Hiiraan Online
Monday, October 19, 2015
Leaders of the Islamic Court Union. Sheikh Sharif Ahmed (left) and Sheikh Yusuf Indohaadde during a news conference iin June 2006.
LONDON (HOL) – The Islamic Courts Union received a giant support from several countries and groups including Iran, Egypt, Djibouti, Libya, Hezbollah, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Eritrea before Ethiopian military crushed the group late 2006, according secret documents.
According the whistle-blower site WikiLeaks, the Djiboutian government has provided uniforms and medicine to the UIC fighters, while Egyptian military trainers provided training for the fighters inside Somalia.
According to the documents, the Iranian government has provided arms and ammunition to the Islamic Courts Union to extend their rule across Somalia. The Lebanese group Hezbollah has also provided military trainings and arms after UIC fighters fought alongside the militant group during the war with Israel in July 2006.
The cables have also revealed that the Libyan government led by the late Moammer Ghadfi who was overthrown by popular uprising in 2011 provided trainings, funds and arms.
In addition, the Eritrean government which was long accused of funding militant groups provided arms, ammunition and military equipment while the Saudi government provided logistical support and ammunition.
“This support, it seems, has not extended to the provision of official military personnel, although this is not clear.” WikiLeaks said in an analysis on the documents.
As the Islamic Courts Union extend their rule across large parts of south and central Somalia, Ethiopian troops invaded Somalia and ousted Islamists, ending the group’s growing influence.
Ethiopian troops withdrew from Somalia in 2009 after a tough guerrilla war by allied UIC and clan militias, leaving Somalia in mess, a development which helped Al-Shabab which kept low-key within the UIC group to secretly organize itself and ousted the rival UIC fighters which enabled the militant to rise to power and seized large parts of Somalia, including the capital Mogadishu.
Despite their ouster from Mogadishu and surrounding regions by AU and Somali forces, Al-shabab which has since declared allegiance to AL-Qaeda has carried out multiple deadly attacks in and outside Somalia, proving itself as an ‘effective’ terrorist group waging a global terror war.
The group is still fighting allied troops from African Union and Somalia, frustrating efforts by the international community to restore peace and order to the long-chaotic Somalia.