Troops attempt to win back the countryside

2007 — First Ugandan troops land in Mogadishu, the capital, spearhead of a force mandated by the 54-nation African Union to thwart the Islamist al-Shabab insurgency. The Ugandans are ill-equipped and even lack food.


2008 — African Union forces are largely confined to the airport and presidential palace. Al-Shabab controls most of the city.

2009 — The U.N. begins providing logistical support, including food. The U.S. pays for weapons and training. Salaries of the troops, who now include Burundians and will later add Kenyans, are paid by the European Union. Somali soldiers are paid by the U.S. and Italy.




2010 — The force is now 10,000 strong. In August, al-Shabab launches an all-out effort to overrun African Union troops but takes more than 1,000 casualties.



2011 — More than 50 AMISOM forces are killed in a single battle in February. But by May African Union troops take Bakara Market, a huge money-making center for al-Shabab, which is losing ground by the day. In August, al-Shabab pulls out of Mogadishu.



2012 — Ugandan and Burundian troops expand their areas of control to the towns outside of Mogadishu. In late September, Kenyan forces in southern Somalia take the port city of Kismayo from al-Shabab, the militants’ last major income generator. Foreign fighters in al-Shabab flee to Yemen.



2013 and beyond: The international community is likely to increase the training of Somali troops in the hopes that African Union forces can pull out and Somali soldiers can take over security responsibilities. Al-Shabab, greatly weakened, is expected to continue carrying out suicide and roadside bomb attacks.

Troops attempt to win back the countryside