This is a 2016 timeline of events in the Somali Civil War (2009–present).
January
[edit]- January 1 – Gunmen open fire at a mosque near Mogadishu, killing 1 person and injuring 4 others including a Turkish aid worker. No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks but al-Shabaab are suspected to have orchestrated the attack.[1]
- January 2 – A popular restaurant in Mogadishu is attacked by a suicide bomber, killing 4 people including himself.[2]
- January 15 – al-Shabaab militants had raided an African Union base in southern Somalia with unconfirmed reports of dozens of soldiers being killed in the process.[3]
- January 21 – al-Shabaab militants attack the lido or beach area in Mogadishu, killing at least 20 people.[4]
February
[edit]- February 2 – Daallo Airlines Flight 159 explodes in mid-air with only the suicide bomber dying but 2 remain injured.[5]
- February 5 – al-Shabaab has claimed to have seized control over the southern port town of Marka after Somali forces and AU forces leave.[6]
- February 15 – A car bomb in Mogadishu kills the defence minister and injures another.[7]
- February 26 – al-Shabaab militants raid the Somali Youth League hotel in Mogadishu, killing 14 people.[8]
- February 28 – At least 30 people are killed by al-Shabaab militants who bombed a restaurant near the town of Baidoa.[9]
March
[edit]- March 7 – According to the Pentagon, US air strikes kill at least 150 al-Shabaab militants near the city of Buloburde.[10] The Australian Navy also seizes an arms cache off Oman's coast heading towards Somalia.[11]
- March 9 – US troops stage an overnight raid on the al-Shabaab controlled city of Awdhegele in the Lower Shebelle region.[12]
- March 28 – At least 115 al-Shabaab militants are killed by Somali forces in the Galmudug region with an extra 110 captured.[13]
- March 31 – A suicide bomber in Puntland kills the treasurer of Galkayo, Saeed Ali, by hugging him, along with several officers guarding him.[14]
April
[edit]- April 1 – A US drone strike reportedly kills a key al-Shabaab leader, Hassan Ali Dhoore, in Jilib and two other militants.[15]
- April 11 – At least five people are killed and seven others injured by a car bomb claimed by al-Shabaab against a government building in Mogadishu.[16]
- April 12 – For the past two days, US officials claim air strikes in southern Somalia killed a dozen suspected al-Shabaab militants.[17]
- April 16 – African Union troops kill 4 Somali civilians in the town of Bulla Marer in the south of Mogadishu. The AU mission claimed that soldiers had opened fire on a car in fear as the civilians failed to stop at a roadblock.[18]
May
[edit]- May 2 – The first British troops are deployed in Somalia to help combat al-Shabaab as part of a UN mission.[19]
- May 9 – A suicide car bomb claimed by al-Shabaab blows up at Mogadishu's traffic police headquarters killing 4, including at least 2 Somali police officers.[20]
June
[edit]- June 1 – al-Shabaab militants claim responsibility for a car bomb on a hotel in Mogadishu killing 16 and injuring a further 55.[21] At the same time, the US declares an air strike killed a top al-Shabaab commander, Abdullahi Da'ud.[22]
- June 2 – At least 16 al-Shabaab militants are killed in a raid by Somali forces near Kismayo, including the mastermind behind the Garissa University College attack.[23]
- June 9 – al-Shabaab claims to have killed 60 Ethiopian troops at an AU base.[24]
- June 21 – Five police officers in Kenya are killed in an ambush by al-Shabaab near their convoy in El Wak, Kenya.[25]
- June 25 – An attack by gunmen on a hotel in Mogadishu sees at least 15 deaths, 25 injuries and an unknown number of hostages taken by al-Shabaab.[26]
- June 29 – Five suspected militants are killed by Kenyan forces in Lamu County after a clash and Malindi.[27]
July
[edit]- July 1 – At least six are shot dead and several wounded by al-Shabaab militants in two ambushed buses in Mandera, Kenya near the border with Somalia.[28]
- July 11 – A clash between Somali forces and al-Shabaab sees 10 Somali troops killed and 12 al-Shabaab militants killed in Afgooye, Lower Shabelle.[29]
- July 14 – An alleged al-Shabaab militant shoots and kills four police officers in Kapenguria, Kenya. However, it is later revealed that it was a rogue officer instead.[30]
- July 26 – al-Shabaab claims responsibility for a double suicide car bombing near an AU base in Mogadishu at the airport, killing at least 13 including seven UN guards.[31]
August
[edit]- August 21 – At least 20 people are killed in a twin suicide bombing by al-Shabaab against a Puntland local government office in Galkayo.[32]
- August 30 – At least 10 people are killed by a car bomb detonated by al-Shabaab outside the President of Somalia's office.[33]
October
[edit]- October 1 – Four people are killed with five injured by an al-Shabaab attack on a prison near Mogadishu.[34] The Somali government also demands an explanation from the US after 22 civilians and other soldiers were killed in airstrikes in Galmudug as opposed to al-Shabaab militants.[35]
- October 4 – Somali forces kill 14 al-Shabaab militants in a raid in the Lower Shabelle region.[36]
- October 6 – At least 6 people are killed in an al-Shabaab attack in neighboring Kenya's Mandera.[37]
- October 25 – An intelligence officer is shot dead by an al-Shabaab militant in Mogadishu.[38]
- October 26 – A militant group aligned with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant seizes Qandala in Puntland.[39]
November
[edit]- November 7 – A fight between militias in Galkayo kills 29 people and wounds 50 more.[40]
- November 26 – At least 20 people are killed in another car bomb attack in Mogadishu at a market. Somali forces arrest a suspect.[41]
- November 28 – At least 28 people are killed in a clash between militia and al-Shabaab in the southern Mudug region.[42]
- November 29 – A roadside bomb kills at least 4 Somali soldiers and leaves 11 others injured while forces have mulled an attack on ISIL.[43]
December
[edit]- December 3 – Somali forces kill seven insurgents loyal to ISIL in a clash in the north of the country.[44]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Turkish aid worker injured, Somali local killed in deadly Somalia attack".
- ^ "Suicide bomber kills three in Somali capital, police say".
- ^ "Al-Shabab seizes African Union base in Somalia".
- ^ "Somali forces end Mogadishu restaurant siege after deadly attack".
- ^ "Blast blows hole in commercial plane over Somalia; 1 falls and dies".
- ^ "Somalia's al Shabaab takes control of port".
- ^ "Islamists kill Somalia's former defense minister with car bomb".
- ^ "Mogadishu hotel attack: 14 dead as building in Somali capital stormed by al-Shabaab jihadists". Archived from the original on 2022-05-01.
- ^ "Islamist group kills 30 in twin blasts in Somali town".
- ^ "US drone, air strike kills more than 150 al-Shabaab fighters, Pentagon reveals".
- ^ "Australian Navy says seizes huge weapons cache headed for Somalia".
- ^ "US troops in helicopter-borne raid in Somalia: Pentagon".
- ^ "Somali forces kill 'more than 100' al-Shabab fighters".
- ^ "Terrorism In Somalia: Al-Shabab Suicide Bomber Hugs Puntland Official Before Detonating".
- ^ "Officials: al-Shabab leader killed in Somalia drone strike".
- ^ "Al-Shabab attack in Somali capital Mogadishu kills five".
- ^ "U.S. air strikes kill suspected al Shabaab militants in Somalia".
- ^ "African Union troops in Somalia kill four civilians".
- ^ "First British troops arrive in Somalia as part of UN mission".
- ^ "Al Shabaab car bomb attack kills at least two Somali police". Archived from the original on October 14, 2017.
- ^ "Al Shabaab car bomber strikes hotel in Somali capital, at least 15 dead".
- ^ "U.S. airstrike kills key al-Shabab leader; terrorist group bombs Somali hotel".
- ^ "Garissa university attack plotter Mohamed Kuno 'dead'".
- ^ "Ethiopia base in Somalia attacked by al-Shabab".
- ^ "Kenya: Five police killed in 'al-Shabab convoy attack'".
- ^ "Gunmen Take Guests Hostage at Somalia Hotel, 14 Killed: Report".
- ^ "Kenyan forces kill five suspected Islamist militants".
- ^ "Children killed in attack on buses in northern Kenya".
- ^ "Al-Shabab fighters attack Somali army base".
- ^ "Kenya station attacker was rogue officer, not Islamist militant: police".
- ^ "Al-Shabab bombs target African Union troops in Somalia".
- ^ "Twin suicide bombs claimed by al Shabaab kill 20 people in Somalia".
- ^ Sheikh, Abdi; Omar, Feisal (30 August 2016). "Car bomb outside Somali President's Palace kills at least 10". Reuters.[dead link]
- ^ "Al-Shabaab claims responsibility for deadly car bomb near Somali prison".
- ^ "Somalia says US air strike killed civilians not al-Shabab".
- ^ "14 al-Shabaab fighters killed in Somalia".
- ^ "Somali Islamist militants kill six in Kenya attack".
- ^ "Al Shabaab gunmen kill intelligence officer in Somali capital".
- ^ "Islamic State-aligned group takes Somali town, say officials".
- ^ "Fighting in Somalia's Galkayo city kills 29".
- ^ "Somali Forces Arrest Suspect in Deadly Market Attack".
- ^ "Over twenty people killed in clashes between Al-Shabaab and locals in central Somalia".
- ^ "Bomb kills four Somali soldiers as forces mull attack on Islamic State".
- ^ "Somali forces kill seven in clash with faction loyal to Islamic State".
