The 2006 Islamic Courts Union offensive is the period in the Somali Civil War that began in May 2006 with the Islamic Courts Union's (ICU) conquest of Mogadishu from the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism (ARPCT) and continued with further ICU expansion in the country.Islamists take main Somali port city aljazeera.com
A popular uprising occurred in support of the Courts against the Somali warlord alliance. After decisively defeated a CIA backed warlords during mid-June 2006, the ICU was propelled on the national stage for the first time.
On December 24th 2006, after the initial Ethiopian military intervention began on June 17th and full-scale war erupted on December 19th, Addis Ababa for the first time admitted to a large scale military operation in Somalia.Ethiopia admits Somalia offensive, BBC.
Origins The first appearance of Sharia courts to build local stability began immediately after the state completely collapsed in January 1991. In the weeks following the toppling of the Somali Democratic Republic, militias that had routed the government began hunting down civilians based on their clan identity. Around this time, several well-known Somali scholars established Sharia courts to rescue civilians from these attacks and to address the general rising lawlessness.
By the late 1990s, Mogadishu experienced growing optimism as the Islamic Courts, in collaboration with the business community, dismantled hundreds of illegal checkpoints and arrested thousands of militia members operating them. The chairman of the courts declared that these were the first step towards establishing an Islamic government.
During 2000, having liberated a significant portion of the city from warlord control, eleven of the individual Sharia courts amalgamated to establish the Islamic Courts Council. This consolidation led to the unification of their militias into a single cohesive combat force. This development marked a pivotal moment in the civil war, as it signified the emergence of the first major non-warlord affiliated Somali armed force in the city. During the summer of 2000, Islamic Courts fighters were operating in the Banaadiir and Lower Shabelle regions. From Mogadishu south down to the port city of Baraawe, courts personnel were present attempting to establish security.
Prior to 2006, the Somali Islamic Courts effectively operated as a loose federation of regional judiciary systems. The courts had developed their own police detachments, prison system, and increasingly carried out joint military operations with each other.
United States involvement During 2003, the American Central Intelligence Agency began covert operations targeting the Courts. The CIA began supporting secular Somali warlords to carry out operations and on numerous occasions, Nairobi-based CIA officers landed on warlord-controlled airstrips in Mogadishu with large amounts of money for distribution to Somali militias. The decision to use of the warlords as proxies was born from fears of once again committing large numbers of American soldiers to Somalia following the disastrous 1993 Battle of Mogadishu.
Throughout Somalia, religious authorities supportive of the ICU began being kidnapped, pushing the organization to adopt a more confrontational stance against the warlords. The CIA backed warlords had a notorious pattern of seizing innocent clerics with little or no intelligence value, which greatly fed into the already existing perception among Somalis that the Americans and the warlords were waging a war against Islam under the guise of the war on terrorism.
Timeline ICU conquest of Mogadishu (May – June 2006) A public uprising occurred in support of the Courts against the warlord alliance. The Americans approved greater funding for the Somali warlords and further encourage them to counter the ICU, a decision made by top officials in Washington which was later reaffirmed by the U.S. National security council during meeting about Somalia in March 2006.
The ICU enjoyed widespread support from Mogadishu citizens and business community against the warlords, greatly aiding its ability to seize and control large swathes of the city. By April 2006 much of Mogadishu had fallen under the control of the ICU after clashes with the warlord alliance.
Consolidation of the Islamic Courts Union, Ethiopian intervention During mid-June 2006, the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) decisively defeated a CIA backed alliance of Somali warlords, which propelled the ICU on the national stage for the first time. After gaining authority over the capital, it proceeded to establish a 65-mile radius of control around the city. This was a seminal moment in modern Somali history, as the ICU was now the first group to have consolidated control over all of Mogadishu since the collapse of the Somali state. According to Chatham House, "The Courts achieved the unthinkable, uniting Mogadishu for the first time in 16 years, and re-establishing peace and security".
The leaders of the ICU repeatedly professed that they intended to negotiate with the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) In Baidoa so that it could move into Mogadishu and reunite Somalia. In mid-June, ICU leaders sent a cable to Washington stating that the courts had no interest in being enemies with the United States. ICU delegations later travelled to the United Kingdom raise funds from the Somali diaspora and held meetings with British government officials from the Foreign Office.
The pacification of Mogadishu during mid-2006 saw the ICU coalesce into a government in response to the void left by the corrupt and inept TFG. The Ethiopian invasion began soon after the ICU began pushing out of the capital, with thousands Ethiopian National Defence Force (ENDF) troops being deployed around Baidoa city located in Bay region, far inside Somalia, in order to build a bridgehead for a future large scale military operation. On 16 June 2006, Shabeelle Media Network reported that sources in Ethiopia's Somali Region had witnessed a massing of ENDF troops along many of the towns on the Ethiopian–Somali border and on the following day the first Ethiopian troops moved into Somali territory. Local Somali officials and residents in Gedo region reported Ethiopian armored vehicles passing through the border town of Dolow and advancing 50 km inland to Luuq.
The Ethiopian government made the decision to support exiled warlords in order to oppose what in their view is a critical threat posed by the Islamic Courts to their administration of the Ogaden region.Why Ethiopia is on war footing BBC News
On 19 June 2006 the ICU called for the international community to pressure Ethiopian forces to withdraw from Somalia.
On June 22, 2006, the ICU and TFG met together in Khartoum, Sudan to work towards a peace agreement, in which the ICU recognized the "legality" of the TFG and the TFG recognized the "reality" of the ICU.
July 2006 During July, thousands of more Ethiopian troop deployed into Somalia. Reuters estimated that roughly 5,000 ENDF troops had built up inside Somalia by this point. On 23 July 2006, the Ogaden National Liberation Front announced that they had shot down an Ethiopian military helicopter heading for Somalia and publicly warned that Ethiopian military movements in the Ogaden pointed towards an imminent large scale operation directed at southern Somalia.
In late July more Ethiopian troops crossed into Somalia, leading to the collapse of the Khartoum talks between the ICU and TFG. The ICU walked out of talks with the TFG after 200 ENDF troops seized Wajid, taking control of the airport and landing two helicopters. Abdirahman Janaqow, the deputy leader of the ICU executive council, announced soon after that, "The Somali government has violated the accord and allowed Ethiopian troops to enter Somali soil." The TFG claimed that no Ethiopians were in Somalia and that only their troops were in Wajid. BBC News confirmed reports of Ethiopian troops in Wajid during interviews with local residents and aid workers. Following the towns seizure, the ICU pledged to wage a holy war to drive out the ENDF from Somalia.
During late July 2006, over a dozen TFG parliamentarians resigned in protest of the Ethiopian invasion. The escalation of Ethiopian troop deployments into Somalia during July 2006 began raising fears of a possible 'all-out war' in the Horn of Africa, though the 2006 Lebanon War overshadowed news reports of several thousand troops entering Somalia. During late July 2006, over a dozen TFG parliamentarians resigned in protest of the Ethiopian invasion. By August 2006 the TFG was mired in a severe internal crisis and at risk of collapse. Eritrea called for the withdrawal of the ENDF in Somalia to prevent a regional war and the following month accused Ethiopia of plotting a US supported invasion with the aim of destroying the "realization of a unified Somalia"
August 2006 The ICU moved into the Mudug region in the beginning of August, capturing Adado on 1 August following negotiations with the local clan Sultan. Middle East Online By August 2006 the TFG was mired in a severe internal crisis and at risk of collapse.
In order to make good on their promise to restore law and order to Somalia, the ICU began advancing into the territory of coastal warlords known to be engaged in piracy. The most infamous pirates in Somalia operated out of Harardhere and Hobyo, and so these towns were targeted for the anti-piracy campaign. The most infamous pirates were from the same clan as the ICU leadership, the Habar Gidir. Harardere, the most infamous piracy port, was captured on 13 August.Somali Islamists take pirate base. BBC News Hobyo negotiated a surrender with the ICU on August 16.Somalia Islamists take key town BBC News
Barre Hiraale had been careful to avoid a confrontation with the ICU due to the fact that his chief opponent in the Juba Valley Alliance leadership, Mohamed Roble Jim’ale Gobale was pro-ICU. Mohamed Roble had taken part in their battle to control Mogadishu, and had the support of the ICU leadership. Barre Hiraale was pro-Government and held the position of Defence Minister in the Transitional Federal Parliament. Hiraale's fear was an ICU invasion in support of Mohamed Roble, which would lead to division within his own ranks due to partisan Sub-Clan loyalties within the JVA.Somalia Drifts Toward Fragmentation as Regional Powers Polarize PINR
Advance into Jubaland and taking of Kismayo By September, at least 7,000 Ethiopian troops were in Somalia and had begun arming warlords defeated by the ICU. On September 24, 2006, in order to prevent the deployment of thousands of AU troops in the country, the Courts advanced Jubaland and seized Kismayo, after Barre Hirale's Juba Valley Alliance withdrew from the town in the face of overwhelming opposition and the mutiny of several JVA factions to the ICU. Xinhua Journalists reported thousands had gathered to welcome the entry of the Courts and that Kismayo had fallen to the ICU without a shot fired. Ahmed Madobe was appoint ICU governor of Kismayo soon after.
The Juba Valley Alliance vowed to retake Kismayo, and regrouped their forces in Bu'ale. Later, on September 29, the ICU declared their intention to unify and centralize their military forces under a single command.Islamists extend authority in Somalia On September 30, 2006, minor skirmishes in the north with Ethiopian troops near the border aggravate the situation further. Shabelle Ethiopian forces had been massed over the other side of the border from Beledweyne since mid July.The Islamic Courts Union Opens a New Chapter in Somalia's Political History PINR
Following the arrest and release of a video showing the torture of Sheikh Mohammed Ismail by Somaliland security forces, an influential cleric in the city of Burao, the Islamic Courts Union warned that it would "forcefully free" arrested clerics in the north if they were not released by Somaliland.