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Military of the Federal Republic of Somalia

The Somali Armed Forces are the military forces of the Federal Republic of Somalia. Headed by the president as commander in chief, they are constitutionally mandated to ensure the nation's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity. In 1990 the Armed Forces were made up of the Army, Air Force, Air Defence Force, and Navy. From the early 1960s to 1977, the period
when good relations existed between Somalia and the Soviet Union, the Armed Forces had the largest armored and mechanized force in sub Saharan Africa. Due to Barre's increasing reliance on his own clan, splitting the Armed Forces along clan lines, and the Somali Rebellion, by 1988 they began to disintegrate. By the time President Siad Barre fled Mogadishu in January 1991, the last cohesive army grouping, the 'Red Berets,' had deteriorated into a clan militia. An unsteady rebuilding process began after 2000, and gained pace after the Djibouti Agreement of 2008. The northeastern region of Puntland maintains its own separate military forces.

Historically, Somali society conferred distinction upon warriors (waranle) and rewarded military acumen. All Somali males were regarded as potential soldiers, except for men of religion. Somalia'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 Ibrahim 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. Many historians trace the origins of hostility between Somalia and Ethiopia to this war. Some scholars also argue that this conflict proved, through their use on both sides, the value of firearms such as the matchlock musket, cannons and the arquebus over traditional weapons. At the turn of the 20th century, the Majeerteen Sultanate, Sultanate of Hobyo, Warsangali Sultanate and Dervish State employed cavalry in their battles against the imperialist European powers during the Campaign of the Sultanates. In Italian Somaliland, eight "Arab Somali" infantry battalions, the Ascari, and several irregular units of Italian officered dubats were established. These units served as frontier guards and police. There were also Somali artillery and zaptié (carabinieri) units forming part of the Italian Royal Corps of Colonial Troops from 1889 to 1941. Between 1911 and 1912, over 1,000 Somalis from Mogadishu served as combat units along with Eritrean and Italian soldiers in the Italo Turkish War. Most of the troops stationed never returned home until they were transferred back to Italian Somaliland in preparation for the invasion of Ethiopia in 1935. In 1914, the Somaliland Camel Corps was formed in British Somaliland and saw service before, during, and after the Italian invasion of the territory during World War II.

Some of the militias that were then competing for power saw UNOSOM's presence as a threat to their hegemony. Consequently, gun battles took place in Mogadishu between local gunmen and peacekeepers. Among these was the Battle of Mogadishu in October 1993, part of an unsuccessful operation by U. S. troops to apprehend Somali National Alliance faction leader Mohamed Farrah Aidid. UN soldiers eventually withdrew altogether from the country on March 3, 1995, having incurred more significant casualties. After UNOSOM II's departure in March 1995, military clashes between local factions became shorter, generally less intense, and more localized. This was in part due to the large scale UN military intervention that had helped to curb the intense fighting between the major factions, who then began to focus on consolidating gains that they had made. The local peace and reconciliation initiatives that had been undertaken in the south central part of the country between 1993 and 1995 also generally had a positive impact.

The Federal Government of Somalia was established in August/September 2012. On 6 March 2013, United Nations Security Council Resolution 2093 was passed. The resolution lifted the purchase ban on light weapons for a provisional period of one year, but retained restrictions on the procurement of heavy arms such as surface to air missiles and artillery. On 13 March 2013, Dahir Adan Elmi was appointed Chief of Army at a transfer ceremony in Mogadishu, where he replaced Abdulkadir Sheikh Dini. Abdirizak Khalif Elmi was appointed as Elmi's new Deputy Chief of Army. In August 2013, Federal Government of Somalia officials and Jubaland regional representatives signed an agreement in Addis Ababa. All Jubaland security personnel (principally the Ras Kamboni Brigades) would be integrated into the Somali National Army. This did not occur. No SNA force was established in the Juba Valley area until July 2015. In November 2013, the United Nations Support Office for AMISOM (UNSOA) was directed to support the SNA. They were to better supply a force of 10,900 Somalis to participate in joint operations with AMISOM against al Shabaab. SNA personnel would initially be trained by AMISOM. When specific UN requirements were passed, including Human Rights and Due Diligence training, approved SNA personnel would begin to receive food, shelter, fuel, water and medical support. In February 2014, EUTM Somalia began its first "Train the Trainers" programme at the Jazeera Training Camp in Mogadishu. 60 Somali National Army soldiers that had been previously trained by EUTM in Uganda would take part in a four week refresher course on infantry techniques and procedures, including international humanitarian law and military ethics. The training would be conducted by 16 EU trainers. Following the course's completion, the Somali soldiers would be qualified as instructors to then train SNA recruits, with mentoring provided by EUTM Somalia personnel. A team of EUTM Somalia advisors also started offering strategic advice to the Somali Ministry of Defence and General Staff. In early March 2014, Somali security forces and AMISOM troops launched another operation against Al Shabaab. According to Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed, the government subsequently launched stabilization efforts in the newly liberated areas, which included Rab Dhuure, Hudur, Wajid and Burdhubo. However, there were continuing concerns that not enough was being done to revitalise and secure the newly liberated areas. By 26 March, ten towns within the month had been liberated, including Qoryoley and El Buur. UN Special Representative for Somalia Nicholas Kay described the military advance as the most significant and geographically extensive offensive since AU troops began operations in 2007. In July 2014, the governments of the United States and France announced that they would start providing training to the SNA. According to U. S. Defense Department officials, American military advisers are also stationed in Somalia. In August 2014, the Somali government launched Operation Indian Ocean. On 1 September 2014, a U. S. drone strike killed Al Shabaab leader Moktar Ali Zubeyr. U. S. authorities hailed the raid as a major symbolic and operational loss for Al Shabaab, and the Somali government offered a 45 day amnesty to all moderate members of the militant group. In September 2014, 20 Somali federal soldiers began training courses in Djibouti. In October 2014, Federal Government officials signed an agreement with Puntland, which said that the Federal and Puntland authorities would work to form an integrated national army. In April 2015, another bilateral treaty stipulated that Puntland would contribute 3,000 troops to the Somali National Army. This did not occur, and FGS forces and Puntland forces remain separate. In March 2015, the Federal Cabinet agreed to establish a new commission to nationalize and integrate security forces. In April 2015, the Commission on Regional Militia Integration presented its plan for the formal integration of regional forces.

In September 2011, President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed laid the foundation for a new military camp in the Jazeera District of Mogadishu. The $3.2 million construction project was funded by the EU and was expected to take six months to complete. In June 2013, Egyptian engineers arrived to build new headquarters for the Somalia Ministry of Defence. In February 2014, it was announced that Somalia had held military training inside the country for the first time (since the late 1980s). Chief of Staff Brigadier General Elmi said that there were "some hospitals that have a special agreement with the government where the injured soldiers are admitted, but there is no hospital that is strictly for the armed forces. There is a hospital that used to belong to the military, but it needs funding to operate." In May 2015, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud officially opened a new training camp in Mogadishu. Construction began in 2014 in conjunction with the government of the United Arab Emirates. Situated in the Hodan district, it was one of several new military training sites in the country.

In April 2011, 1,000 recruits completed training in Uganda as a part of the agreement with the EU destined for the newly forming Brigades 4, Brigade 5 and Brigade 6. With a post training drop out rate of around 10%, the vast majority of the EUTM trainees continued to serve in the SNA after their period abroad. Brigades 5 and 6 have fought against Al Shabaab including in Mogadishu and Afgoye. In 2013, divisions, effectively serving as area commands, began to be reformed: initially Division 60 at Baidoa (1 July 2013), later joined by Division 21 at Dhusamareb (30 August 2013). In the Kismayo/Jubaland area, after Ahmed Madobe had established himself, commanders from the Mogadishu area were somewhat isolated by differing clan connections. Yet they were technically heads of SNA Division 43 (Somalia): in reality more of a "paper" area command than a division. Then on 27 July 2015 a swearing in ceremony took place for 1,517 new SNA fighters from Lower Juba and Kismayo, and they formed multi clan battalions. Very little support or even no support was provided to this group, located at the old Kismayo Airport, in the twelve months to February 2016. By January 2016 it appeared that up to 500 had drifted away, dropping out of the integration process. Also established by 2014 was Division "12 April", supervising Somali troops in the areas of AMISOM Sectors 1 and 5 around Mogadishu. In March 2013 there were technically six brigades around Mogadishu, but their motivation to fight al Shabaab in an organised fashion, as opposed to operating as clan militia, was doubtful. The six brigades were as of July 2013 largely composed of officers from various Hawiye sub clans, with some Marehan Darod and minorities also present. Five brigades primarily consisted of Abgaal, Murosade and Hawadle soldiers. Brigade 3 over the same period comprised 840 fighters, most of whom belong to the Hawiye Habar Gidir/Ayr clan. The brigade was around 30% to 50% smaller in size than the other five brigades in the wider Mogadishu area. Led by General Mohamed Roble Jimale 'Gobale,' it occupied areas in Lower Shabelle, including Merka, and along the Afgoye corridor. The UN Monitoring Group reported that many Brigade 3 fighters had been drawn from militias controlled by Yusuf Mohamed Siyaad 'Indha Adde', a close associate of Jimale and the former Eritrean backed chief of defence for the Alliance for the Re liberation of Somalia Asmara. Gobale was killed in a suspected Al Shabaab attack on 18 September 2016. Brigade 3's primary focus became "the domination of the valuable riverine land and its businesses for financial gain. In the process, the local people, often from minority clans such as the Biimaal, were constantly oppressed, with numerous atrocities committed," including arbitrary torture of civilians. In February 2014 Chief of Staff Elmi said that a new biometric registration system had been created for the SAF, whereby each person would be photographed and fingerprinted. 13,829 SNA soldiers and 5,134 Somali Police Force officials were biometrically registered in the system as of May 2015. As of May–June 2014, numbers were reportedly estimated at 20,000 (including around 1,500 female). In February 2014, the Federal Government concluded a six month training course for the first Commandos, Danab (Somali: "Lightning"), since 1991. Training was carried out by Bancroft Global Development, a U. S. private military contractor, paid by AMISOM which is then reimbursed by the U. S. State Department. The aim was to create a mixed clan unit. The Danab unit was established at Baledogle Airfield, in Walaweyn District, Lower Shabelle.

In February 2012, Somali Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali and Italian Defence Minister Gianpaolo Di Paola agreed that Italy would assist the Somali Armed Forces as part of the National Security and Stabilization Plan. In November 2014, the Federal Parliament approved a new defense and cooperation treaty with Italy. The agreement included training and equipping of the army by Italy. In November 2014, Somalia signed a military cooperation agreement with the United Arab Emirates. Somalia signed military cooperation agreements with Turkey in May 2010, February 2014, and January 2015. In early 2016 another agreement was signed to open Camp TURKSOM in Mogadishu, at which Turkish Armed Forces officers were to train Somali recruits. Over 1,500 Somalis were to be trained by 200 Turkish personnel. A military school in Somalia to train officers was also planned.

In January 2021, the families of 370 Somali soldiers who were sent to Eritrea for training began protesting in Mogadishu, due to loss of contact with their relatives since November 2019. The parents of the soldiers called on President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed "Faarmajo" to give them information as to their sons' whereabouts after the former deputy of Somalia's National Intelligence and Security Agency Abdisalan Yusuf Guled claimed the soldiers have died fighting in the Tigray region of Ethiopia. Mohamed's office has denied the claim. A parliamentary committee, the foreign affairs and defense committee, has demanded an explanation from President Farmaajo calling on him to dispatch a fact finding mission to Asmara for an investigation into the disappearances. On May 23, 2022, the last day of his presidency, Farmajo confirmed that 5,000 soldiers have concluded their training in Eritrea in mid 2021, saying that their return was delayed because of the (s)election process.

Among firearms associated with the Somali National Army and reported by Jane's Infantry Weapons 2009/10 were Soviet TT pistols, British Sterling submachine guns; Heckler & Koch G3 and Belgian FN FAL assault rifles, U. S. M14 rifles,
Soviet RPD machine guns; Soviet RPK machine guns; Soviet RP 46 machine guns; French AA 52 machine guns; Belgian FN MAG machine guns; Soviet DShK heavy machine guns; U. S. M2 Browning .50 cal heavy machine guns; and U. S. M79 grenade launchers and Soviet RPG 2 grenade launchers. In May 2012, over thirty three vehicles were donated by the U. S. government to the SNA. The vehicles include 16 Magirus trucks, 4 Hilux pickups, 6 Land Cruiser pickups, 1 water tanker, and 6 water trailers. On 9 April 2013, the U. S. government approved the provision of defense articles and services by the American authorities to the Somali Federal Government. It handed over 15 vehicles to the new Commandos in March 2014. In April 2013, Djibouti presented the SNA with 15 armoured military vehicles. The equipment was part of a larger consignment of 25 military trucks and 25 armoured military vehicles. The same month, the Italian government handed over 54 armored and personnel carrier vehicles to the army at a ceremony in Mogadishu. As of April 2015, the Ministry of Defence's Guulwade Plan identifies the equipment and weaponry requirements of the army. In 2019, Navistar Defence was awarded a multimillion dollar contract to supply Somalia with multiple 6x6 transport and recovery trucks. In 2021, the United States supplied the Somali Army with six Puma M36 Mk 6 armoured personnel carriers, a variant of the PUMA M26 15.

A Somali Aeronautical Corps (in Italian: "Corpo di Sicurezza della Somalia") was established in the 1950s during the trusteeship period prior to independence. Original equipment included six to eight North American P 51D Mustangs. It grew to become the Somali Air Force, with Italian aid, in the early 1960s. The initial equipment of the SAF included Douglas C 47s, which remained in service until 1968, and a variety of small transports and trainers. However, all the surviving Mustangs were returned to Italy before Somalia gained its independence in June 1960. The air force operated most of its aircraft from bases near Mogadishu, Hargeisa and Galkayo. An air defence force equipped with Soviet SA 2 missiles, anti aircraft guns, and early warning radars was in existence by September 1974. It was organised into seven anti aircraft gun & missile brigades, and one radar brigade, numbering about 3,500 personnel. In June 1983, the government took delivery of 9 Hawker Hunters and 4 Islander aircraft from the United Arab Emirates at the port in Mogadishu. By January 1991 the air force was in ruins. In 2012, Italy offered to help rebuild the air force. In 2016 the air force was described as 150 retirees from the Siad Barre era, without any aircraft. Other late 2016 early 2017 figures from the SJPER said 170. The air force's personnel were located in a camp on the outskirts of Mogadishu International Airport. "Somalia's air force is not functional. although the Somali Air Force has no aircraft or maintenance crews, it has sent some pilots for training in Turkey." "In December 2021, Turkey provided the FGS with Baykar Bayraktar TB2 drones. Operating out of Mogadishu, they were piloted by Turkish personnel and used for reconnaissance in support of Gorgor troops until late 2022 when some were armed and began conducting strikes against al Shabaab targets." The Turkish Army Aviation Command supervises most overland UAV operations for the Turkish Armed Forces. "The United Nations Support Office in Somalia (UNSOS) has supported the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) to acquire three helicopters from the Burundi National Defence Forces (BNDF)." These have included Mi 8s and Bell 412 helicopters. In addition, Scramble in the Netherlands reported in August 2023 that Somalia had received two ex Italian Agusta Bell AB 412 helicopters. No source ties any of the drones or helicopters to the Somali Air Force.

The Somali Navy was formed after independence in 1960. Prior to 1991, it participated in several joint exercises with the United States, Great Britain and Canada. It disintegrated during the beginning of the civil war in Somalia, from the late 1980s. Announcement that naval rebuilding efforts would begin date from the first decade of the 21st century. Admiral Farah Ahmed Omar told a New Yorker reporter in December 2009 that the navy was 'practically nothing' at the time, though five hundred new recruits were in training. On 30 June 2012, the United Arab Emirates announced a contribution of $1 million toward enhancing Somalia's naval security. Boats, equipment and communication gear necessary for the rebuilding of the coast guard would be bought. A central operations naval command was also planned to be set up in Mogadishu.

Barre became Chief of Staff, and then SAF commander; General Mohammad Ali Samatar became Chair, Peace and Security Committee, in December 1974 while remaining commandant of the Army and Secretary of State for Defence, while Brigadier General Abdalla Mohamed Fail was Samatar's deputy, and First Vice Commandant of the Army; Samatar was Commander in Chief in 1976; Maslah Mohammed Siad Barre became SNA Commander in Chief in 1989; Brigadier General Mohammed Said Hersi Morgan became commander in chief on 25 November 1990. From the mid 2010s, the title of the senior military officer has been Chief of Defence Force.

Somalia's Army had very little variation in their uniforms since their inception, the most common camouflage is woodland camouflage but in recent years, Somalia has now have access to digital camouflage as well. Somalia's more common service uniform consists of fatigues and coloured berets on which rank insignia can be displayed and coloured gorget patches, shoulder patches that display their unit although there is a more formal variant that resembles British Service Dress but is khaki in colour.