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OO RUEHDE RUEHROV RUEHTRO
DE RUEHNR #1495 1941537
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O 131537Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY NAIROBI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0346
INFO RUCNSOM/SOMALIA COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
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UNCLAS NAIROBI 001495 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/E AND A/S CARSON 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL MOPS PTER CASC SO
SUBJECT: SOMALIA - TFG STRUGGLING TO HOLD MOGADISHU GAINS 
 
¶1.  Summary.  On July 11-12 Transitional Federal Government 
(TFG) forces and al-Shabaab/Hizbul Islami fought pitched 
battles that ultimately netted the TFG small but significant 
gains in the Shibis and Abdi-Aziz districts by July 13. 
Reportedly over 60 combatants and civilians have been killed. 
 African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) tanks aided the 
TFG's breakout on July 12, though AMISOM suffered no 
casualties.  One foreign fighter's body captured by the TFG 
may be that of an American citizen.  End Summary 
 
¶2.  TFG forces and their allies clashed with al-Shabaab and 
extremist militias on July 11-12.  The fighting reportedly 
claimed over 60 combatant and civilian lives.  On the morning 
of July 11, al-Shabaab attacked TFG forces in the Shibis and 
Abdi-Aziz area, at one point advancing to within 1 kilometer 
of the presidential offices at Villa Somalia.  In the late 
afternoon of July 11, al-Shabaab landed 4 mortars inside 
Villa Somalia, killing three Ugandan AMISOM soldiers and 
wounding eight. 
 
¶3.  Of note was the capture of a foreign fighter's body on 
July 11.  The TFG subsequently released photos of his face, 
which were posted on Somali media websites.  In an interview 
with U.S. network Fox News, a spokesman for the 
Minneapolis-based mother of Jamal Banna, possibly AKA Jamal 
Aweys, claimed the photos were of her American citizen son. 
 
¶4.  On July 12 TFG-aligned forces counterattacked against 
al-Shabaab.  With AMISOM armor support in the offensive's 
initial stages, the TFG captured significant territory in 
Mogadishu. Some 8-10 AMISOM tanks and armored personnel 
carriers from Villa Somalia and other AMISOM bases 
participated according to AMISOM.  In one media interview, 
and privately to us, AMISOM justified their actions as a 
defensive response to the July 12 mortar attack.  No AMISOM 
troops were injured in the fighting, according to Ambassador 
Nicholas Bwakira, the head of AMISOM's Nairobi political 
office, lending credence to reports al-Shabaab fled from the 
armored vehicles.  The TFG re-took the Abdi-Aziz and Shibis 
districts, including key landmarks the Global Hotel and Old 
Seaport, according to government contacts.  The TFG also 
drove into the Karan district.  In Karan, President Sheikh 
Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and State Minister "Indha Adde" conducted 
a press conference from Keysanai Hospital, well inside 
formerly al-Shabaab-held neighborhoods.  Sheikh Sharif Sheikh 
Ahmed expressed confidence about the TFG's ability to fight 
al-Shabaab and asked for additional Ugandan troops to be sent 
to the Jubas.  By the end of July 12, the TFG forces had 
pushed their attack a kilometer or more into extremist 
neighborhoods to the north and east of Villa Somalia.  A TFG 
spokesman announced they had killed 40 al-Shabaab or Hizbul 
Islami fighters. 
 
¶5.  On July 13 Prime Minister Omar Sharmarke and others told 
us the TFG had conceded some of its outlying territorial 
gains, but still controlled the Global Hotel in the Shibis 
district, and the Old Sea Port in Abdi-Aziz.  Parts of Karan 
had reportedly been retaken by al-Shabaab.  One of our 
Mogadishu contacts said there was general calm in the areas 
of fighting.  AMISOM armor was inside its bases. 
SLUTZ