X-Nico

unusual facts about Balad, Somalia


Battle of Jowhar

The loss of Jowhar led the ICU to retreat further to Balad in middle Shabelle province, a town 30 kilometres away from Mogadishu.


1994 Pulitzer Prize

Paul Watson of the Toronto Star, for his photograph, published in many American newspapers, of a U.S. soldier's body being dragged through the streets of Mogadishu by a mob of jeering Somalis.

2007 Balad aircraft crash

The 2007 Balad aircraft crash was a 9 January 2007 airplane incident involving an Antonov An-26 airliner, which crashed while attempting to land at the U.S. military base in Balad, Iraq.

2009 Beledweyne bombing

The 2009 Beledweyne bombing took place on June 18, 2009 in Beledweyne, Hiiraan, Somalia.

43rd Sustainment Brigade

Operation Restore Hope was declared a success in May 1993 and President Clinton celebrated on the White House lawn with Marine Corps Lieutenant General Robert B. Johnston and other Somalia veterans.

834th Aviation Support Battalion

After moving north into Iraq, the 834th ASB replaced the 412th ASB on 7 September 2008 in Balad, Iraq (LSA Anaconda/Joint Base Balad).

Abdullahi Ahmed Nur

He is the State Minister of Finance of Somalia, having been appointed to the position on 17 January 2014 by Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed.

Abdullahi Godah Barre

He is the Minister of Interior and Federalism of Somalia, having been appointed to the position on 17 January 2014 by Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed.

Ahmed Mohamed Iman

His books included Toosiye Everyday English for Everyone (an English Grammar translated into Somali), Marine Ecosystem Data Gathered of Somalia and Taariikhda Taxan iyo Dhaqanka Soomaaliya (a book about the history and culture of Somalia).

Badan

Badhan, Sanaag, a city and district in the Sanaag region, a territory in north Eastern Somalia

Beden

Its shipyards predominantly lie in the northeastern Hafun region of Somalia (notably Bayla), as well as Muscat.

Cetraro

According to Fonti a manager of Enea paid the clan to get rid of 600 drums of toxic and radioactive waste from Italy, Switzerland, France, Germany, and the US, with Somalia as the destination, where the waste was buried after buying off local politicians.

Charles A. Murphy

Stationed in Cherry Point, North Carolina, Murphy served a six-month tour as a Staff Judge Advocate for the commanding officer aboard the USS Guadalcanal that deployed to the Mediterranean Sea and Mogadishu, Somalia, as part of the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit.

Culture of Somalia

Due to the Somali people's passionate love for and facility with poetry, Somalia has often been referred to as a "Nation of Poets" and a "Nation of Bards", as, for example, by the Canadian novelist Margaret Laurence.

Fall of Kismayo

The Fall of Kismayo occurred on January 1, 2007, when the troops of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and Ethiopian forces entered the Somali city of Kismayo unopposed.

Fishing Without Nets

The plot tells the story of a group of fishermen in Somalia who are lured into piracy.

Fowsiyo Yusuf Haji Adan

Adan's term as Somalia's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister ended on 17 January 2014, when new Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed appointed Abdirahman Duale Beyle as her successor.

Garoe

Garoowe, capital city of the autonomous Puntland region in northeastern Somalia

Gerad Hamar Gale

Hamar Gale's popular nickname "Hamar Gale" or "Xamar Gale" first came about after he departed his clan's traditional strongholds in northern modern-day Somalia for the ancient southeastern city of Mogadishu (popular known as "Xamar") and its environs -- an area to which his sobriquet is a direct reference.

Guduuda 'Arwo

real name Shamis Abokor, is a former female singer for Radio Hargeisa in Somalia, based out of Hargeisa in what is today a self-declared Somaliland.

Hadrawi

In 1999, Hadrawi returned once more to his native Somalia, this time settling in Hargeisa.

Hassan Gouled Aptidon

He was born in a small village called Garissa in the Lughaya district of northern Somalia.

Hawd Region

Hawd Region is a region of Somaliland, a self-declared republic that is internationally recognized as an autonomous region of Somalia.

Hussein Abdi Halane

In December 2013, Halane alongside former Transportation Minister Abdiwahid Elmi Gonjeh was reportedly among the leading candidates for Prime Minister of Somalia.

Islamic Courts Union

On December 27, 2006, after a brief skirmish earlier in the day at the Battle of Jowhar, the leaders of the ICU, including Sheiks Hassan Dahir Aweys, Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and Abdirahman Janaqow resigned in a capitulation recognizing the new state of affairs in Somalia.

Israeli legislative election, 2009

On 12 January 2009, Balad and the United Arab ListTa'al alliance were disqualified by the Central Elections Committee on the grounds that they failed to recognise Israel as a Jewish state and called for armed conflict against it.

Jaldessa

Early in the Ogaden War, Jaldessa was captured by Somali units as they closed in on Dire Dawa; it was recaptured 4 February 1978 by the Ethiopian Ninth Division with Cuban tank and artillery shock troops.

Kabarega of Bunyoro

For a period of five years Kabarega was able to fend off the British, who had enlisted help from countries including Somalia, Nubia and others.

La Conchiglia

The movie was filmed in and features the local residents of Gondershe, a small town on the coast of southern Somalia.

Leonella

Leonella Sgorbati (1940–2006), an Italian Roman Catholic nun who was murdered in Somalia shortly after controversial comments by Pope Benedict XVI concerning Islam

Liban Abdi

Abdi is eligible to play for both Somalia and Norway but has not represented any of them although he has stated that he wants to play for Norway.

Maritime history of Somalia

In ancient times, the Kingdom of Punt, which is believed by several Egyptologists to have been situated in the area of modern-day Somalia, had a steady trade link with the Ancient Egyptians and exported precious natural resources such as myrrh, frankincense and gum.

Martin Schibbye

On July 1, 2011 Schibbye was arrested along with the Swedish photographer Johan Persson in Ethiopia suspected of terrorist crimes after they illegally entered the Ogaden region from Somalia in the company of ONLF guerrillas.

Mobile banking

In Somalia, the many telecom companies provide mobile banking, the most prominent being Hormuud Telecom and its ZAAD service.

Musa Sudi Yalahow

Yalahow is a relative of Ali Mahdi Muhammad, the interim president of Somalia after the outbreak of the civil war in 1991 and faction leader in northern Mogadishu.

National Intelligence and Security Agency

NISA was officially established in January 2013 by the new Somali Federal Government in place of the defunct National Security Service (NSS).

Nicholas Kay

In December 2013, following a parliamentary vote of confidence, Kay paid tribute to the outgoing Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon, noting that Shirdon had endeavoured to promote growth and progress and was an important principal in establishing the New Deal Compact between Somalia and its international partners.

Phyllocrania paradoxa

Phyllocrania paradoxa have a wide range across the African continent and its islands and can be found in Angola, South Europe, Cameroon, Cape Province, Congo basin, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Malawi, Madagascar, Mozambique, Namibia, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Transvaal, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

Puntland presidential election, 2014

He previously served as the Chief Executive Officer of Golis Telecom Somalia, the largest telecommunications firm in northeastern Somalia.

Qaitbay

Excavations in the late 1800s and early 1900s at over fourteen sites in the vicinity of Borama in modern-day northwestern Somalia unearthed, among other things, coins identified as having been derived from Qaitbay.

Regions of Somaliland

The following is a list of regions of Somaliland, a self-declared republic that is internationally recognized as an autonomous region of Somalia.

Siege of Baidoa

The Siege of Baidoa (July 2008 - January 2009) was a military confrontation in which the Al-Shabaab militia laid siege to the headquarters of the Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG).

Somali Bantu

To meet the demand for menial labor, black Africans from southeastern Africa captured by Arab slave traders were sold in cumulatively large numbers over the centuries to customers in Egypt, Arabia, the Persian Gulf, India, the Far East, the Indian Ocean islands, Ethiopia and Somalia.

Special Boarding Unit

It was announced recently by Yasukazu Hamada that the SBU will be possibly deployed for its first mission to Somalia to engage in anti-Somali piracy operations.

The Parching Winds of Somalia

The Parching Winds of Somalia features extensive location footage in Somalia, historical photographs, interviews, and contemporary Somali music.

Traveling library

A camel library service exists in Kenya which is funded by the Kenyan government and as a charity in Garissa and Wajir near the border with Somalia.

United Somali Parliamentarians

The United Somali Parliamentarians (USP) are a political party in Somalia founded on 25 October 2007 to support embattled Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Ghedi.

United States Navy Customs

From there, each company then heads to its base of operations, either at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, the Kuwait Naval Base, Camp Patriot, Ali Al Salem, and Camp Beuhring, Camp Virginia or they stay at ALSA for further training before deploying to Balad, Iraq or Afghanistan.

VMGR-152

In January 1995, VMGR-152 joined Special Purpose MAGTF in support of Operation United Shield, the final withdrawal of all UNOSOM forces from Somalia.

Youth empowerment

Youth empowerment is also a central tenet of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which every country in the world (minus the U.S. and Somalia) has signed into law.


see also