Yusuf Mohammed Siad - War in Somalia

War in Somalia

On December 12, 2006, he issued the ultimatum that Ethiopian forces should withdraw within seven days. On December 15, 2006, referring to the proposed IGASOM peacekeeping force, he warned African nations to not send forces to Somalia. On December 19, the deadline for Ethiopia came and went. Analysts considered Inda'ade's hardline stance had caused a split with moderates within the ICU. On December 20, after the Ethiopians refused to withdraw, he admitted fighting had begun between the two sides, marking the beginning of the war at the Battle of Baidoa.

On December 21, 2006, as the fighting intensified with Ethiopia, he took a flight to an undisclosed location with Hassan Dahir Aweys, and was said to be on the hajj, the pilgrimage in Mecca.

On December 23, 2006, as the battle continued, he made a worldwide appeal for jihadists to come to Somalia, and claimed the ICU had taken Tiyoglow, Bakol province. However, in the days that followed, the army of the ICU collapsed, leading to the Fall of Mogadishu and the retreat of the ICU to their stronghold at Ras Kamboni.

Read more about this topic:  Yusuf Mohammed Siad

Famous quotes containing the word war:

    Signal smokes, war drums, feathered bonnets against the western sky. New messiahs, young leaders are ready to hurl the finest light cavalry in the world against Fort Stark. In the Kiowa village, the beat of drums echoes in the pulsebeat of the young braves. Fighters under a common banner, old quarrels forgotten, Comanche rides with Arapaho, Apache with Cheyenne. All chant of war. War to drive the white man forever from the red man’s hunting ground.
    Frank S. Nugent (1908–1965)