Somali Civil War

Somali Civil War
	Part of Conflicts in the Horn of Africa, The Ethiopian-Somali conflict, War against the Islamic State, Operation Enduring Freedom – Horn of Africa, and Global War on Terrorism
	; ; Top: An abandoned Mogadishu street in 1993, shortly after the fall of the Siad Barre government ; Bottom: Approximate map of the current phase of the Somali Civil War (updated March 2025)[dubious – discuss] Somalia: Under control of the Federal Government of Somalia, Jubaland, Puntland, the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia, and the United States Jihadist groups: Under presence/control of Al-Qaeda backed Al-Shabaab and allies Under control of Islamic State backed Somalia Wilayah Somaliland: Under control of the self-declared state of Somaliland (For a more detailed map of the current military situation, see here)
Date	1981/1988/1991 (disputed) – present
Location	Somalia, with spillovers in Kenya and Ethiopia
Status	Ongoing Somaliland declares independence; Consolidation of states from 1998 to 2006; Ethiopian invasion against the Islamic Courts Union; Conflict between radical Islamists and the government continues; New government formed in 2012; Las Anod conflict between Somaliland and SSC-Khatumo begins in 2023; Ongoing Constitutional crisis in Somalia since 2023;
Belligerents
Commanders and leaders
Units involved
Strength
Casualties and losses
	Casualties:; 350,000–1,000,000+ killed (1991-2022); 50,000-200,000 killed in Isaaq genocide (1987-1989); 200,000-300,000 indirect deaths (1992); Displaced:; 2,000,000–3,800,000 displaced

The Somali Civil War (Somali: Dagaalkii Sokeeye ee Soomaaliya; Arabic: الحرب الأهلية الصومالية al-ḥarb al-’ahliyya aṣ-ṣūmāliyya) is an ongoing civil war that is taking place in Somalia. It grew out of resistance to the military junta which was led by Siad Barre during the 1980s. From 1988 to 1990, the Somali Armed Forces began engaging in combat against various armed rebel groups,^[112] including the Somali Salvation Democratic Front in the northeast,^[113] the Somali National Movement in the Somaliland War of Independence in the northwest,^[112] and the United Somali Congress in the south.^[114] The clan-based armed opposition groups overthrew the Barre government in 1991.^[115]

Various armed factions began competing for influence in the power vacuum and turmoil that followed, particularly in the south.^[116] In 1990–92, customary law temporarily collapsed,^[117] and factional fighting proliferated. In the absence of a central government, Somalia became a "failed state".^[118] This precipitated the arrival of UNOSOM I UN military observers in July 1992, followed by the larger UNITAF and UNOSOM II missions. Following an armed conflict between Somali insurgents and UNOSOM II troops during 1993, the UN withdrew from Somalia in 1995.^[116] After the central government's collapse and the withdrawal of UN forces, there was some return to customary and religious law in most regions.^[119]^[120] In 1991 and 1998, two autonomous regional governments were also established in the northern part of the country: Somaliland and Puntland.^[116] In the south Islamic Sharia courts began proliferating in response to lawlessness.^[121] This led to a relative decrease in the intensity of the fighting, with the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute removing Somalia from its list of major armed conflicts for 1997 and 1998.^[122]

In 2000, the Transitional National Government was established, followed by the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in 2004. The trend toward reduced conflict halted in 2005, and sustained and destructive conflict took place in the south in 2005–07,^[123] but the battle was of a much lower scale and intensity than in the early 1990s.^[122] In 2006, Ethiopian troops invaded Somalia to depose the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) and install the TFG. The ICU effectively disintegrated, and soon after a large scale insurgency began against the occupation as other Islamist groups formed and established themselves as independent actors. Most notably Al-Shabaab rose to prominence in this period,^[124] and has since been fighting the Somali government and the AU-mandated AMISOM peacekeeping force for control of the country. Somalia topped the annual Fragile States Index for six years from 2008 up to and including 2013.^[125]

In October 2011, following preparatory meetings, Kenyan troops entered southern Somalia ("Operation Linda Nchi") to fight al-Shabaab^[126] and establish a buffer zone inside Somalia.^[127] Kenyan troops were formally integrated into the multinational force in February 2012.^[128] The Federal Government of Somalia was established in August 2012, constituting the country's first permanent central government since the start of the civil war.^[129] In 2023, the Las Anod conflict broke out in the northern part of Somalia between SSC-Khatumo and the Somaliland Army.^[130] International stakeholders and analysts subsequently began to describe Somalia as a "fragile state" that is making some progress toward stability.^[131]^[132]^[133]^[134]

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^ "Somalia insurgents accuse Kenya over border security". Reuters. 8 March 2009. The group has been angry at Kenya since it helped capture Islamists trying to flee Ethiopian and Somali government troops in early 2007.
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^ Cite error: The named reference Sudan Trib-2006a was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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^
Multiple sources:
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^
Multiple sources:
- Fraser-Rahim, Muhammad (17 July 2020). "In Somalia, Iran Is Replicating Russia's Afghan Strategy". Foreign Policy. Archived from the original on 17 July 2020. Somali military officials maintain that Iran has been running secret operations to undermine the United States in Somalia, providing sophisticated weapons, improvised explosive100000 als used to make bombs. The military officials allege that Iran and its proxies are complicit in al-Shabab attacks on the U.S. military, Somali forces, and the African Union Mission in Somalia
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^
Multiple sources:
- Bashir, Hamdi (7 October 2020). "The Future of the Role of Iran's Quds Force in Africa". Emirates Policy Center. Archived from the original on 8 December 2022. The Quds Force has been working with agents and allies, such as Lebanon's Hezbollah and Somalia's Al-Shabaab, which are thought to have recently established relations with the Quds Force.
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^
Multiple sources:
- Ahmed, Guled (9 February 2021). "As Farmaajo digs in with Qatari backing, Somalia's election crisis grows worse". Middle East Institute. Archived from the original on 9 February 2021. Qatar has allegedly used al-Shabab to target groups it has identified as opposing its interests, including Somali politicians critical of Doha's role in the country and outside actors like the United Arab Emirates
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^
Multiple sources:..cx /
- Houreld, Katharine (10 November 2021). "Iranian-supplied arms smuggled from Yemen into Somalia, study says". Reuters. Archived from the original on 10 November 2021. Guns supplied by Iran to its Houthi allies in Yemen are being smuggled across the Gulf of Aden to Somalia, according to a Geneva-based think tank, where al Qaeda-linked al Shabab insurgents are battling a weak and divided government.
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^
UN sources:
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^ c.f. UCDP datasets Archived June 28, 2013, at the Wayback Machine for SNA, SRRC, USC, SNM, ARS/UIC and Al-Shabaab tolls.
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^ Ken Menkhaus, "Local Security Systems in Somali East Africa," Fragile States and Insecure People, 2007, 73.
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^ ^a ^b In 2007, Menkhaus wrote that 'armed conflict in Somalia has generally subsided since the early 1990s. Armed clashes continue to break out, but are nowhere near the scale and intensity of the fighting that destroyed Hargeisa in 1988–89 or Mogadishu in 1991–92.' Menkhaus, FSIP, 2007, 75.
^ Menkhaus 2007, op. cit., 76.
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[47] "The Growing Relationship between Iran and al-Shabab Movement in Somalia: Motives and Potential Consequences". Emirates Policy Center. Archived from the original on 8 December 2022. Retrieved 27 July 2020. For Iran, working with non-State actors such as Al-Shabaab and the Houthis is an essential part of its foreign policy, aimed at expanding its geopolitical influence throughout the region. Tehran has developed an unspoken alliance with Al-Shabaab with the aim of creating a covert intelligence network that will allow it to achieve its goals and support its interests in the Middle East and Africa.

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Part of a series on the
History of Somalia

Prehistory Laas Geel (3,500-2,500 BCE ) Land of Punt (2,500–1,500 BCE)
Ancient Macrobians Ancient Somali City-States (c. 1st century) Azania city-states (c. 1st century)
Middle Ages Sultanate of Ifat (940–1415) Adal Sultanate (1415–1577) Ajuran Sultanate (13th–17th c.) Sultanate of Mogadishu (13th–16th c.)
Early modern Sultanate of the Geledi (17th–1911) Isaaq Sultanate (1750–1884) Habr Yunis Sultanate (1769–1907) Hiraab Imamate (17th–1890) Khedivate's Somali Coast (1874–1884) Majeerteen Sultanate (18th–1924) Sultanate of Hobyo (1876–1926)
Colonial period (1884–1960) Italian Somaliland (1889–1941) British Somaliland (1888–1960) Dervish State (1895–1920) Trust Territory (1941–1960)
Modern Somalia (since 1960) Somali Republic (1960-1969) Mohamed Siad Barre regime (1969–1991) Somaliland independence (1981–1991) Interim Government (1991–1997) Transitional National Government (2000–2004) Transitional Federal Government (2004–2012) Federal Government (2012–)
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