In December 2006, after the Fall of Mogadishu, much of the ICU forces began a retreat towards Kismayo. But when the Battle of Jilib began on December 31, 2006, clan elders within Kismayo demanded the ICU leave the city. Mohammed Arab, a clan leader said "We told them that they were going to lose, and that our city would get destroyed."[3] After the ICU refused, sporadic gun battles broke out between the local clans and the ICU.