Disarmament in Somalia - Recent Efforts - 2006 Islamic Courts Union

2006 Islamic Courts Union

In 2006, the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) attempted to disarm the secular warlords—a contentious issue which led to the Second Battle of Mogadishu. The Islamist victory resulted in the routing or forced surrender of many warlords and their caches of arms, and the rapid rise of the Islamic Courts Union. By late 2006, their attempts to disarm the secular militias and their consolidation of power pitted them also against the Transitional Federal Government.

The ICU attempted to curb the private possession of weapons, closing down the infamous Mogadishu arms market, and impounding or appropriating technicals for use solely by the Islamic Courts forces:

We were skeptical, but everyone we have spoken to since– doctors, teachers, journalists, shopkeepers– has talked of a city transformed. Gone are the ubiquitous checkpoints where the warlords’ militias killed, extorted and stole. Gone are their technicals, Jeeps with heavy machine guns mounted on the back. The infamous Bakaro arms markets has been closed. The only guns and technicals now are those of the Sharia courts enforcers, and the reports of violence in the papers were of the Ipswich murders.

Many Somali warlords, along with the nation of Ethiopia, sided with the TFG against the ICU. Once the momentous battles were concluded in December 2006, the TFG proceeded with its plans to bring a general disarmament of the nation and closure to the Somali Civil War.