Battle of Baidoa ( 2006 ) The Battle of Baidoa began on December 20 , 2006 when the Somali Transitional Federal Government ' s forces ( TFG ) allied with Ethiopian forces stationed there attacked advancing Islamic Courts Union ( ICU ) forces along with 500 alleged Eritrean troops and mujahideen arrayed against them . The battle began with most reports hourly depicting the government forces defecting and its position on the verge of collapse . The TFG , along with its allies in the Juba Valley Alliance ( JVA ) , had certainly been on the retreat since the June offensives of the ICU . By the opening of the battle in December , Baidoa was invested with attacks coming in at least three directions . Strong Ethiopian reinforcements rapidly changed the battle from one in which the TFG was on the defensive , through a strong series of counterattacks , to an Ethiopian / TFG decisive victory . Ethiopian armor , artillery , and air forces proved instrumental against the ICU ' s militia - based army . Timeline . December 20 , 2006 . On December 20 , heavy shooting broke out between Somali government troops and Islamists southeast of Baidoa where the Islamists claimed to have taken the government ' s military base in Daynuunay . The conflict thereafter moved north to the Islamist stronghold in Moode Moode Heavy weapons , including artillery , rockets and mortars were involved . Initial claims of casualties in this area were at least ten dead ICU militiamen and forty TFG soldiers wounded . Later claims of ICU casualties by the TFG were 71 Islamic soldiers dead and 221 injured , including two dead foreign fighters . The TFG claimed its own casualties were 3 dead and 7 wounded while the ICU claimed to have killed 7 government soldiers . Fighting was reported on many fronts around the capital in Iidale village ( 55 km south of Baidoa ) , Buulo Jadid ( 23 km north of Baidoa , also spelled Bullo Jadid ) , and Manaas ( 30 km southwest of Baidoa ) . One TFG death and numerous injured civilians were reported in Iidale . A later report raised the casualties to three soldiers killed and two injured . Thirteen trucks filled with Ethiopian reinforcements were reported en route to the fighting . An AFP report mentioned the TFG claimed the attack on Iidale was led by Abu Taha al - Sudan , who is " wanted by Washington for carrying out attacks against its embassies in east Africa in 1998 and against an Israeli - owned hotel in Kenya in 2002 . " This report raised the death toll from the artillery duel in Iidale to 12 , and added that the government captured 30 " armed vehicles " ( presumably technicals ) . It also contradicted the fall of Daynuunay to the ICU : " ' The fighting is so fierce , but government forces are still controlling Daynuunay , ' said Issak Adan Mursaley , a resident in Deynunay . " Meanwhile , an EU peace - brokering commission led by Louis Michel landed at Baidoa and then Mogadishu to meet respectively with the TFG and ICU representatives . Discussions yielded the agreement to meet in Khartoum , Sudan at an unspecified future date . In Dadaab , Kenya , UN Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees , Wendy Chamberlin , said camps there accounted for 34 , 000 refugees fleeing the fighting and floods in Somalia , but that number is expected to grow to 80 , 000 if fighting continues . The World Food Programme ( WFP ) is attempting to provide relief , but floods and mud have hampered ground transportation . Sheikh Mohamed Ibrahim Bilal , speaking for the ICU , claimed fighting was going its way in Iidale and Buulo Jadid , saying they captured two technicals , killed nine soldiers , and had taken prisoners in the fighting . December 21 , 2006 . On December 21 , Puntland President Adde Muse claimed ICU casualties were heavy in the fighting around Baidoa , sustaining 75 dead and 125 wounded , along with the loss of 30 vehicles burned or captured . Also reported on the 21st , fighting in Iidale and Daynuunay was said to have started the prior morning and continued through the next day . No end to the fighting seemed imminent , as both sides continued to gather reinforcements . Casualty figures were unavailable , but the numbers were expected to be in the hundreds easily . The report went on to refute the ICU claim of victory , and stated that the government was again in possession of Iidale and had killed foreign fighters . The government also captured dozens of Islamist students who took up arms , sufficient in quantity to fill three lorries . Sketchy , unattributed and unconfirmable reports stated Baidoa was on the " brink of collapse , " and put the odds of fighters in the battle at 10 - to - 1 in favor of the ICU , with unconfirmed reports that the ICU are being provided with " high - tech weaponry , trainers and even fighters from many Muslim countries and Eritrea " . December 22 , 2006 . By December 22 , TFG refuted assertions of collapse when it claimed to have inflicted 700 casualties on the ICU . The ICU claimed to have killed more than 200 government troops . Contrary to ICU claims , the TFG said it was advancing . Reports put TFG troops in Safar Noles , on the approaches to Dinsoor . Nearly 20 Ethiopian tanks were seen heading toward the front line . According to government sources Ethiopia has 20 T - 55 tanks and four attack helicopters in Baidoa . The tanks were reported to be splitting into two groups heading towards fighting in Daynuunay and Iidale . Ethiopia may have as many as 50 tanks and other armored vehicles in the country . Civilian casualties were reported as dozens killed and over 200 wounded . To the north , in Mudug , 500 Ethiopian troops with eight tanks and 30 pickup trucks mounted with anti - aircraft guns were headed for Bandiradley , an Islamic Courts stronghold in central Somalia , according to witnesses and Islamic Courts officials . The Council of Islamic Courts said they would send ground troops to attack on Saturday , instead of fighting from a distance with heavy weapons as they have been doing so far . " Our troops have not started to attack . From tomorrow the attack will start , " said Ibrahim Shukri Abuu - Zeynab , an Islamic Courts spokesman . A TFG press release stated a unit of 500 Eritrean troops with artillery and other heavy weapons had reinforced Burhakaba . It claimed TFG troops had successfully destroyed an ICU force in Dinsoor , killing all the commanders , forcing the rest to surrender , and resulting in five foreign fighters committing suicide rather than face capture . Nineteen bodies of Islamic fighters were found in Moode Moode by an Associated Press photographer . Reports that the ICU is forcing people to fight in Baidoa are claimed by a captured Islamic fighter . The Council of Islamic Courts leader said that Somalia was in " a state of war " with the TFG and Ethiopia . December 23 , 2006 . Fighting continued in and around Baidoa , particularly at Iidale and Dinsoor ; approximately 60 and 120 kilometres south of Baidoa respectively . Iidale was reportedly captured by the Islamists . Somali Information Minister of the TFG , Ali Jama , quoted that " The combined total from two fronts is over 500 Islamists killed since Wednesday , " . He later went on to report that most of those that were killed were children sent by the ICU to fight in the fronts east and south of Baidoa . The ICU vowed all out war against the Ethiopia n - backed transitional government , with Islamic commander Hassan Bullow stating that " This war is a religious obligation and we are here to fight for our religion against the enemies until we die . " Islamic officials scorned the African Union and Arab League for doing nothing , saying " The world is silent today while Ethiopian forces are killing us inside our country , but tomorrow when we defeat them and chase them things will be changed , we will enter their territories and at that moment the world will shout " . One resident saw Islamist fighters pushing toward Daynunay , the government ' s forward military base about southeast of its encircled base at Baidoa . " This morning , I heard sounds of rockets being fired from the frontline , " Hassan Yusuf added . He said he saw three dead Ethiopian soldiers taken by Islamist fighters to a village close to Daynunay on Friday , while wounded Islamist fighters were being treated in nearby Buur Hakaba . Islamists , for the first time , called upon international fighters to join their cause stating " We ' re saying our country is open to Muslims worldwide . Let them fight in Somalia and wage jihad , and God willing , attack Addis Ababa " . ICU defense chief , Sheik Yusuf Mohammed Siad Indho - adde , made a world - wide appeal for jihadists to come to Somalia , and claimed the ICU had taken Tiyoglow , Bakol province . Independent journalists were also shown that Iidale had been taken by the ICU , where they were shown bodies of Ethiopian troops . The TFG denied the claims as " cheap propaganda . " The International Committee of the Red Cross expressed their concern over those caught up in the fighting , quoting the figure of 200 wounded fighters being brought into hospitals on both sides . December 24 , 2006 . Islamist Abdulahi Gedow , commander of forces in Burhakaba , claimed to have seized Gasarta , less than 12 km south of Baidoa . This would be an advance of 10 km north of Daynunay ( which is 22 km southeast of Baidoa ) . Islamists claimed that five Ethiopian tanks were destroyed . TFG Defence Minister Barre Shire Hirale claimed to have retaken Iidale after a clash in which over 100 were killed . In Kismayo , 1 , 000 men were said to be leaving for the battle , presumably to fight on behalf of the ICU . Ethiopian airstrikes hit targets across Somalia , including Dinsoor and Burhakaba in the Bay region as part of the counter - offensive in the battle . To the north , Bandiradley in Mudug and Beledweyne in Hiiran were also struck . TFG Deputy Defense Minister Salad Ali Jele stated government forces had advanced within three kilometers of Bur - Hakaba and were poised to re - capture the town . A Somalian website claimed that thousands of angry people rallied in the capital of Mogadishu in protest of the Ethiopian air strikes . The people took to the streets of Mogadishu , forcing business centers to close down and send militia to the front . It also claimed that hundreds of volunteers were registering to join the Islamists . December 25 , 2006 . Ethiopian airstrikes hit the airports at Mogadishu and Bali - Dogle . The latter airport lies 115 km northwest of Mogadishu in the district of Wanlaweyne about half - way between the capital and the front lines at Burhakaba . At least one person was reported dead and others wounded in the Mogadishu attack . The Islamic Courts tightened security in the capital as a result . Ethiopian forces were reported to have taken both Beledweyne and Buuloburde in Hiran , with unconfirmed reports that " hundreds of Ethiopian tanks " were moving along the road towards Jowhar . This presents a threat of a major flanking of ICU positions in Tiyoglow and Burhakaba by striking towards the Middle Shabelle area . The Ethiopian forces were accompanied by Somali warlord Mohamed Omar Habeb ' Mohamed Dhere , ' who wished to reestablish his control over Jowhar . Ethiopian forces had also reportedly encircled both Dinsoor and Burhakaba . Fighting had advanced near Dinsoor to Rama - Addey . The TFG asserted it was within a few kilometers of capturing Burhakaba . The ICU ' s " commando - type arm " under the command of veteran of Afghanistan , Adan Ayrow was said to be giving stiff resistance . Yet late in the day , fighting was reported within Dinsoor itself . Dinsoor resident Mohammed Hassan reported that Ethiopian forces had taken the town . December 26 , 2006 . ICU forces reportedly abandoned their positions in Burhakaba and Dinsoor after days of heavy fighting , leaving behind a number of heavy weapons and other military equipment . Witnesses reported that ICU fighters were retreating from the Battle of Baidoa on numerous fronts and returning to Mogadishu in convoys . Islamic councilman Mohamoud Ibrahim Suley confirmed the withdrawal . Troops were also reported to have withdrawn to Daynuunay . Ethiopian troops arrived in Burhakaba after the Islamists vacated it . An Ethiopian government spokesman also confirmed that Ethiopian troops also arrived in Dinsoor unopposed . Despite this , local militamen were seen by witnesses to be stealing boxes of food and medicine , further hampering any humanitarian efforts . Airstrikes also continued , this time on Leego , just east of Burhakaba . Three people were reportedly killed in the space of thirty minutes . Ethiopia ' s Prime Minister , Meles Zenawi , announced Ethiopia would likely withdraw its troops within a few weeks . He said their main goal was to damage the ICU ' s military capabilities , sense of invincibility and ensure a more balanced setting for peace talks . The United States also announced it would support Ethiopian military operations , saying the country has " genuine security concerns , " although it was unclear in what capacity the US would support the nation . The United Nations envoy to Somalia has urged an end to the fighting , and Qatar , the current President of the UN Security Council , has proposed a draft statement calling for an immediate cease - fire and the withdrawal of all international forces . Other nations , such as the US , Britain , France , and Russia , have objected to the statement , saying peace talks and agreement are necessary before troops can withdraw .