Battle of Baidoa

The day after Ethiopian forces fired missiles at Bandiradley an Ethiopian truck exploded in a convoy 5km from the military training ground of Minaas, 35km from Baidoa. The explosion was said to have been caused by a remote controlled bomb. Senior Islamic Courts Union member Mohamed Ibrahim Bilaal said about 20 Ethiopians died in the explosion. Following the explosion there was said to have been a brief exchange of fire with Islamist militiamen. The United Nations condemned the incident, saying that the increase of weapons in Somalia was a contravention of the 1992 Arms Embargo on Somalia. The TFG claimed that the incident never took place. [6]

A suspected car bomb exploded in Bakin, on the approaches to Baidoa, on November 30. The minibus had served carrying people between Mogadishu and Baidoa.[7]

Map depicting the political situation in Somalia on December 2, 2006

On December 3, it was reported in an Amharic newspaper The Ethiopian Herald that 60 ICU militiamen had surrendered to TFG forces in Baidoa, along with their technicals, the newspaper reported that were dissatisfied by extremist policies arising within the Islamic Courts Union.[8]

On December 6, the United Nations Security Council approved a deployment of IGAD peacekeepers exempt from the UN arms embargo to protect Baidoa. Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti were barred from taking part in the peacekeeping operation, leaving it up to Uganda, Tanzania and Eritrea, primarily Uganda. [9] In a press statement the Eritrean Permanent Mission to the United Nations officially denied its nation had any troops in Somalia.[10]

On December 8, TFG backed by Ethiopian troops (according to eyewitnesses) attacked the Islamic Courts Union militias in the town of Dinsoor, 110km southwest of Baidoa, sparking heavy fighting. The International Committee of the Red Cross reported that the attack had happened amidst serious flooding while thousands of civilians were trying to escape floodwaters. Kofi Annan stressed the importance of communicating with the ICU and their supporters that UN peacekeepers were coming to help. The UN had accused Ethiopia of breaking the arms embargo and it was their intention to send more neutral foreign forces to support the TFG. All telecommunications to Dinsoor were immediately cut off and the TFG once again denied the involvement of Ethiopian troops.[11]

The settlement of Ufurow, 90 km from the interim government capital at Baidoa, capitulated to the ICU without any fighting. ICU militias were said to be within 20 km of Baidoa near Buurhakaba.[12] Shabelle Media Network reported that ICU chairman was planning to fly to Yemen for talks.[13]

Abdulrahim Ali Modei, the information minister for the ICU gave assurances that the Islamic Courts Union did not intend to attack the Ethiopian army. He said that the deadline the ICU had given the Ethiopians to remove their armed forces from Somali soil had been for guidance and that the ICU were still "hoping for peace". The TFG in an apparently sudden change of direction said that they were also holding fire".[14]