January15, 2007:
Raids to seize weapons continued in Mogadishu. The only resistance
was the occasional gunman shooting at Ethiopian troops. Somali gunmen are noted
for their lack of accuracy, and shooting at the Ethiopians gets you a lot more
fire in return. This often hits civilians, which makes the lone gunmen very
unpopular. The Ethiopians are already unpopular, and have been for centuries.
The clan animosities remain, with, or without, the Islamic Courts. It's largely
a question of how long it will be until major clan warfare breaks out. If the
Transitional Government can, like the Islamic Courts, put together a military
force (a few thousand reliable men will do) strong enough to put down clan
wars, then there will be peace (or at least a lot more peace than there
normally is.
January
14, 2007: The Transitional Government parliament in Baidoa authorized a state
of martial law for the country, until some form of peace was imposed.
Meanwhile, small groups of American and British commandos are working with
Ethiopian troops to find al Qaeda terrorists.
January
12, 2007: Nearly all the warlords based in the Mogadishu area have agreed to
surrender their heavy weapons and join the Transitional Government. This gives
the new government the support of the majority of militiamen in the area,
forcing the pro-Islamic Courts groups to settle, or fight an unequal fight.
Further south, Ethiopian and Somali troops captured the last Islamic Courts
stronghold at Ras Kamboni.
January
11, 2007: In Mogadishu, neighborhoods of clans loyal to the Islamic Courts,
were searched for weapons. Gunfire and some explosions could be heard through
the city. Islamic Courts diehards pledged to fight a guerilla war, but
residents doubted there were enough men, with enough organization and skill, to
carry that off. Meanwhile, the U.S. believes it's air strike on the 8th missed
the senior al Qaeda leaders it was seeking. That means the men may still be in
the area, and worth a lot more alive, if they can be caught. On the border,
Kenyan police arrested the wives of two al Qaeda leaders, as the women and
their children tried to flee to safety in Kenya. The women are being
questioned.
January
10, 2007: Sudan supports the Ethiopian invasion of Somalia. Sudan doesn't
border Somalia, but is the western border of Ethiopia and Eritrea.
A
small force of American Special Forces went to the Kenyan border, to
collect DNA evidence from eight men killed in a U.S. air strike on the 8th.
Five men were captured at the site as well.