Editing Technical (vehicle) (section)

=== Somali Civil War ===
[[File:Mogadishu technical.jpg|thumb|A technical in [[Mogadishu]] at the time of the [[UNOSOM II]] mission]]
Technicals played an important role in the 1990s [[Somali Civil War]] and the [[War in Somalia (2006–2009)]]. Even prior to the collapse of the [[Somali Democratic Republic]], camouflaged Toyota pickup trucks with mounted M2 Browning machine guns appeared in Somali military parades in the 1980s. After the fall of the [[Siad Barre]] regime and the collapse of the [[Military of Somalia#Somali National Army (SNA) prior to 1991|Somali National Army (SNA)]], it was rare for any Somali force to field [[armored fighting vehicle]]s. However, technicals were very common.

In September 1995, Somali faction leader [[Mohamed Farrah Aidid]] used 30 technicals and a force of 600 militia to capture [[Baidoa]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Newsletters/HB91095_SOM.html |title="Aideed Forces Seize Somali City of Baidoa", Reuters, September 17, 1995 (copy hosted by |publisher=Africa.upenn.edu |access-date=July 6, 2011}}</ref> It was reported that after his death in 1996, his body was carried to his funeral on a [[Toyota]] pickup.<ref>[http://www.netnomad.com/aydiidbury.html "Somalis bury Aydiid] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061118055353/http://www.netnomad.com/aydiidbury.html |date=November 18, 2006 }}", Reuters, August 2, 1996 (copy hosted by netnomad.com).</ref>

In 2006, Proving their susceptibility to heavy weapons and their value as a military prize, the [[Islamic Courts Union]] (ICU) captured 30 "battlewagons" during the defeat of warlord [[Abdi Qeybdid]]'s militia in the [[Second Battle of Mogadishu]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5167766.stm |title="Somali Islamists win city battle", BBC News Online, 11 July 2006 |work=[[BBC News]] |date=July 11, 2006 |access-date=July 6, 2011}}</ref> That September, an impressive array of 130 technicals was used to take [[Kismayo]] from the forces of the [[Juba Valley Alliance]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=283959 |title=Content Not Found – Mail & Guardian |access-date=February 13, 2015}}</ref>

In November 2006, then President of [[Puntland]], General [[Mohamud Muse Hersi|Adde Musa]], personally led fifty technicals to [[Galkacyo]] to confront the Islamists. They were used a month later against the army of the Islamic Courts Union at the [[Battle of Bandiradley]] alongside [[Abdi Hasan Awale Qeybdiid|Abdi Qeybdiid's]] reconstituted militia.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.shabelle.net/news/ne1699.htm |title="Somalia: Puntland president deploys 50 battlewagons in Galkayo to avert Islamist fighters", ''Shabelle Media Network'', 13 November 2006 |publisher=Shabelle.net |date=November 3, 2010 |access-date=July 6, 2011 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927200641/http://www.shabelle.net/news/ne1699.htm |archive-date=September 27, 2007}}</ref>

Forced into conventional battles in the [[War in Somalia (2006–2009)]], the unarmored technicals of the ICU proved no match for the [[T-55]] tanks, [[Mil Mi-24]] helicopter gunships and fighter-bombers employed by [[Ethiopia]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2009}}