Battle of Mogadishu ( March – April 2007 ) The Battle of Mogadishu began on 21 March 2007 in the Shirkole area of Mogadishu between Somali Transitional Federal Government forces and Ethiopian troops , and Islamist insurgents . The battle . First round of fighting . A failed 21 March and 22 disarmament operation by the TFG resulted in the capture of TFG troops . Cargo plane shot down . On 23 March 2007 , a TransAVIAexport Airlines Ilyushin Il - 76 plane crashed in Mogadishu . The plane is thought to have been shot down . There were 11 people on board the aircraft , all but one Belarusian crew members died in the crash . The other remaining survivors were found wandering around the crash site and later died in hospitals . 2nd round of fighting . On 1 April , it was reported that the death toll of the previous four days of heavy fighting in the capital is at least 849 killed civilians , 200 insurgents and 36 Ethiopian soldiers along with the one Ugandan soldier , for a total of 1 , 086 dead . 2nd ceasefire . Fighting was essentially halted for 2 April , after Hawiye clan leaders declared a truce with Ethiopian military officials starting 2 pm 1 April . They further called on Ethiopian troops to withdraw from areas they had occupied during the past few days of fighting . Although there had been a lull in fighting on 2 April , Salad Ali Jelle , the deputy Defence Minister of the TFG denied that there had been or would be any ceasefires between Hawiye clan leaders and Ethiopian military forces . Jelle stated that it was not Hawiyes involved in the recent fighting , but " remnants of the defeated Islamist " and called upon civilians residing in insurgent positions to evacuate the area . 3rd round of fighting . On 11 April , at least two people have been killed and three others were wounded in a renewed fighting that erupted in north of the Somalia capital between interim government troops and local insurgents overnight . However , on 12 April Somalia ' s Ambassador to Ethiopia Abdikarin Farah stated that Mogadishu was now peaceful for the first time in sixteen years . On 14 April , two government soldiers are killed in an ambush in the capital . On 17 April , heavy street fighting renewed in the northern part of Mogadishu , with at least 11 dead civilians . And on the next day heavy mortar fire erupted killing another 3 civilians . The fighting continued into 19 April , with another 12 civilians dead , while a suicide car bomb exploded at an Ethiopian army base wounding at least 10 Ethiopian soldiers . In addition 10 more soldiers were wounded when their truck hit a landmine in the city . Aid workers report that nearly half a million people fled the city , almost 1 / 2 of the population and only fighters and men protecting their property remain in the city . It was reported that in the latest round of fighting from 17 to 24 April , at least 358 people had been killed , including 45 insurgents , and 680 were wounded . It is estimated that close to 320 , 000 Somalis have fled Mogadishu since February , with many more still trapped there . On 26 April , Ethiopian troops took insurgent strongholds in Northern Mogadishu . They first occupied Tawfiq and Ramadan , before moving further north and capturing the Balad checkpoint in Northern Mogadishu , the main one for Mogadishu and an important supply line for insurgents . Somali Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Ghedi declared victory over the insurgents on 26 April , saying " The worst of the fighting in the city is now over " and urging displaced residents to return to their homes . He also claimed that his forces , backed by Ethiopian tanks and artillery , had overrun an insurgent stronghold in northern Mogadishu , capturing at least 100 enemy fighters .