On April 27, 1996, the faction of the United Somali Congress/Somali National Army (USC/SNA) which supported Atto decided on a programme to enforce sharia (Islamic court and laws) in southern Mogadishu, where Atto's forces were trying to impose control. A committee was nominated to prepare the installation of Islamic courts, and an appeal was issued to Islamic leaders to decide on the religious personalities most suited to head these courts. Islamic courts were already in place in the northern part of Mogadishu controlled by Ali Mahdi Mohammed, Atto's new ally. The U.S. Department of State asserted, in its Country Report for Somalia for the year 2000, that the killing of Yusuf Tallan, a former general under the Barre regime, was connected to Atto. The report did not provide specific corroboration for the assertion. According to the UNHCR, Atto was responsible for an attack on July 26, 2000, in which about fifty militiamen in heavily armed vehicles attacked the Mogadishu compound of the NGO Action Internationale contre la Faim (ACF), in which two international staff members (French administrator Francoise Deutsch, and British logistician Jonathan Ward) were taken hostage. They were released after the International Committee of the Red Cross intervened on their behalf.