Somali Civil War

Somali Civil War
Part of the conflicts in the Horn of Africa and the War on terror
Map of the current phase of the Somali Civil War (updated September 2023)   Somali government and Allies   Self-declared state of Somaliland   Al-Shabaab and Allies   Islamic State
Date 1981/1988/1991 (disputed) – present[nb 1] Location Somalia Result Ongoing 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
Belligerents
1980s–91: Somali Democratic Republic SNA	1980s–91: Armed rebel groups: USC SNM SSDF SPM
1992–95:  United Nations UNOSOM I Unified Task Force UNOSOM II	1992–95: USC SNA Al-Itihaad
2006: ARPCT	2006: Islamic Courts Union
2006–09:  Ethiopia Transitional Federal Government AMISOM  United States Allied armed groups: ARPCT Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a	2006–09: Islamic Courts Union Al-Shabaab Ras Kamboni Brigades Jabhatul Islamiya Muaskar Anole ARS
2009–present: Federal Government of Somalia AMISOM (until 2022) ATMIS (from 2022)  United States[1][2]	2009–present: Al-Qaeda Al-Shabaab Islamic State (from 2015)[3][4] Wilayat al Somal
Commanders and leaders
1980s–91: Mohammed Siad Barre Mohammad Ali Samatar Omar Haji Mohamed Hussein Sheikh Abdirahman 1992–95: Kurt Waldheim Javier Pérez de Cuéllar Boutros Boutros-Ghali 2006: Botan Ise Alin Mohamed Afrah Qanyare Musa Sudi Yalahow Nuur Daqle Abdi Hasan Awale Omar Finnish 2006–09: Girma Wolde-Giorgis Meles Zenawi Kuma Demeksa Siraj Fegessa Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed Francisco Caetano Jose Madeira Simon Mulongo Tigabu Yilma Wondlmhunean Augustine Magnus Kailie George W. Bush Donald Rumsfeld Robert Gates 2009–present: Francisco Caetano Jose Madeira Simon Mulongo Tigabu Yilma Wondlmhunean Augustine Magnus Kailie Mohamed El-Amine Souef Sam Okiding Hillary Sao Kanu Barack Obama Donald Trump Joe Biden Robert Gates Leon Panetta Chuck Hagel Ash Carter Jim Mattis Mark Esper Lloyd Austin	1980s–91: Mohamed Farrah Aidid Abdirahman Ahmed Ali Tuur Mohamed Abshir Muse Ahmed Omar Jess Shukri Weyrah Kaariye Gedi Ugas Madhar Aden Abdullahi Nur Mohammed Said Hersi Morgan 1992–95: Ali Mahdi Muhammad Mohamed Farrah Aidid Hassan Abdullah Hersi al-Turki Hassan Dahir Aweys 2006: Sharif Sheikh Ahmed 2006–09: Sharif Sheikh Ahmed Ahmed Abdi Godane Hassan Abdullah Hersi al-Turki Mohamed Ibrahim Hayle Mukhtar Abu Ali Aisha Mohamed Mire Sheikh Sharif Ahmed 2009–present Ahmad Diriye Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi Abu al-Hasan al-Hashimi al-Qurashi Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Qurash Abu Hafs al-Hashimi al-Qurashi
Casualties and losses
Casualties: 350,000–1,000,000+ killed[9][12][13] Displaced: 2,000,000–3,800,000 displaced[14][15]

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,^[16] including the Somali Salvation Democratic Front in the northeast,^[17] the Somali National Movement in the northwest,^[16] and the United Somali Congress in the south.^[18] The clan-based armed opposition groups overthrew the Barre government in 1991.^[19]

Various armed factions began competing for influence in the power vacuum and turmoil that followed, particularly in the south.^[20] In 1990–92, customary law temporarily collapsed,^[21] and factional fighting proliferated. In the absence of a central government, Somalia became a "failed state".^[22] 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 factions and UNOSOM II during 1993, the UN withdrew from Somalia in 1995.^[20] After the central government's collapse, there was some return to customary and religious law in most regions.^[23] In 1991 and 1998, two autonomous regional governments were also established in the northern part of the country.^[20] 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.^[24]

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,^[25] but the battle was of a much lower scale and intensity than in the early 1990s.^[24] 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,^[26] 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.^[27]

In October 2011, following preparatory meetings, Kenyan troops entered southern Somalia ("Operation Linda Nchi") to fight al-Shabaab^[28] and establish a buffer zone inside Somalia.^[29] Kenyan troops were formally integrated into the multinational force in February 2012.^[30] 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.^[31] International stakeholders and analysts subsequently began to describe Somalia as a "fragile state" that is making some progress toward stability.^{[32][33][34][35]}

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