Union of Islamic Courts

The Union of Islamic Courts ( Arabic اتحاد المحاكم الإسلامية ) is a Muslim rebel movement in Somalia . The formal leader of the grouping for a long time was the former school teacher of geography Sharif Ahmed , the former president of Somalia . Courts appeared in the mid -1990s on the basis of the Hawiye clan, the first being created in 1993 in the metropolitan area of ​​Medina ^[1] . According to some reports, the first Islamic court organized a former Somali military sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweis.

Union of Islamic Courts
somal Midowga Maxkamadaha Islaamiga Arab. اتحاد المحاكم الإسلامية
Ideology	Islamist terrorism , Sunnis , Islamism
Religious affiliation	Sunni
The leaders	Sharif Ahmed
Headquarters	Mogadishu
Active in	South and Central Somalia
Date of formation	mid 1990s
Date of dissolution	December 2006
Separated from	al-Itihad al-Islamia
Was reorganized into	Harakat Al-Shabab
Allies	Harakat Al-Shabab
Opponents	AMISOM
Conflict participation	Somali Civil War

Somalia Political Map for December 23, 2006: dark green indicates the territory of the Union of Islamic Courts during its maximum expansion.

Somalia's political map for January 2, 2007: dark green indicates the territory of the Union of Islamic Courts - a small area in the south of the country.

Appearing as an umbrella structure spontaneously arising at the places of the courts applying Sharia law, the Union quickly became a major fighting force. At the peak of his power, he consisted of 11 autonomous courts, which won the sympathy of the civilian population in the fight against atrocities, robberies, immorality and drug trafficking, for which draconian measures were used ^[2] . He first declared himself as an influential military-political force in 1999 , capturing the capital's market and a strategic road to the capital. The Union of Islamic Courts is a rare occurrence of a rebel movement from the judiciary and the formation of rebel groups around judicial institutions.

In 2006, as a result of conflicts with field commanders who controlled the capital, Mogadishu , and allied field commanders , the Union of Islamic Courts put the city under complete control, and from 5 June to 28 December 2006, controlled it, which was not possible one grouping since the late 80s . Further, the Courts extended their influence to the north and south of the city, and within the limits of their expansion zone, they completely stopped the practice of pirate raids on the ships passing by the coast of Somalia, operating at the same time with extremely cruel methods. ^[3] In December 2006, a movement that came into conflict with the “provisional government of Somalia” was defeated by the Ethiopian army that supported the latter, but the bulk of the militants went underground.

The main successor to the UIC was Al Shabab , who at some time controlled a significant part of southern and central Somalia , i.e. almost the entire territory controlled by ICU.

In early 2009, Sharif Ahmed , as a representative of the moderate current within the Courts, was elected President of Somalia, which somewhat reduced the intensity of the struggle.