Battle for Central Somalia (2009)
A series of battles in Hiraan, Shabeellaha Dhexe and Galgudug, between rebels of al-Shabaab and Hizbul Islam and Somali government forces and ICU militants loyal to the government, erupted during spring 2009. The fighting led to al-Shabaab capturing major government strongholds and Ethiopian forces re-entering Somalia and setting up bases in Hiraan. There was a halt in fighting during a government offensive in Mogadishu, which started on May 22.
| Central Somalia spring fighting of 2009 | |||||||||
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| Part of Somali Civil War, War in Somalia (2009-present) | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
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Al-Shabaab Hizbul Islam Foreign Mujahideen |
Somalia:
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
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Mukhtar Robow "Abu Mansoor" Muktar Abdirahman "Godane" Ali Saleh Nabhan † Ali Mohamed Hussein Abdirahman Hassan Hussein Ali "Dheere" Mohamud Hassan Dahir Aweys Omar Abu Hadi Hassan Turki Abdi Osman "Qorey" Muse Abdi Arale Hassan Mahdi Ibrahim Yusuf* Abdinasir Jalil* Aden Abdi † Abdullahi Hiiraan Shuriye Farah Sabriye |
Sharif Ahmed | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| 80 killed (ICU claim) |
Total: 52 KIA | ||||||||
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124+ civilians killed 3,300+ displaced | |||||||||
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