This is a 2016 timeline of events in the Somali Civil War (2009–present).
General map of Somalia
January
January 1 – Gunmen open fire at a mosque near Mogadishu, killing 1 person and injuring 4 others including a Turkish aid worker. No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks but al-Shabaab are suspected to have orchestrated the attack.[1]
January 2 – A popular restaurant in Mogadishu is attacked by a suicide bomber, killing 4 people including himself.[2]
January 15 – al-Shabaab militants had raided an African Union base in southern Somalia with unconfirmed reports of dozens of soldiers being killed in the process.[3]
January 21 – al-Shabaab militants attack the lido or beach area in Mogadishu, killing at least 20 people.[4]
February
February 2 – Daallo Airlines Flight 159 explodes in mid-air with only the suicide bomber dying but 2 remain injured.[5]
February 5 – al-Shabaab has claimed to have seized control over the southern port town of Marka after Somali forces and AU forces leave.[6]
February 15 – A car bomb in Mogadishu kills the defence minister and injures another.[7]
February 26 – al-Shabaab militants raid the Somali Youth League hotel in Mogadishu, killing 14 people.[8]
February 28 – At least 30 people are killed by al-Shabaab militants who bombed a restaurant near the town of Baidoa.[9]
March
March 7 – According to the Pentagon, US air strikes kill at least 150 al-Shabaab militants near the city of Buloburde.[10] The Australian Navy also seizes an arms cache off Oman's coast heading towards Somalia.[11]
March 9 – US troops stage an overnight raid on the al-Shabaab controlled city of Awdhegele in the Lower Shebelle region.[12]
March 28 – At least 115 al-Shabaab militants are killed by Somali forces in the Galmudug region with an extra 110 captured.[13]
March 31 – A suicide bomber in Puntland kills the treasurer of Galkayo, Saeed Ali, by hugging him, along with several officers guarding him.[14]
April
April 1 – A US drone strike reportedly kills a key al-Shabaab leader, Hassan Ali Dhoore, in Jilib and two other militants.[15]
April 11 – At least five people are killed and seven others injured by a car bomb claimed by al-Shabaab against a government building in Mogadishu.[16]
April 12 – For the past two days, US officials claim air strikes in southern Somalia killed a dozen suspected al-Shabaab militants.[17]
April 16 – African Union troops kill 4 Somali civilians in the town of Bulla Marer in the south of Mogadishu. The AU mission claimed that soldiers had opened fire on a car in fear as the civilians failed to stop at a roadblock.[18]
May
May 2 – The first British troops are deployed in Somalia to help combat al-Shabaab as part of a UN mission.[19]
May 9 – A suicide car bomb claimed by al-Shabaab blows up at Mogadishu's traffic police headquarters killing 4, including at least 2 Somali police officers.[20]
June
June 1 – al-Shabaab militants claim responsibility for a car bomb on a hotel in Mogadishu killing 16 and injuring a further 55.[21] At the same time, the US declares an air strike killed a top al-Shabaab commander, Abdullahi Da'ud.[22]
June 9 – al-Shabaab claims to have killed 60 Ethiopian troops at an AU base.[24]
June 21 – Five police officers in Kenya are killed in an ambush by al-Shabaab near their convoy in El Wak, Kenya.[25]
June 25 – An attack by gunmen on a hotel in Mogadishu sees at least 15 deaths, 25 injuries and an unknown number of hostages taken by al-Shabaab.[26]
June 29 – Five suspected militants are killed by Kenyan forces in Lamu County after a clash and Malindi.[27]
July
July 1 – At least six are shot dead and several wounded by al-Shabaab militants in two ambushed buses in Mandera, Kenya near the border with Somalia.[28]
July 11 – A clash between Somali forces and al-Shabaab sees 10 Somali troops killed and 12 al-Shabaab militants killed in Afgooye, Lower Shabelle.[29]
July 14 – An alleged al-Shabaab militant shoots and kills four police officers in Kapenguria, Kenya. However, it is later revealed that it was a rogue officer instead.[30]
July 26 – al-Shabaab claims responsibility for a double suicide car bombing near an AU base in Mogadishu at the airport, killing at least 13 including seven UN guards.[31]
August
August 21 – At least 20 people are killed in a twin suicide bombing by al-Shabaab against a Puntland local government office in Galkayo.[32]
August 30 – At least 10 people are killed by a car bomb detonated by al-Shabaab outside the President of Somalia's office.[33]
October
October 1 – Four people are killed with five injured by an al-Shabaab attack on a prison near Mogadishu.[34] The Somali government also demands an explanation from the US after 22 civilians and other soldiers were killed in airstrikes in Galmudug as opposed to al-Shabaab militants.[35]
October 4 – Somali forces kill 14 al-Shabaab militants in a raid in the Lower Shabelle region.[36]
October 6 – At least 6 people are killed in an al-Shabaab attack in neighboring Kenya's Mandera.[37]
October 25 – An intelligence officer is shot dead by an al-Shabaab militant in Mogadishu.[38]
