In 1960, after the Italian and British regions in the Horn of Africa gained independence, the United Republic of Somalia was born. Aiming to establish a Greater Somalia, which would also include the French-occupied Djibouti and parts of Kenya on ethnic and cultural grounds, Somalia experienced conflict with Ethiopia over the Ogaden region with intermittent wars over three decades. An agreement was reached in 1988, but the basic conflict issue was not solved.
Internally, democratic governance ended with a military coup, and disputes between the clan system that deeply characterizes the Somali society turned into guerrilla warfare. In 1991 the main rebel group overthrew the government and the subsequent scramble for power between the clan-based militia groups pushed the conflict to the degree of state collapse.
Severe famine further plagued the region and UN troops were deployed in 1992. Several groups were opposed to the UN presence and the death of UN soldiers, and the subsequent death of US soldiers (in Mogadishu not under UN command) prompted both to withdraw from Somalia in the mid-90s.
Several clan-based militias have fought over the creation of new federal states but it has been the Islamist group al-Shabaab that has been the primary warring party with the Somali government. Since 2013, Al-Shabaab has lost territory through the advances of the military, supported by the African Union Mission for Somalia (AMISOM), but continued to carry out bomb attacks and assassinations. Operation Indian Ocean (a joint military operation between the Somali military, AMISOM, and the United States military) against Al-Shabaab was launched in 2014. As a part of the mission, a U.S. drone strike killed former Al-Shabaab leader Moktar Ali Zubair. In 2017, former President Trump expanded U.S. counterterrorism efforts in Somalia.
From 2014-2015, Al-Shabaab carried out numerous mass shootings in Kenya, such as on public transport and at Garissa University College. In 2017, it was claimed to be behind Somalia’s deadliest bombing in history with over 500 people killed by a truck bomb. Al-Shabaab continues to carry out violent attacks against civilians to this day such as car bombs and gun attacks. 2.6 million Somalis are internally displaced and 3.5 million people face acute food insecurity.
Peace attempts:
Peace attempts have been made in Somalia but a lasting peace has so far been thwarted for several reasons. With so many factions and volatile parties at war, ceasefires are difficult to negotiate and even harder to implement. When a Transitional National Government (TNG) was finally elected by clan elders in 2000, opposition groups unified against them. Political factions have expanded at every international peace conference since 1991, creating a recurrent dilemma when determining the legitimacy and authoritative representation. The exclusion of hard-line opposition in some past peace negotiations has also seen treaties dissolve.
The opposition to the presence of Ethiopian troops, now officially integrated into the AMISOM mission, has also been known to derail peace talks, and in 2014 Human Rights Watch published a report criticizing the increase of sexual abuse of Somali women by AMISOM soldiers, further damaging the reputation of the mission. AMISOM began a military operation in 2015 against Al-Shabaab, which allowed AMISOM and the Somalia National Army to regain a number of towns and villages.
Despite the difficulties, a peace accord reached in 2008 outlined a process for Somalia that saw a transitional government supported by the UN, AU, EU, and the US, with a roadmap to establishing permanent democratic institutions. In 2012 a new constitution was formed, and a parliament was selected for the Federal Republic of Somalia, the first permanent central government in the country since the start of the civil war.
The death of peacekeepers and specific targeting of UN personnel has not aided foreign involvement in Somalia, a contentious issue since the Mogadishu disasters in the 1990s, with UNSOM personnel attacked by militants as recently as 2014 and UNICEF workers killed in April 2015.
In 2016, the African Union agreed to send more funding and military support to Somalia after facing increased attacks by Al-Shabaab. In 2017, with the assistance of the UN, the Galkaio agreement was signed which marked a landmark local agreement in Somalia. The Hawiye and Darood clans have fought for over two decades and they were able to reach a peace agreement based on promoting dialogue and trust-building.
Ex-president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was re-elected in May 2022 and promises to improve national reconciliation and combat the threat from Al-Shabaab, which is supported by increased funding commitments by the UN, AU, EU, and the US. Nevertheless, failing governance and political corruption along with a lack of humanitarian aid have increased Al-Shabaab’s threat.
