Events in the year 2023 in Somalia.
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Ongoing – Somali Civil War (2009–present) (2023 timeline of the Somali Civil War); COVID-19 pandemic in Somalia
January
- 4 January – Mahas bombings: 35 people are killed and many others wounded by al-Shabaab jihadists in a double car bombing in Mahas District, Hiran.[1]
- 6 January
- Al-Shabaab gunmen storm a village in Hirshabelle State, killing at least six people. The village was captured from al-Shabab the previous week.[2]
- At least 20 people are killed and many more injured during an ambush by al-Shabaab insurgents at a government base at the Hilowle Gaab village.[3]
- 16 January
- 17 January – Seven soldiers, including a commander, are killed when al-Shabaab terrorists attack a base in Hawadley with a suicide car bomb and gunmen.[6]
- 22 January – Five civilians and six al-Shabaab terrorists were killed during a siege of a compound housing the Mogadishu's mayor's office and other local government facilities.[7]
- 26 January – A U.S. military raid in northern Somalia kills senior Islamic State member Bilal al-Sudani and ten other insurgents. No U.S. military casualties are reported in the operation, which was ordered by U.S. President Joe Biden.[8]
June
- 10 June
- 2023 Mogadishu hotel attack: Six civilians and three soldiers are killed and ten others are injured by al-Shabaab at a hotel in Lido Beach, Mogadishu. All seven attackers are also killed.[14]
- At least 27 people died, most children, and 53 were injured after remnants of an old bomb exploded in the Murale village in the Janaale area of the eastern Lower Shabelle region.[15]
- 20 June
- Brig-Gen Mohydin is appointed as the Chief of the defense force Somali National Army (SNA), replacing Maj- Gen Odowa Yusuf Rage.[16]
- At least 26 people died, 16 of them soldiers, and 30 others wounded after heavy fighting broke out in Puntland. This is after the Puntland parliament voted for a one-man-one vote election with multiple political parties.[17]
August
- 1 August – Nasra Ali Abukar, 18, a Somali female university student known for her participation in the 100-meter race at the XXXI FISU World University Games in Chengdu, China, where she came last. Her remarkably poor result and perceived lack of athleticism caused international outrage and accusations of nepotism when she was found out to have family ties with the chair of the Somali Athletics Committee.[19]
- 11 August – Twenty soldiers including the leader of the Rapid Response Unit (RRU) were killed and several others injured after a war broke out between Somaliland forces and the Gacan Libah paramilitary forces in the northwestern region.[20]
October
- 19 October – Khatumo is reestablished as one of the federal states of Somalia by the Somali government.[22]
November
- 6 November – At least 53 people in Somalia are killed during floods caused by significant rainfall. Thousands of homes, bridges and roads are destroyed and over half a million are displaced.[23][24]
- 26 January – Bilal al-Sudani, terrorist, military raid.[29]
- 5 April – Ismail Mahmud Hurre, 80, politician, minister of foreign affairs (2000–2002, 2006–2007).[30]
- 16 August – Abwan Jama Kadiye, 73, poet and writer, mortar shelling.[31]
- 20 December — Khadijo Mohamed Diriye, 74, politician, from 2001 to 2023. Minister of Women and Human Rights (twice), Minister of Youth and Sports, Minister of Humanitarianism.[32]