a hundred residents.

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 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 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 Somalia reports arrests in French advisers' kidnapMOGADISHU, Somalia — Somali authorities have arrested suspects in the kidnapping of two French security advisers in the Somali capital, Somalia's defense minister told French radio Wednesday. Defense Minister Mohamed Abdi Ghandi said on RFI radio that troops also have gone to areas where the hostages might be.

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 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 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 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.

January 16th, 2009 NAIROBI/MOGADISHU - Islamist insurgents have executed a Somali politician in the port town of Kismayo for working with Ethiopian forces occupying Somalia, reports said Friday. The Islamists seized control of Kismayo last August and implemented Sharia law.