{{Short description|Faction in the Somali Civil War}} {{Infobox militant organization | name = Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism | native_name = Isbaheysiga Ladagaalanka Argagaxisadda | native_name_lang = so | caption = Flag of ARPCT | image = File:ARPCT Flag.jpg | other_name = Somali Warlord Alliance | leaders = Botan Ise Alin <br> Mohamed Afrah Qanyare<br> Musa Sudi Yalahow<br> Nuur Daqle<br> Abdi Hasan Awale Qeybdiid<br> Omar Muhamoud Finnish | foundation = 2006 | dissolved = June 2006 | ideology = Secularism | allies = {{flag|Ethiopia}}<br />{{flagicon|Somalia}} TFG<br /> {{flag|United States}} | opponents = {{flagicon image|Shahadah Flag.svg}} Islamic Courts Union<br />{{flagicon image|AQMI_Flag_asymmetric.svg}} Al-Shabaab <br />{{flagicon image|Flag of Jihad.svg}} Ras Kamboni Brigades | battles = Somali Civil War *2006 Islamic Courts Union offensive **Battle of Mogadishu (2006) | war = Somali Civil War }}
The '''Somali Warlord Alliance''', officially called the '''Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism''' (abbreviated '''ARPCT'''; {{langx|so|Isbaheysiga Ladagaalanka Argagaxisadda}}), was a Somali alliance created by various Somali warlords and businessmen with the backing of the American Central Intelligence Agency in order to challenge the emerging influence of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) during the Somali Civil War.<ref>{{cite news |title=The wages of chaos |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/may/31/worlddispatch |website=The Guardian |date=30 May 2006 |publisher=31 May 2006 |access-date=29 December 2021 |archive-date=29 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211229224737/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/may/31/worlddispatch |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":1">Marc Lacey and Helene Cooper [https://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/08/world/africa/08intel.html?ei=5088&en=7b3e5a78230b7e10&ex=1307419200&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&pagewanted=all Efforts by C.I.A. Fail in Somalia, Officials Charge] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112191902/https://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/08/world/africa/08intel.html?ei=5088&en=7b3e5a78230b7e10&ex=1307419200&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&pagewanted=all|date=2020-11-12}}, ''The New York Times'', 8 June 2006</ref>
The leadership of the warlord alliance consisted Botan Ise Alin, Mohammed Dheere,<ref name=INTELLIGENCE-BRIEF-ICU-EXPELS-WARLORDS-FROM-MOGADISHU>[http://www.pinr.com/report.php?ac=view_report&report_id=505&language_id=1 Intelligence Brief: I.C.U. Expels Warlords from Mogadishu] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061224182415/http://pinr.com/report.php?ac=view_report&report_id=505&language_id=1 |date=2006-12-24 }} PINR </ref> Mohamed Qanyare, Musa Sudi Yalahow, Nuur Daqle, Abdi Hasan Awale Qeybdiid, Omar Muhamoud Finnish and others.{{cn|date=October 2020}} Some of them were ministers within the Transitional Federal Government (TFG).<ref>{{Cite news |date=2006-06-03 |title=U.S. Secretly Backing Warlords in Somalia |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/16/AR2006051601625_pf.html |access-date=2024-03-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060603042910/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/16/AR2006051601625_pf.html |archive-date=2006-06-03 }}</ref>
The Islamic Courts Union and warlord alliance fought the Battle of Mogadishu during spring and summer of 2006. The battle ended in a decisive victory for the Islamic Courts, and by July 10th, the ICU took full control of the city.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Islamists claim victory in Somalia |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2006/7/10/islamists-claim-victory-in-somalia |access-date=2024-03-31 |website=Al Jazeera |language=en}}</ref> Following the defeat, the TFG removed 4 prominent ARPCT members from the positions they had held in the government.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Group. |first=International Crisis |title=Can the Somali crisis be contained?. |date=2006 |publisher=International Crisis Group |oclc=870128243}}</ref>
As the Ethiopian invasion was underway in September 2006, ENDF forces in Somalia began rearming some warlords who had been defeated by the ICU during the battle for Mogadishu.<ref name="Samatar-2006">{{Cite journal |last=Samatar |first=Abdi Ismail |date=2006 |title=The Miracle of Mogadishu |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4007061 |journal=Review of African Political Economy |volume=33 |issue=109 |pages=581–587 |issn=0305-6244 |jstor=4007061}}</ref> When Ethiopian and TFG troops advanced on Mogadishu four months later at the end of December 2006, they were followed by the warlords. The Ethiopians allowed numerous warlords to regain control over the fiefdoms they had previously lost to the courts.<ref name="Samatar-2007b">{{Cite journal |last=Samatar |first=Abdi Ismail |date=2007 |title=Ethiopian Invasion of Somalia, US Warlordism & AU Shame |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20406369 |journal=Review of African Political Economy |volume=34 |issue=111 |pages=155–165 |issn=0305-6244 |jstor=20406369}}</ref>
==CIA backing== {{See also|CIA activities in Somalia}} During 2006, at the suggestion of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), anti-ICU warlords united under the banner of the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Maruf |first=Harun |title=Inside al-Shabaab : the secret history of al-Qaeda's most powerful ally |date=2018 |others=Dan Joseph |isbn=978-0-253-03751-0 |location=Bloomington, Indiana |pages=35 |oclc=1043065645}}</ref> The decision to support these warlords generated dissent within the CIA, the US State Department, and European states. Many officials expressed apprehensions that this backing could lead to a major anti-American backlash in Somalia and greatly empower Islamist factions.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Hirsh |first1=Michael |last2=Bartholet |first2=Jeffrey |date=5 June 2006 |title=Fighting in the Shadows; Battles rage near the scene of 'Black Hawk Down' – And a covert American hand is tied to the warlords. |work=Newsweek |page=36 |edition=U.S.}}</ref> The International Crisis Group, which had direct contacts with the warlords, said in June 2006 that the CIA was funnelling $100,000 to $150,000 a month to the ARPCT.<ref name="THE-FINAL-CALL">[http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/article_2716.shtml UN trying to clarify problems in Somalia]- The Final Call - June 29, 2006 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202110401/http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/article_2716.shtml|date=December 2, 2008}}</ref> American support for the warlords extended to the point where, on numerous occasions, Nairobi-based CIA officers landed on warlord-controlled airstrips in Mogadishu with large amounts of money for distribution to Somali militias.<ref name=":52">{{cite web |date=8 June 2006 |title=Efforts by C.I.A. Fail in Somalia, Officials Charge |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/08/world/africa/08intel.html?ex=1307419200&en=7b3e5a78230b7e10&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss |work=New York Times}}</ref> The US refused to confirm or deny these reports.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Rice |first=Xan |date=2006-06-05 |title=Islamic militia ends Somali warlords' rule |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/jun/06/mainsection.international1 |access-date=2024-03-31 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>
Throughout Somalia, religious authorities who were working with or supporting the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) began being kidnapped, pushing the ICU to adopt a more confrontational stance against the warlords.<ref name=":43">{{Cite book |last1=Issaev |first1=Leonid |url=https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-72574-6 |title=Federalism and Decentralization in Africa: Globalization and Fragmentation in Territorial Arrangements |last2=Zakharov |first2=Andrey |date=2024 |publisher=Springer Publishing |isbn=978-3-031-72573-9 |series=Advances in African Economic, Social and Political Development |pages=174 |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-031-72574-6}}</ref> The CIA backed warlords had a notorious pattern of seizing innocent ulema with little or no intelligence value, which greatly fed into the already existing perception among Somalis that the Americans and the warlords were waging a war against Islam under the guise of the war on terrorism.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |title=Somali leaders say U.S. ignored pleas {{!}} The Spokesman-Review |url=https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2006/jun/18/somali-leaders-say-us-ignored-pleas/ |access-date=2022-04-12 |website=www.spokesman.com}}</ref><ref name=":202">{{Cite book |url=https://sgp.fas.org/crs/row/RL33911.pdf |title=Somalia: Current Conditions and Prospects for a Lasting Peace |publisher=Congressional Research Service |year=2011 |pages=18–22}}</ref>
As fighting for the city was ongoing in March 2006, the courts succeeded in seizing critical roads and infrastructure from the ARPCT. Prominent locals had urged the ICU and the warlord alliance to agree to a ceasefire to prevent bloodshed in Mogadishu. The ICU pledged to abide by a ceasefire, but mediators between the two organizations reported that the warlord alliance had delayed and refused to commit themselves.<ref>{{Cite news |date=30 March 2006 |title=Somali warlords making cease-fire deal in capital difficult, says mediator |agency=Associated Press}}</ref> The Americans approved greater funding for the Somali warlords and further encourage them to counter the ICU, a decision made by top officials in Washington which was later reaffirmed by the U.S. National security council during meeting about Somalia in March 2006.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |date=17 May 2006 |title=U.S. secretly backing warlords in Somalia |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna12826461 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220412042229/https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna12826461 |archive-date=April 12, 2022 |access-date=2022-04-12 |website=NBC News |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2006-05-19 |title=U.S. Accused of Backing Warlords in Somalia |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-may-19-fg-somalia19-story.html |access-date=2022-04-12 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref> At the time of the meeting there was fierce fighting in between the warlords and the Islamic Courts around Mogadishu, and the decision was taken to make counter-terrorism the top policy priority for Somalia.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |date=5 June 2006 |title=US funding Somali warlords-intelligence experts say |url=https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/us-funding-somali-warlords-intelligence-experts-say |access-date=2022-04-12 |website=ReliefWeb |language=en}}</ref>
Michael Zorick (the U.S. State Department's political officer for Somalia), who had been stationed in Nairobi, was reassigned to Chad after he sent a cable to Washington criticizing Washington's policy of paying Somali warlords. ''The New York Times'' stated, "The American activities in Somalia have been approved by top officials in Washington and were reaffirmed during a National Security Council meeting about Somalia in March."<ref name=":1" /> On 7 June 2006, the Republic of the Congo's president and current African Union head, Denis Sassou-Nguesso, criticized the United States for its involvement in fighting in Mogadishu following his meeting with President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.<ref>[http://hornofafrica.andnetwork.com/index?service=direct/1/Home/top.fullStory&sp=l37863 AU chair lashes US over Somalia] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719071555/http://hornofafrica.andnetwork.com/index?service=direct%2F1%2FHome%2Ftop.fullStory&sp=l37863|date=19 July 2011}} ANDnetwork 7 June 2006 </ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2006-06-05 |title=African Union seeks US help in Somalia |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2006-06-06/african-union-seeks-us-help-in-somalia/1770722 |access-date=2024-03-31 |work=ABC News |language=en-AU}}</ref>
== Collapse == A public uprising in Mogadishu occurred in support of the Islamic Courts Union against the warlord alliance.<ref name=":12">{{Cite book |last=Samatar |first=Abdi Ismail |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EXYOzwEACAAJ |title=Framing Somalia |date=2022 |publisher=Red Sea Press |isbn=978-1-56902-789-9 |pages=140–146 |language=en}}</ref> The ICU enjoyed widespread support from Mogadishu citizens and it's business community against the warlords, greatly aiding its ability to seize and control large swathes of the city.<ref name=":18">{{Cite journal |last1=Barnes |first1=Cedric |last2=Hassan |first2=Harun |date=2007 |title=The Rise and Fall of Mogadishu's Islamic Courts |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17531050701452382 |journal=Journal of Eastern African Studies |language=en |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=151–160 |doi=10.1080/17531050701452382 |issn=1753-1055 |s2cid=154453168 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> The broad support of Somali women for the union played a significant role in the organizations ability to maintain combat operations against the warlords.<ref name=":20">{{Cite book |url=https://sgp.fas.org/crs/row/RL33911.pdf |title=Somalia: Current Conditions and Prospects for a Lasting Peace |publisher=Congressional Research Service |year=2011 |pages=18–22}}</ref> In the view of Mary Harper, a journalist with BBC Africa, the Islamic Courts Union was in reality more of a loose federation and only began to unite into a homogeneous body with a clear authority when its existence was threatened by the ARPCT. The TFG, being both in contention with the ICU and backed by the United States, openly opposed the Americans operation to fund the warlords.<ref name=":5">{{cite web |date=8 June 2006 |title=Efforts by C.I.A. Fail in Somalia, Officials Charge |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/08/world/africa/08intel.html?ex=1307419200&en=7b3e5a78230b7e10&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss |work=New York Times}}</ref> Despite significant opposition in the government, several members of the CIA backed warlord alliance were holding senior posts within the TFG while fighting against the ICU was ongoing.<ref name=":20" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=5 June 2006 |title=Islamists take Somali capital, four warlord-ministers sacked |work=Deutsche Presse-Agentur}}</ref>
By April 2006 much of Mogadishu had fallen under the control of the ICU after clashes with the warlord alliance. The cities air and seaports came under the organizations direct control for the first time. In May they seized the very building where the warlord alliance had been founded and established an Islamic Court in its place.<ref name=":182">{{Cite journal |last1=Barnes |first1=Cedric |last2=Hassan |first2=Harun |date=2007 |title=The Rise and Fall of Mogadishu's Islamic Courts |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17531050701452382 |journal=Journal of Eastern African Studies |language=en |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=151–160 |doi=10.1080/17531050701452382 |issn=1753-1055 |s2cid=154453168 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> Two of the defeated warlords allegedly fled to an American naval vessel off the Somali coast according to witnesses in Mogadishu.<ref name=":42">{{Cite web |title=Somali leaders say U.S. ignored pleas {{!}} The Spokesman-Review |url=https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2006/jun/18/somali-leaders-say-us-ignored-pleas/ |access-date=2022-04-12 |website=www.spokesman.com}}</ref><ref name=":122">{{Cite web |title=Ethiopian troops enter Somalia |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2006/7/21/ethiopian-troops-enter-somalia |access-date=2022-11-12 |website=www.aljazeera.com |language=en}}</ref> Abdi Hasan Awale Qeybdiid defected from the alliance in June 2006, saying that "Since the formation of ARPCT, Mogadishu has been a centre of a military crisis that has led to the needless death of hundreds of people, therefore I decide to quit the alliance to build on the gains of the Islamic tribunals and give peace a chance".<ref>{{cite web |date=13 June 2006 |title=US-backed Somali commander defects |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2006/6/13/us-backed-somali-commander-defects |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709201557/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2006/6/13/us-backed-somali-commander-defects |archive-date=9 July 2021 |access-date=7 November 2020 |publisher=Al Jazeera}}</ref>
=== Islamic Courts Union victory === On 5 June 2006, the Islamic Courts Union decisively defeated the warlord alliance in the Second Battle of Mogadishu, gained total authority over the capital and proceeded to establish a 65-mile radius of control around the city. This was a seminal moment in modern Somali history, as the ICU was now the first group to have consolidated control over all of Mogadishu since the collapse of the Somali state.<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |date=2006-06-14 |title=Islamic Militia Seizes Somalia's Capital - Forbes.com |url=http://www.forbes.com/home/feeds/ap/2006/06/05/ap2794241.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060614153520/http://www.forbes.com/home/feeds/ap/2006/06/05/ap2794241.html |archive-date=14 June 2006 |access-date=2022-04-12 |website=Forbes.vol}}</ref><ref name=":23">{{Cite news |last=HASSAN |first=MOHAMED OLAD |date=10 June 2006 |title=Somalia's capital calm in Islamic hands |work=The Columbian |pages=A5 |agency=Associated Press}}</ref> BBC News reported that the ICU had emerged as Somalia's strongest and most popular faction. According to Chatham House, "The Courts achieved the unthinkable, uniting Mogadishu for the first time in 16 years, and re-establishing peace and security".<ref>{{cite web |date=4 October 2013 |title=How Al Shabaab was born |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/04/kenya-westgate-mall-attacks |publisher=Guardian}}</ref> The Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism soon collapsed, with the majority of its commanders publicly resigning or expressing support for the ICU.<ref name=":123">{{Cite web |title=Ethiopian troops enter Somalia |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2006/7/21/ethiopian-troops-enter-somalia |access-date=2022-11-12 |website=www.aljazeera.com |language=en}}</ref>
During the American backed Ethiopian invasion of Somalia that began following the Islamic Courts Union's consolidation of Mogadishu in June 2006, the Ethiopians began arming the defeated warlords along its border.<ref name="Samatar-20062">{{Cite journal |last=Samatar |first=Abdi Ismail |date=September 2006 |title=The Miracle of Mogadishu |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4007061 |journal=Review of African Political Economy |volume=33 |issue=109 |pages=581–587 |issn=0305-6244 |jstor=4007061 |quote=Further, the Ethiopian threat has become a reality as nearly 7,000 of its troops have deeply penetrated Somalia and completely control the headquarters of the TFG; it is also arming defeated warlords long its border.}}</ref> After the Fall of Mogadishu several months later, the security situation began to rapidly deteriorate and warlords who had been removed by the Islamic Courts began to reassert themselves.<ref>{{Cite news |date=11 January 2007 |title=Fears stalk Somalia's capital once again |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6252359.stm |access-date=2024-03-18 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Rice |first=Xan |date=29 December 2006 |title=Return of warlords as Somali capital is captured |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/dec/29/topstories3.mainsection |access-date=2024-03-18 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>
== References == {{reflist}}
{{War in Somalia (2006–09)}}
Category:Factions in the Somali Civil War Category:2006 in Somalia