Джибути Қарулы Күштерінің Тарихы мен Қазіргі Күні

Military force of Djibouti

The Djibouti Armed Forces (DJAF; , الجيش الجيبوتي, ) are the military forces of Djibouti. They consist of the Djiboutian National Army and its sub branches the Djiboutian Air Force and Djiboutian Navy. As of 2018, the Djibouti Armed Forces consists of 20,470 (2018 est.) ground troops, which are divided into several regiments and battalions garrisoned in various areas throughout the country. The Djibouti Armed Forces are an important player in the Bab el Mandeb and Red Sea. In 2015 General Zakaria Chiek Imbrahim was chief d'etat major general (chief of staff) of the Forces Armees Djiboutiennes. He assumed command in November 2013. Djibouti has always been a very active member in the African Union and the Arab League.

Historically, Somali society accorded prestige to the warrior (waranle) and rewarded military prowess. Except for men of religion (wadaad), who were few in number, all Somali males were considered potential warriors. Djibouti's many Sultanates each maintained regular troops. In the early Middle Ages, the conquest of Shewa by the Ifat Sultanate ignited a rivalry for supremacy with the Solomonic Dynasty. Many similar battles were fought between the succeeding Sultanate of Adal and the Solomonids, with both sides achieving victory and suffering defeat. During the protracted Ethiopian Adal War (1529–1559), Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al Ghazi defeated several Ethiopian Emperors and embarked on a conquest referred to as the Futuh Al Habash ("Conquest of Abyssinia"), which brought three quarters of Christian Abyssinia under the power of the Muslim Adal Sultanate. Al Ghazi's forces and their Ottoman allies came close to extinguishing the ancient Ethiopian kingdom, but the Abyssinians managed to secure the assistance of Cristóvão da Gama's Portuguese troops and maintain their domain's autonomy. However, both polities in the process exhausted their resources and manpower, which resulted in the contraction of both powers and changed regional dynamics for centuries to come.

The 1st Battalion of Somali Skirmishers, formed in 1915 from recruits from the French Somali Coast, was a unit belonging to the French Colonial Army. They distinguished himself during the First World War, notably during the resumption of Fort Douaumont, Battle of Verdun in October 1916 alongside the Régiment d'infanterie chars de marine and the Second Battle of the Aisne in October 1917. In May and June 1918, they took part in the Third Battle Of The Aisne and in July in the Second Battle of the Marne. In August and September 1918, the Somali battalion fought on the Oise front and in October 1918 he obtained his second citation to the order of the army as well as the right to wear a Fourragère in the colors of the ribbon of the Croix de guerre 1914–1918. Between 1915 and 1918, over 2,088 Djiboutians served as combat in the First World War. Their losses are estimated at 517 killed and 1,000 to 1,200 injured.

During the Italian invasion and occupation of Ethiopia in the mid 1930s and during the early stages of World War II, constant border skirmishes occurred between the forces in French Somaliland and the forces in Italian East Africa. After the fall of France in 1940, French Somaliland declared loyalty to Vichy France. The colony remained loyal to Vichy France during the East African Campaign but stayed out of that conflict. British forces in Ethiopia begin dropping leaflets calling on the French Somaliland to rally to Free France. The newspaper Djibouti Libre published in Dire Dawa is also air dropped into the Vichy controlled colony and a 15 minute newscast is broadcast over the radio. In 1942: Vichy recalls Governor Pierre Nouailhetas after his superiors decide that he is in too close contact with the British. Nouailhetas delegates his authority to the military commander General Truffert. Two battalions, accompanied by civilians, leave Djibouti to join the British forces in British Somaliland. General Truffert is forced to resign and cede power to his adjutant General Dupont after a great majority of Djibouti’s military and civil administrators threaten to leave for British held Somaliland. This lasted until December 1942. By that time, the Italians had been defeated and the French colony was isolated by a British blockade. Free French and Allied forces recaptured the colony's capital of Djibouti at the end of 1942. A local battalion of Somali skirmishers to participate in the battles for the liberation of France, it participated in particular in the fighting at Pointe de Grave in April 1945. On April 22, 1945, General de Gaulle awarded the Somali battalion a citation to the army and decorated the battalion's pennant in Soulac sur Mer. The Somali battalion was dissolved on June 25, 1946.

The Ogaden War (13 July 1977 – 15 March 1978) was a conflict fought between the Ethiopian government and Somali government. The Djibouti government supported Somalia with military intelligence. In a notable illustration of the nature of Cold War alliances, the Soviet Union switched from supplying aid to Somalia to supporting Ethiopia, which had previously been backed by the United States. This in turn prompted the U. S. to later start supporting Somalia. The war ended when Somali forces retreated back across the border and a truce was declared.

In the 27 May to June 13, 1991, the Djiboutian Armed Forces and FFDJ participated in Operation Godoria. The President of the Djiboutian Republic, Hassan Gouled Aptidon described this as a "invasion". At the end of May 1991, the collapse of the Ethiopian regime the Assab loyalist division. Crossed the border at dawn, cornered on the northern border of Djibouti, Assab's division, 9,000 strong, crossed the Djiboutian Ethiopian border with arms and luggage and headed towards Obock. Simultaneously, another division crossed the Western border and moved towards Dikhil. This violation of the borders by a regular foreign army falls strictly within the framework of the protocols passed between France and Djibouti. This is why, on May 26 at 10:30 p. m., Operation Godoria is launched, all Djiboutian and French forces, land, air and sea stationed in Djibouti participate in it. Djiboutian Army, prohibit Ethiopian troops from surging towards the south. Djiboutian and French troops deployed, facing the firmness of their interlocutors, the Ethiopian officers yielded to the demands and agreed to continue the disarmament already begun. The 5th Overseas Interarms Regiment took charge of a detachment of 4,300 military refugees, accompanied by a few families and embarked in 120 vehicles of all types heading towards the southern border. The initial aim is to clean up a border area of 150 km2, collect, remove supplies, inventory and hand over abandoned weapons to the Djiboutian authorities. The "Lynx Mike" detachment identifies thousands of individual and collective weapons, includes the T 55, ZU 23 2,BTR and BRDM, finally destroys the 50 tons of unpackaged ammunition of all calibers. From May 30 to June 13, there will be a total of 12,500 weapons from the AK47 to the T64, including LRMs, 122 howitzers and more than 200 tons of ammunition from the 200 kg bomb to the cartridge factory, via rockets LRM which will have been moved, sorted, stored, even for some of them neutralized or destroyed. Djibouti deployed troops to Somalia to fight Al Shabaab forces and Al Qaeda operatives, with the hopes of dismantling both groups to support the transitional governmental structures, implement a national security plan, train the Somali security forces, and to assist in creating a secure environment for the delivery of humanitarian aid. Djibouti's responsibilities include providing security in Hiran and Galguduud regions. As of 2013, the Djibouti Armed Forces (DJAF) are composed of three branches: the Djibouti National Army, which consists of the Coastal Navy, the Djiboutian Air Force (Force Aerienne Djiboutienne, FAD), and the National Gendarmerie (GN). The Army is by far the largest, followed by the Air Force and Navy. The Commander in Chief of the DJAF is the President of Djibouti and the Minister of Defence oversees the DJAF on a day to day basis.

The Djiboutian Navy (DN) is the naval service branch of the Djibouti Armed Forces. The force was launched two years after Djibouti gained its independence in 1977. It is responsible for securing Djibouti's territorial waters and seaboard as well as supporting army operations. The primary objective of the navy is to safeguard the nation's maritime borders, act to deter or defeat any threats or aggression against the territory, people or maritime interests of Djibouti, both in war and peace. Through joint exercises and humanitarian missions, including disaster relief, the Djiboutian Navy promotes bilateral relations between nations. It has a fleet of gunboats, fast missile boats and support, training, which can be deployed to defend the territorial waters and coastline of Djibouti as well as protect tankers passing through the Bab el Mandeb strait. The acquisition of the several boats from the US in 2006 considerably increased the navy's ability to patrol over longer distances and to remain at sea for several days at a time. Cooperation with the US and Yemeni navies is also increasing in an effort to protect and maintain the safety and security of the Sea Lanes of Communication (SLOC). The Navy is upgrading itself with the following technological developments.

The Djiboutian Coast Guard (DCG) ( GCD), is the coast guard of Djibouti is a division of the Djiboutian Navy responsible for protecting the interests of the Republic of Djibouti at sea. Formed in 2011, the coast guard is tasked with such as illegal fishing and exploitation of natural resources, search and rescue (SAR), protection of ecology, fishing, marine pollution, ballast waters, combat against terrorism, trafficking of people, narcotics, and similar. Like many other coast guards, it is a paramilitary organization that can support the Djiboutian Navy in wartime, but resides under separate civilian control in times of peace. The Coast Guard monitor vessels sailing in the Djiboutian territorial waters. The Djiboutian Coast Guard intercepted refugee and migrant boats travelling across the Bab el Mandeb.

The Djiboutian Air Force (DAF) (French: Force Aérienne du Djibouti (FADD) was established as part of the Djibouti Armed Forces after the country obtained its independence on June 27, 1977. Its first aircraft included three Nord N.2501 Noratlas transport aircraft and an Alouette II helicopter presented to it by the French. In 1982, the Djibouti Air Force was augmented by two Aerospatiale AS.355F Ecureuil 2 helicopters and a Cessna U206G Stationair, this was followed in 1985 by a Cessna 402C Utiliner. In 1985, the Alouette II was withdrawn from use and put on display at Ambouli Air Base at Djibouti's airport. In 1987, the three N.2501 Noratlas were also retired and subsequently returned to France. New equipment came, in 1991, in the form of a Cessna 208 Caravan, followed by Russian types in the early nineties. These included four Mil Mi 2, six Mil Mi 8 and two Mil Mi 17 helicopters and a single Antonov An 28 light transport aircraft. Pilot training for the 360 men of the DAF, if necessary, is conducted in France with continued on type flight training at home. The DAF has no units of its own and forms in whole a part of the Army, its sole base is Ambouli.

Djibouti first UN Peacekeeping mission was in 1994, when it deployed uniformed personnel to the UN Mission in Haiti (UNMIH) and the UN Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR). Djibouti UN peacekeeping mission in the Darfur, Sudan in 2010, withdrew their personnel from Sudan on the 30 June 2021. Djibouti has committed to strengthening international action through the African Union to achieve collective security and uphold the goals enshrined in the Purposes and Principles of the UN Charter and the Constitutive Act of the African Union. Deployed in 3 countries in Somalia, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Central African Republic. The table below shows the current deployment of Djiboutian Forces in UN Peacekeeping missions. Name of Operation Location Conflict ContributionUnited Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC)Democratic Republic of Congo Second Congo War35 Troops. United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA)Central African Republic Central African Republic Civil War195 Troops. African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS)Federal Republic of Somalia Somali Civil War3,500 Troops.

France's 5e RIAOM are currently stationed in Djibouti.

The Italian Base Militare Nazionale di Supporto (National Support Military Base) is capable to host 300 troops and some UAVs.

There is also Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa, a U. S. force of more than 3,500, currently deployed in the country at Camp Lemonnier.

The Japan Self Defense Force Base Djibouti was established in 2011.

The Chinese naval support base in Djibouti began construction in 2016 and was officially opened in 2017.