Military of Somalia

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Military of Somalia
Military manpower
Military age	Officially 18 years of age
Availability	males age 18-49: 1,787,727 (2005)
Fit for military service	males age 18-49: 1,022,360 (2005)
Reaching military age annually	males: n/a
Active troops	Est. 10,000 militia
Military expenditures
Dollar figure	$43.28 million (2005 extrapolation)
Percent of GDP	0.9% (2005)

The Somali National Army was, up until 1991, made up of the army, navy, air force, and air defense command. The Somali Government's demise led to the de facto dissolution of the national armed forces. Efforts by the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) to reestablish a regular armed force under the TFG Ministry of Defense have made little progress so far.

Various groups and factions control militias ranging in strength from hundreds to thousands. These militias are in general poorly trained and lightly armed, although some groups possess limited inventories of older armored vehicles and other heavy weapons and small arms are prevalent throughout Somalia. The Somaliland and Puntland regional governments maintain their own security and police forces.

An agreement between the TFG and the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) to establish a national military was reportedly reached "in principle" on September 5, 2006, but in practice, political disagreements scuttled talks scheduled for October 30 in Khartoum, Sudan.^[1][2] After the defeat of the ICU in December 2006–January 2007, an agreement was reached between the warlords and the government for the militias to be disarmed, and for former militia members to apply to join the army.

Contents 1 History 2 Somali National Army (SNA) prior to 1991 3 Air Defense Forces 4 Air Force 4.1 After Independence (1960-1969) 4.2 Soviet Influence (1969-1978) 4.3 The Ogaden War (1977 - 1978) 4.4 The Difficult Decade (1978-1991) 4.5 The End of the SAF (1991) 5 Navy 6 Somali Police force 7 Military Expenditures 8 Transitional National Government (TNG) Army (2000–2004) 9 Transitional Federal Government (TFG) Army 9.1 TFG Ministry of Defense 9.2 Military Commanders of the TFG 9.3 Estimated Militia Strengths 9.4 New Plans for the Somali Army 10 See also 11 References 12 Notes

[edit] History

Historically, Somali society accorded prestige to the warrior (waranle) and rewarded military prowess. Except for a man of religion (wadaad), and they were few in number, all Somali males were considered potential warriors. The SNA was battle-tested in 1964 when the conflict with Ethiopia over the Somali-inhabited Ogaden erupted into warfare. On June 16, 1963, Somali guerrillas started an insurgency at Hodayo, in eastern Ethiopia, a watering place north of Werder, after Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie rejected their demand for self-government in the Ogaden. The Somali government initially refused to support the guerrilla forces, which eventually numbered about 3,000. However, in January 1964, after Ethiopia sent reinforcements to the Ogaden, Somali forces launched ground and air attacks across the Ethiopian border and started providing assistance to the guerrillas. The EAF responded with punitive strikes across its southwestern frontier against Feerfeer, northeaast of Beledweyne, and Galcaio. On March 6, 1964, Somalia and Ethiopia agreed to a cease-fire; at the end of the month, the two sides signed an accord in Khartoum, Sudan, agreeing to withdraw their troops from the border, cease hostile propaganda, and start peace negotiations. Somalia also terminated its support of the guerrillas

[edit] Somali National Army (SNA) prior to 1991

The army was organised into 12 divisions which comprise of 4 tank brigades, 45 mechanized and infantry brigades, 4 commando brigades, surface-to-air missile brigade, 3 artillery brigades, 30 field battalions, and an air defense battalion.

The serviceability of the equipment is poor and status is unknown.

• Centurion main battle tanks
• M47 main battle tanks
• T-54/T-55 main battle tanks
• T-34 medium tanks
• M41 Walker Bulldog light tanks
• Panhard AML-90 armoured cars
• BRDM-2 reconnaissance vehicles
• BTR-40 and BTR-50 tracked armored personnel carriers
• BTR-60 and BTR-152 wheeled armored personnel carriers
• Fiat 6614/6616 armored personnel carriers
• BMR-600 armored personnel carriers
• BGM-71 TOW anti-tank guided missiles
• M198 155mm towed howitzers

[edit] Air Defense Forces

The Air Defense Forces consisted of 7 brigades.

The serviceability of the equipment is poor and status is unknown.

• SA-3 Goa surface-to-air missiles (not operational)
• SA-2 Guideline surface-to-air missiles (not operational)
• Strela 2 portable surface-to-air missiles (operational status unknown)
• P-12
• P-15 Termit - coastal defense surface to surface missiles
• P-30
• P-35

[edit] Air Force

[edit] After Independence (1960-1969)

The air force, or Somali Aeronautical Corps was established after independence, and was first equipped with small numbers of mostly old Western aircraft, such as the Beech 18, (possibly six) C-47 Dakotas for transport tasks, a few Piaggio P. 148s and P-51D Mustangs used as fighters, and a pair of Bell 47 Sioux helicopters. As with every air arm, the air force evolved along the lines off Somalian politics, and when on 21 of October 1969 Siad Barre took over power, ending the Igaal reign and proclaiming Somalia to be a socialist state, a rapid modernisation took place.

[edit] Soviet Influence (1969-1978)

In the beginning of the 1970s, Somalia and the USSR signed a friendship deal, which included the provision of a large number of modern weapons, advisors, training and maintenance. The air force expanded rapidly, and was at the time one of the most advanced in eastern Africa. The first squadron of jet fighters was equipped with the Mig-15 'Fagot' (Nato codename), along with some Mig-15UTI 'Midget' double seaters for conversional training. Also provided were small numbers of transport aircraft: An-2 Colt biplanes, An-24 Cokes, some Il-18 Coots and at least one An-26 'Curl'. Yak-11 'Moose' trainers and a few Mi-4 'Hound' piston-engined helicopters were also added to the inventory. The respected Il-28 'Beagle' was also rumored to have been in service, albeit in very small numbers. Later on, the Soviets sold more modern jets: a large number (at least two fully equipped squadrons) of Mig-17 'Fresco' subsonic jet fighters, and a smaller number of Mig-21F and Mig-21MF 'Fishbed' supersonic point defence fighters, and possibly twelve Mi-8 'Hip' turbine powered transport helicopters. The advanced Mig-23 is also rumoured to have visited Somalia in the seventies, but it is very unlikely they were actually in use by the Somali Aeronautical Corps, which by now had changed its name to Somali Air Force or SAF.

[edit] The Ogaden War (1977 - 1978)

During the 1970s the SAF or Somali air force had proven to be useful to suppress the many violent uprisings that took place in Somalia, but its achievements in a first 'real' war turned out to be a disappointment. Dreams of a 'Greater Somalia' and Somalian support of the WNLF-rebels, active inside the Ethiopian part of the Ogaden, led Siad Barre's regime to start an invasion of the Ethiopian Ogaden province, in 1977.

The territory had always been a disputed part of Ethiopia, and its mostly nomadic inhabitants were closely related to the Somalian people. Aided by more than 250 tanks and 300 armoured vehicles^{[citation needed]} (the largest armoured army in sub Saharic Africa at the time), some 23000 soldiers marched towards the west and at first brought allmost 90% of the Ogaden province under Somalian control.^{[citation needed]}

The SAF was ordered to protect the forces and to offer close air support on the battlefield. By this time however, Ethiopia itself had sought assistance of the Soviet Union, the latter being forced to drop Somalia as a client state because of the Ogaden war. The SAF, not only strongly reliant on Soviet equipment but moreover on Soviet assistance, training and maintenance (even some pilots), suffered badly from these recent political changes. At first it had at least been able to provide the army with close air support, but by the time the invasion was halted by the regrouping Ethiopian forces, the SAF lost momentum.

Worst of all, after the souring of Soviet-Somalian relations, Cuba had joined the Ethiopian efford to reclaim the Ogaden province, and modern Mil-24 'Hind' attack helicopters, flown by Cuban pilots, proved to be devastating to the old and relatively thin-armoured Somalian T-34 and T-54/55 tanks. The SAF was unable to stop the onslaught, and shortly after, the Somali army was defeated and driven out of the Ethiopian part of the Ogaden in the end of 1978. Tensions remained however, and some three years later the conflict rekindled for another round of Ethiopian-Somali bloodshed. By this time the SAF was degraded to the extent that it played almost no significant role in the area anymore.

[edit] The Difficult Decade (1978-1991)

After the loss of Soviet assistance, and the loss of equipment in the Ogaden, the SAF tried to maintain itself by getting help from other sources. First of all, relationships with the U.S. improved in the wake of the Cold War conflict in the Horn of Africa, and with Ethiopia getting a lot of Soviet military assistance, the SAF received in turn some American assistance as well, but not nearly enough to rebuilt the squadrons.

A Bell AB204B Iroquois and some AB206 Jet rangers and maybe a CH-47 Chinook were provided and a couple of unarmed Cessna trainers, but the SAF had to turn to other sources.

A lot of Italian equipment reached Somalia: three Douglas C-47s, at least two Aelitalia G.222L medium transport planes and some twelve SIAI SF. 260 Warriors light trainers/coin aircraft (six SF.260Ms, six SF.260Ws), "a few" Agusta-Bell AB.212s, plus three Piaggio P.166s.^[3]

China provided 40 F-6C 'Farmer' jet fighters (Chinese Mig-19 copies)^[4], and FT-6 double seat fighter trainers in 1983. Zimbabwean private contractors overhauled and repaired some Mig-21 jet fighters, and maybe a few Chinese F-7's 'Fishbed'(Mig-21 copies) fighters were provided.

Libya provided three Antonov An-26 transports and several Mil Mi-8 helicopters.

Also, Abu Dhabi gave 6 or 8 used Hawker Hunter FGA.76's ground attack fighters and one Hawker Hunter T.77 double-seat trainer, which were flown by South African and Rhodesian mercenaries, while the Zimbabwean repair crews provided their maintenance. New transport aircraft were also added from a number of western European sources: 6 C-212 Aviocars and some 4 BN-2 Islanders were acquired. In the 80s the SAF consisted of:

• one fighter squadron equipped with Mig-21s (or F-7s)
• two fighter squadrons equipped with some 20 remaining Mig-17s (spare parts from China F-5 or through cannibalization of grounded Mig-17s)
• one ground attack squadron equipped with the 7 or 9 (ex Abu-Dhabi) Hawker FGA.76 Hunters
• two ground attack/fighter squadrons equipped with some 20 Chinese F-6s
• one training/counter-insurgency squadron equipped with 12 SIAI SF.260 Warriors
• one helicopter squadron equipped with a mix of remaining Mil-4's, Mil-8's and western Agusta Bell AB 204B and AB 206 helicopters
• one transport squadron equipped with a mix of remaining An-2s and An-24s, and 6 new C-212 Aviocars and a few BN-2 Islanders.

The national carrier airline, Air Somalia, equipped with 5 Boeing 707s, could also provide some transport capacity.

However, due to the costs of the first and second ongoing Ogaden conflict, the worldwide economic problems, and some severe droughts in the Horn of Africa, the Somalian economy collapsed halfway the '80s and funding for the rather large air force dried up. Still the SAF managed to deploy some squadrons to fight rebels in the north of Somalia in the late '80s.

[edit] The End of the SAF (1991)

With the fall of the Siad Barre's regime in 1991, a civil war ignited and chaos roamed free in Somalia. Funding for any government activity, including the SAF, ended immediately, and the remains of the SAF were photographed in a derelict state at Mogadishu airport in 1993.

[edit] Navy

As of 1991, the navy was not operational. Prior to that, the Somali navy consisted of:

• Osa-II missile-armed fast attack craft (2)
• Mol PFT torpedo-armed fast attack craft (4)
• Polnocny class landing ship

[edit] Somali Police force

In 1960 the British Somaliland Scouts joined with the Police Corps of Somalia to form a new Somali Police Force, which consisted of about 3,700 men. The authorities also organized approximately 1,000 of the force as the Darawishta Poliska, a mobile group used to keep peace between warring clans in the interior. Since then, the government has considered the SPF a part of the armed forces. It was not a branch of the SNA, however, and did not operate under the army's command structure. Until abolished in 1976, the Ministry of Interior oversaw the force's national commandant and his central command. After that date, the SPF came under the control of the presidential adviser on security affairs.

Each of the country's administrative regions had a police commandant; other commissioned officers maintained law and order in the districts. After 1972 the police outside Mogadishu comprised northern and southern group commands, divisional commands (corresponding to the districts), station commands, and police posts. Regional governors and district commissioners commanded regional and district police elements.

Under the parliamentary regime, police received training and material aid from West Germany, Italy, and the United States. Although the government used the police to counterbalance the Soviet-supported army, no police commander opposed the 1969 army coup. During the 1970s, German Democratic Republic (East Germany) security advisers assisted the SPF. After relations with the West improved in the late 1970s, West German and Italian advisers again started training police units.

By the late 1970s, the SPF was carrying out an array of missions, including patrol work, traffic management, criminal investigation, intelligence gathering, and counterinsurgency. The elite mobile police groups consisted of the Darawishta and the Birmadka Poliska (Riot Unit). The Darawishta, a mobile unit that operated in remote areas and along the frontier, participated in the Ogaden War. The Birmadka acted as a crack unit for emergency action and provided honor guards for ceremonial functions.

In 1961 the SPF established an air wing, equipped with Cessna light aircraft and one Douglas DC-3. The unit operated from improvised landing fields near remote police posts. The wing provided assistance to field police units and to the Darawishta through the airlift of supplies and personnel and reconnaissance. During the final days of Siad Barre's regime, the air wing operated two Cessna light aircraft and two DO-28 Skyservants.

Technical and specialized police units included the Tributary Division, the Criminal Investigation Division (CID), the Traffic Division, a communications unit, and a training unit. The CID, which operated throughout the country, handled investigations, fingerprinting, criminal records, immigration matters, and passports.

In 1961 the SPF established a women's unit. Personnel assigned to this small unit investigated, inspected, and interrogated female offenders and victims. Policewomen also handled cases that involved female juvenile delinquents, ill or abandoned girls, prostitutes, and child beggars.

Service units of the Somali police included the Gadidka Poliska (Transport Department) and the Health Service. The Police Custodial Corps served as prison guards. In 1971 the SPF created a fifty-man national Fire Brigade. Initially, the Fire Brigade operated in Mogadishu. Later, however, it expanded its activities into other towns, including Chisimayu, Hargeysa, Berbera, Merca, Giohar, and Beledweyne.

Beginning in the early 1970s, police recruits had to be seventeen to twenty-five years of age, of high moral caliber, and physically fit. Upon completion of six months of training at the National Police Academy in Mogadishu, those who passed an examination would serve two years on the force. After the recruits completed this service, the police could request renewal of their contracts. Officer cadets underwent a nine-month training course that emphasized supervision of police field performance. Darawishta members attended a six-month tactical training course; Birmadka personnel received training in public order and riot control. After Siad Barre fled Mogadishu in January 1991, both the Darawishta and Birmadka forces ceased to operate, for all practical purposes. 20 December 2005 saw the opening of the first Police academy by Prime Minister Gedi in Armo 100 km south of Bosaso

[edit] Military Expenditures

Military spending in Somalia is difficult to calculate. Officially, there is a UN ban on weapon sales to the nation. However, weapons possession and open sale of AK-47s, is prevalent in Somalia.^[5] Besides the formal military of the Transitional Federal Government, there are armed forces of autonomous provinces, such as Puntland, private militias of warlords and clans, and personal stockpiles of arms. Open arms bazaars, such as in the Bakaara Market, sell small arms and light weapons, antiaircraft guns, rockets and missiles. Weapons trafficking to Somalia is illegal and done on the black market.^[6][7]

The following figures are CIA estimates of the economy and arms market in Somalia:

• GDP: $4.809 billion (2005 est.)^[8]
• Percent of GDP spent on military: 0.9% (2005 est.)^[8]
• Estimated expenditures: $43.28 million (gross calculation based on above figures)

[edit] Transitional National Government (TNG) Army (2000–2004)

Further information: Transitional National Government

The predecessor to the TFG was the Transitional National Government (TNG), which was national only in name. It had little control of the country, but had the recognition of the UN and international powers. It was militarily opposed by many factions in the Somali Civil War, notably the rival Somalia Reconciliation and Restoration Council (SRRC).

• Commander: General Ismail Qasim Naji, appointed in January 2002.^[9][10]
• Strength: The TNG army in March 2002 numbered 2,010 men and 90 women.^[11]

[edit] Transitional Federal Government (TFG) Army

[edit] TFG Ministry of Defense

Main article: TFG Ministry of Defense

Due to the Somali Civil War there is presently no single recognized national army of Somalia. The Transitional Federal Government (TFG) has its own forces reporting directly to the TFG Ministry of Defense.

There are also TFG-allied forces reporting to the semi-autonomous governments of Puntland, Southwestern Somalia, Jubaland (called the Juba Valley Alliance - JVA), and Galmudug, plus confederated tribes and independent warlords.

• The Islamic Courts Union (ICU) had competing forces comprised of different levels of professional soldiers, allied tribal militias, warlords, and mujahedeen.

• The de facto independent state of Somaliland also maintains its own army.

There is little formal order of the present TFG army. No strict Order of Battle has emerged. Units are mostly based on tribal militia or are the personal followers of warlords. Typical discussions of brigades, regiments and other formal structure are meaningless. Discipline is low, as forces join, defect, and abandon fighting on a common basis.^[12][13] However, a cadre of more professional soldiers has emerged, trained by Ethiopian advisors.^[14]

[edit] Military Commanders of the TFG

• General Abdulahi Ali Omar - Army chief-of-staff for the TFG appointed February 10, 2007^[15]
• General Ismail Qasim Naji - Army chief-of-staff for the TFG appointed in April 2005^[16] and replaced February 10, 2007 by Abdulahi Ali Omar^[15]; formerly military chief of the TNG 2002–2004^[9][10]; went on to become Ambassador to Oman
• Colonel Barre Adan Shire Hiiraale - Minister of Defense, former Colonel (commander) of the Juba Valley Alliance (see Rise of the Islamic Courts Union (2006) and Battle of Baidoa)
• General Cali Mohammad Hassan Looyaan - National Police Commander, and military commander of the autonomous state of Gedo Armed Forces
• Colonel Abdulahi Sheik Fara-Tag - was named as the commander of 2nd Brigade^[17], the TFG forces defending Bardhere from attack.^[18]
• Colonel Muktar Hussein Afrah - Commander of TFG forces in Beledweyne
• Colonel Aden Mahamud Ibrahim - Chief Commander of 1st Army Division, TFG forces
• Colonel Said "Dhere" Mohamed Hirsi - Led taking of Burkhaba from the ICU in October 2006 (see Battle of Baidoa)^[19]
• Ibrahim Batari - involved in fighting around Iidale, December 2006 (see Battle of Baidoa)^[20]
• Colonel Abdirisak Afgadud (alternately spelled Abdulrasaq Afgebub) - cited as a TFG military divisional commander, who claimed prematurely the TFG had prevailed at the Battle of Ras Kamboni: "Our forces accompanied by our Ethiopian friends have totally cracked down on the remnants of the Islamists in the border area."^[21][22]

[edit] Estimated Militia Strengths

Force estimates from 2004.^[23] Yet allegiances change rapidly in Somalia, and many warlords lost their power base after the Second Battle of Mogadishu and other actions during the Somali Civil War. Militias in Somalia have been known to recruit child soldiers.^[24]

Force	Commander	Strength	Center/Area	Notes
Juba Valley Alliance (JVA)	Col Abdikhadir Adan Shire "Barre Hiiraale"	8,000-15,000	Kismayo (capital), Juba Valley	Opposed to General "Morgan"; sought security/autonomy for Jubaland, now part of TFG
Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM), later part of the Somali Reconciliation and Restoration Council (SRRC)	Col. Mohamed Omar Jees	2,000 - 135,000	Southwest; Ogaden clan	Fought JVA and RRA for control of Kismayo, Bay and Bakool; Hersi was son-in-law of the late Siad Barre; opposed to TFG; backed by Ethiopia[25] and CIA[26] at least through 2001
Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism (ARPCT) and other Mogadishu warlords	Various, incl. Abdi Qeybdid, Mohamed Afrah Qanyare and Mohamed Dhere (see below)	~10,000 Afrah: 1,500+ plus 12+ technicals (2006)[27]	Mogadishu	Various clans; ARPCT was backed by CIA in early 2006[28]; defeated by the ICU in June, 2006; Abdi Qeybdid now leader in Galmudug, allied with TFG
Rahanweyn Resistance Army (RRA)	Hasan Muhammad Nur Shatigadud	5,000	Baidoa (capital), Bay and Bakool regions	Sought creation of Southwestern Somalia, took control of area of SRRC; RRA now aligned as part of TFG
Jowhar	Mohamed Omar Habeb "Mohamed Dhere"	5,000	Jowhar and Mogadishu	Main base was in Jowhar; now allied with TFG
Puntland	Mohamud Muse Hersi	120,000	Garowe (capital)	Sought autonomy for Puntland, now allied with TFG

[edit] New Plans for the Somali Army

Before the recent actions in the Somali Civil War, Somalia's new government had plans for an army of 30,000 men, with the first 6,000 to be funded and trained by Italian advisors, using a cadre training method: "One hundred and twenty foreign trainers will train 500 ex-Somalia Army soldiers, who will in their turn train the 6,000 men."^[23]

New official international plans for Somali army training are those endorsed through the December 6, 2006 United Nations Security Council-sanctioned mission known as IGASOM.^[29] This mission has the endorsement of the African Union, and the union of Horn of Africa nations known as IGAD. However, to date no IGASOM-sanctioned troops have arrived in Somalia to assist the TFG.

Beyond the scope of the UN provisions, Ethiopia admitted it provided military advisors to the nascent TFG even before the outbreak of the war on December 20, 2006, contraverting the Security Council's emphasis that according to the "IGAD Deployment Plan that those States that border Somalia would not deploy troops in Somalia." This limits the IGASOM mission eligibility to the nations of Uganda, Eritrea, and Sudan, since Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti (through the internationally unrecognized state of Somaliland) all border Somalia.

Even as the UNSC debated the motion to allow a lifting of the arms and training embargo on Somalia, Ethiopia publicly admitted its advisors were in Somalia, such as in this statement quoted at the time: "Ethiopia admitted it only has several hundred military advisors and trainers in Somalia to protect the impotent Somali government based in Baidoa, 250 km southwest of the capital."^[30]

Meanwhile, the ICU army was funded from a variety of alleged unofficial sources.

With the recent de facto state of affairs in Somalia, the future is unclear regarding international support and funding of the Somali military.

[edit] See also

• Somalia
• Somali Air Corps

[edit] References

• Somalia, 1980-1996 ACIG
• Somalia: Foreign Military Assistance SomaliNet
• Somali Hunters
• "Weapons at War", a World Policy Institute Issue Brief by William D. Hartung, , May 1995, chapter III: Strengthening Potential Adversaries (12th paragraph), Somalia.

[edit] Notes

This article contains material from the CIA World Factbook which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain.

-The history of the Somali air force contains information from several sources: 1. globalsecurity.com/ 2. worldairforces.com/ 3. airvectors.com/ 4.mylima.com/ 5. Icweb2.loc.gov ; country studies (political history) / plus several written sources; use maybe restricted.