Organizational History

The Islamic Courts Union (ICU) was a cooperative of individual Islamic courts controlling different jurisdictions in Somalia that attempted to overthrow the current Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and institute a new, strict Islamic Sharia state[2].

Following the collapse of the Siad Barre regime, Somalia became an arena for a power vacuum between vying warlords and Islamist groups, most notably Al Ittihad al Islami (AIAI). AIAI was militarily defeated by an alliance of warlord militias in the mid-1990s, however the group’s goal of creating an Islamic state of Somalia, and its senior leadership, became the backbone of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU)[3]. Initially, the ICU was nothing more than a few independent Islamic courts, each controlling its own jurisdiction in north and central Mogadishu[4][5]. A former senior leader of AIAI, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, is the person who brought the first courts together under one authority, called the Council of Islamic Courts (CIC)[6].

The CIC lasted for almost a decade, attempting to gain a political and economic foothold in Somali society. The CIC experienced limited success; their efforts hampered by the creation of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia (TFG), and continued conflict with warlord militias. However, early in 2006, the CIC was joined by a similar union of Islamic courts in southern Mogadishu[5]. With these courts came Sheikh Shariff Sheikh Ahmed, who together with Sheikh Aweys, was able to unite all Islamic courts in Somalia under one banner, officially forming the Islamic Courts Union (ICU)[7][5]. Not only did these courts provide justice to those individuals they deemed involved in un-Islamic practices, but they also offered various social and educational services to the public.

As the authority of the ICU grew, tension with the secular warlords ruling various sections of the country exploded. This culminated in late 2006, with a two week uprising by the ICU, during which much of South and Central Somalia fell under their control, including the capital, Mogadishu[3][8]. The siege was ended in the first week of January 2007 following an Ethiopian invasion to bolster the forces of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG)[5][8].

Most of the ICU fighters were wiped out or by Somali government forces in this battle, which became known as the Second Battle of Mogadishu[9]. In the year following the 2006 uprising, a division of the ICU, renouncing the militant actions of the group, split to form the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia (ARLS), headed by Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed[7]. The more fundamentalist members of the group joined the now full scale insurgent war being waged by the ICU’s own Al Shabaab militia which had officially split from the ICU by this time, becoming its own independent group[7]. On January 31, 2009, Sharif Ahmed was elected president of the TFG. Those members of the ICU that had joined the ARLS were given various positions in the Somali government. The more extreme members of Al Shabaab vowed to continue to fight against the moderate TFG and any foreign presence.

Structure

The Islamic Courts Union originally began as clan based regional Islamic courts with Islamic beliefs ranging from Quttubism to Wahhabism, each holding jurisdiction in a different province of Somalia[5]. In 1999, eleven of the original courts merged to form the Supreme Islamic Court of Mogadishu[10]. Each court, in the beginning, had its own regulated militia which was made up of local fighters from their own jurisdiction[5]. With the alliance of the courts, these militias were combined into one fighting unit, Al Shabaab[11]. Due to the compilation of fighters from the various nomadic clans, in-fighting and leadership change are common.

Arsenal

According to reports, the Islamic Courts Union received military uniforms from Djibouti, and weapons and ammunition from Iran, Libya, Eritrea, and Saudi Arabia[2]. The ICU received weapons from militant groups like Hezbollah[2]. During the consolidation of power in 2006, the ICU confiscated the weapons from Somalia’s numerous warlords as well as Somali TFG Ethiopian soldiers[9][12]. ICU’s arsenal of weapons included: surface to air PZRK Strela-2 aka SA-7 missiles, SA-6 Gainful Low to Medium Altitude surface to air missile, B-10 anti-tank guns, M-46 130mm towed field guns, D-30 122 towed howitzers, M-30 122mm towed howitzers, D-30 152mm howitzers, ZSU-23-4 Self-Propelled Anti-Aircraft guns, ZU 57-2-57mm anti-aircraft guns , Zu-23anti-aircraft gun, ZP-39 anti-aircraft guns light artillery, 120mm mortars, 60 mm mortars, rocket propelled grenades and launchers, LAWs, large caliber machine guns, Browning .30 caliber machine guns, DShK machine guns, PKM machine guns, Ak-47 rifles, G3 A3 assault rifles, FAL assault rifles, SAR-80 assault rifles, rifle mounted grenade launchers, pistols, hand grenades, and landmines[12][13][14].

Funding

Islamic Courts Union began collection support by taking taxes from civilians and businesses that were under their control[2]. ICU claimed to have received support from Al Qaeda, Iran and Hezbollah[9]. The ICU received international support from Somalis living in Britain that sympathized with the ICU’s goals[15].

Recruitment

Due to the Islamic Courts Union recruitment targeting people based on religion and not clan membership, the ICU could actively recruit members of the Darod, Rahanwein, Digil-Mirifle, and other clans[11]. The ICU integrated the fighters of several Somali warlords as well as Somali TFG soldiers that had defected from the military[11]. Al Qaeda sent numerous fighters to Somalia to help the ICU defeat the Somalia TFG and Ethiopian soldiers[2]. Reports estimated the ICU strength at several thousand fighters and the foreign fighter strength at 3,000 to 4,000 militants[9][12].

Tactics

The Islamic Courts Union used a number of tactics during fighting with Somali TFG and Ethiopian soldiers. The ICU typically targeted police stations, military bases, the presidential compound, the Ministry of Defense building, the hotel housing the Somali TFG, the sea port, and airport with mortars or rockets which are transported by car or truck to a residential neighborhood[12]. The ICU also committed targeted assassinations against government officials, police officers, and soldiers. The ICU used rocket propelled grenades and automatic weapons fire on Somali TFG and Ethiopian military convoys. The ICU also conducted numerous improvised explosive device attacks against government and military targets.

Gallery

References

1. File:Islamic courts union arms.png. (2006, December 5). Wikipedia. Retrieved from [1] on December 7, 2011.
2. Bourbaki (2006, June 12). Inside the Somali Civil War and the Islamic Courts. Retrieved from [2]
3. Global Security. The Supreme Islamic Courts Union / al-Ittihad Mahakem al-Islamiya (ICU). Retrieved from [3]
4. BBC News (2006, December 28). Quick Guide: Somalia’s Islamists. Retrieved from [4]
5. Stabilisation Unit. The Rise and Fall of Mogadishu’s Islamic Courts. Retrieved from [5]
6. Barnes, C., Hassan, H., SOAS, SMC (2007, April). The Rise and Fall of Mogadishu’s Islamic Courts. Retrieved from [6]
7. Roggio, Bill (2009, January 31). Former Islamic Courts Leader Elected President of Somalia. Retrieved from [7]
8. Sheikh, Hassan. Building Structures for Peace: How to Administer Mogadishu?. Retrieved from [8]
9. BBC News (2006, June 06). Profile: Somalia’s Islamic Courts. Retrieved from [9]
10. Ahmad, Aisha (2006, July-December). Taliban and Islamic Courts Union: How They Changed the Game in Afghanistan and Somalia. Retrieved fromhttp://www.ips.org.pk/security-and-foreign-policy/1083-taliban-and-islamic-courts-union-how-they-changed-the-game-in-afghanistan-and-somalia.html
11. Africa Policy Institute (2011, July). Aiding Terror: IGAD’s Counter-Strategy to Eritrea’s Destabilization in the Horn of Africa. Retrieved from [10]
12. Council of Islamic Courts. (2010, July 2). Intellipedia. Collected from [11] Council_of_Islamic_Courts
13. Vasagar, Jeevan (2007, January 2007). Somali Islamists Held UK Meeting to Raise Funds. Retrieved from [12]
14. Somali President Thanks Turkish Relief Organizations. (2011, August 29). Turk National. Retrieved from [13] on December 7, 2011.
15. Ethiopia action in Somalia backed. (2006, December 26). BBC NEWS. Retrieved from [14] on December 7, 2011.
16. ISLAMIC COURTS UNION MILITIA. (2008, December 11). Sulekha.com. Retrieved from [15] on December 7, 2011.
17. Penn, M. (2009, January 20). Militia from the Islamic Courts Union. The Asia-Pacific Journal:Japan Focus. Retrieved from [16] on December 7, 2011.
18. Somalia Civil War. (2011, December 7). World News. Retrieved from [17] on December 7, 2011.
19. Somalis vow holy war on Ethiopia. (2006, October 9). BBC NEWS. Retrieved from [18] on December 7, 2011.