Awal 2006, kubu Islam tersebut menguasai ibukota negeri itu, Mogadishu, dan sebagian besar Somalia serta mengepung kubu terakhir pemerintah peralihan yang lemah, Baidoa.
Earlier last year the Islamists took control of the capital Mogadishu and much of the country and were closing in on the weak transitional government's last stronghold at Baidoa.