Battle of Mogadishu (November 2007)

Battle of Mogadishu (2007)
Part of the War and Insurgency in Somalia
Map of Somalia with Mogadishu
Date November 8–16, 2007 Location Mogadishu, Somalia Result Indecisive
Belligerents
File:Somalia Islamic Courts Flag.svg Hizbul Shabaab Hawiye clan militiamen	Ethiopia Transitional Federal Government
Casualties and losses
Unknown	9 Ethiopian soldiers killed 6 TFG soldiers killed
83 civilians killed

The Third Battle of Mogadishu, in November 2007, was a series of confrontations in Mogadishu, Somalia in which 91 people died, mostly civilians killed by Ethiopian troops.

The scenes of dragged mutilated corpses is reminiscent of the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu, when it was done to a US soldier. The same thing occurred in early 2007 during the month long battle in Mogadishu.

Timeline

The next few days there was a lull in the fighting but on November 16, the chief of TFG intelligence was killed and the next day insurgents attacked Ugandan troops in the K-4 neighbourhood. One insurgent was confirmed to be killed in the fighting with Ugandan soldiers. One TFG policeman and a civilian were also killed in an IED attack on the same day.

Violations of the laws of war

UNICEF have voiced their concern at the increasing number of rape cases in the country's war-torn capital Mogadishu. The representative for Somalia, Christian Balslev-Olesen has said that, "Sexual violence and rape are part of the game now". He also said that rapes were mainly committed by government militias and their Ethiopian allies. Ethiopian troops have been accused of numerous rapes of civilians in Somalia, which is a violation of human rights

According to the UN, the battle displaced about 200,000 people in two weeks, with 600,000 or about 60% of Mogadishu's population fleeing overall since February. Somali rights group Elmand claims to have verified almost 6,000 civilian deaths in Mogadishu alone, with 700,000 fleeing.

External links

• Shabelle.net - Photos of killed civilians (GRAPHIC) (link broken)