Battle of Ras Kamboni (2007) 2007
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 2007 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Post-1945 (1946 onwards) | derived from year |
| Location | Somalia | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Africa | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | War in Somalia | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | United Kingdom, United States | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 0.4097, 41.0058 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Ras Kamboni took place during the Ethiopian invasion of Somalia at the start of 2007. It began Ethiopian National Defense Force and Transitional Federal Government (TFG) militia backed by United States military air power launched an offensive on Ras Kamboni, a town near the Kenyan border which was the last major urban stronghold of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) as it with withdrew deep into the south.
After withdrawing from Kismayo, much of the ICU's armed forces scattered into the scrublands of southern Somalia or withdrew to make a last stand at Ras Kamboni. The ICU forces at Ras Kamboni dug large defensive trenches around the town. The battle began on January 6, 2007, when Ethiopian and TFG forces launched their assault. On January 7, 2007, the United States publicly entered the conflict by launching airstrikes using AC-130 gunships and cruise missiles against what it claimed were Al Qaeda members operating within the ranks of the ICU. The town finally fell to the Ethiopian and TFG forces on January 12, 2007. Initially, the US claimed that it had successfully targeted Al-Qaeda, but after the attacks downgraded those killed to being 'associates with terrorists'.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Ras Kamboni (2007) (revision 1376618444), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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Other battles of the War in Somalia
- Battle of Baidoa 2006
- Battle of Bandiradley 2006
- Battle of Jowhar 2006
- Battle of Bargal (2007) 2007
- Siege of Baidoa 2008
All 6 battles of the War in Somalia →
Browse more: battles in Somalia · Africa · Post-1945 battles