Somalia Channel and Indian Ocean to the east, and Ethiopia to the west. It lies between latitudes 2°S and 12°N, and longitudes 41° and 52°E. Strategically located at the mouth of the Bab el Mandeb gateway to the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, the country occupies the tip of a region that, due to its resemblance on the map to a rhinoceros' horn, is commonly referred to as the Horn of Africa. Somalia has the longest coastline on the mainland of Africa, with a seaboard that stretches . Its terrain consists mainly of plateaus, plains and highlands. The nation has
2009 timeline of the War in Somalia a four-party Islamist group called Hizbul Ismal leaving only Al Shabaab and foreign Mujahedeen as the enemies of the Transitional Government. From today, the government of Somalia will be run by Sharia law. In Somaliland an Islamic cleric aged 80 was killed in the capital of the semi-separatist region. Fighting in north-eastern province of Puntland resulted in the deaths of two militiamen and two civilians after two different clan militias fought it out in a small village. An Iman in the southern city of Gelkcayo was shot and killed by Al Shabaab gunmen. Al Shabaab militants attacked Au peacekeepers in