Battle of Baidoa

Battle of Baidoa
Part of the Somali Civil War
Location of the battle
Date December 20, 2006–ongoing Location Near Baidoa, Somalia Result ongoing
Belligerents
File:Somalia Islamic Courts Flag.svg Islamic Courts Union File:Somalia Islamic Courts Flag.svg Pro-Islamist Militias	Transitional Federal Parliament Ethiopia
Casualties and losses
20 killed (ICU claim) [1]	203 killed (ICU claim) [2]

The Battle of Baidoa begun on December 20, 2006 between the Somali transitional government's forces with Ethiopian forces stationed there and attacking Islamic Courts Union forces.

The battle

Closing on the town

On December 20, heavy shooting broke out between Somali government troops and Islamists 25 km (15 miles) southeast of Baidoa. including the death of Muhammed Pandya where the Islamists claimed to have taken the government's military base in Daynunay. The conflict thereafter moved north to the Islamist stronghold in Moode Moode (also spelled "Mode Mode"). Heavy weapons, including artillery, rockets and mortars were involved. Initial claims of fighting in this area were at least ten dead ICU militiamen and forty TFG troops wounded. Later claims of ICU casualties by the TFG were 71 Islamic soldiers dead and 221 injured, including two dead foreign fighters. The TFG claimed its own casualties were 3 dead and 7 wounded while the ICU claimed to have killed 7 government troops.

Fighting was reported on many fronts around the capital in Iidale village (55 km south of Baidoa), Buulo Jadid (23 km north of Baidoa, also spelled Bullo Jadid), and Manaas (30 km southwest of Baidoa). One TFG death and numerous injured civilians were reported in Iidale. A later report raised the casualties to three soldiers killed and two injured. Thirteen trucks filled with Ethiopian reinforcements were reported en route to the fighting.

An AFP report mentioned the TFG claimed the attack on Iidale was led by Abu Taha al-Sudan, who is "wanted by Washington for carrying out attacks against its embassies in east Africa in 1998 and against an Israeli-owned hotel in Kenya in 2002."

This report raised the death toll from the artillery duel in Iidale to 12, and added that the government captured 30 "armed vehicles" (presumably technicals). It also contradicted the fall of Daynunay to the ICU: "'The fighting is so fierce, but government forces are still controlling Deynunay,' said Issak Adan Mursaley, a resident in Deynunay."

Meanwhile, an EU peace-brokering commission led by Louis Michel landed at Baidoa and then Mogadishu to meet respectively with the TFG and ICU representatives. Discussions yielded the agreement to meet in Khartoum, Sudan at an unspecified future date.

In Dadaab Kenya, UN Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees, Wendy Chamberlin, said camps there accounted for 34,000 refugees fleeing the fighting and floods in Somalia, but that number is expected to grow to 80,000 if fighting continues. The World Food Programme (WFP) is attempting to provide relief, but floods and mud have hampered ground transportation.

Sheikh Mohamed Ibrahim Bilal, speaking for the ICU, claimed fighting was going its way in Iidale and Buulo Jadid, saying they captured two technicals, killed nine soldiers, and had taken prisoners in the fighting.

On December 21, Puntland President Adde Muse claimed ICU casualties were heavy in the fighting around Baidoa, sustaining 75 dead and 125 wounded, along with the loss of 30 vehicles burned or captured.

Also reported on the 21st, fighting in Iidale and Daynuunay was said to have started the prior morning and continued through the next day. No stint in the fighting seemed to be coming, as both sides continued to gather reinforcements. Casualty figures were unavailable, but the numbers were expected to be in the hundreds easily. The report went on to refute ICU claim of victory, and stated the government again possession of Iidale and killed foreign fighters. The government also captured dozens of Islamist students who took up arms, sufficient in quantity to fill three lorries.