Somali Armed Forces

Somali Armed Forces
Xoogga Dalka Soomaaliyeed
Ceremony commemorating 55th Anniversary of the SNA held at the Army Headquarters on 12th April 2015.
Founded12 April 1960
Current formAugust 2008[1]
Service branchesArmy, Navy, Air Force[1]
HeadquartersMogadishu, Somalia
Leadership
Commander-in-chiefHassan Sheikh Mohamud
Minister of DefenceAbdulkadir Mohamed Nur [2]
Chief of Defence ForceMajor General Odowaa Yusuf Rageh[3]
Personnel
Active personnelapx 15,000 (2020)[4]
Substantial growth after 2022
Industry
Foreign suppliers China[5]
 Czech Republic
 Egypt
 Hungary
 Poland
 Russia
 Turkey
 Ukraine
 United States[6][7]
 Vietnam
Related articles
History
See list
RanksMilitary ranks of Somalia

The Somali Armed Forces are the military forces of the Federal Republic of Somalia.[13] Headed by the president as commander-in-chief, they are constitutionally mandated to ensure the nation's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity.[14]

In 1990 the Armed Forces were made up of the Army, Air Force, Air Defence Force, and Navy.[15] 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.[16] 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.[17][18] 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.[19]

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.

  1. ^ a b Robinson 2016, p. 242.
  2. ^ "Somalia's defence minister, military chief, arrive in Beledweyne". 12 July 2023.
  3. ^ "Somali government reappoints General Odowa Raage as Somali National Army (SNA) Commander". Hiiraan Online. 11 November 2024. Retrieved 12 November 2024. "Somali Cabinet Backs Former Army Chief for Return Stint". Bloomberg News. 10 November 2024.
  4. ^ Robinson, Colin D. "Rebuilding armies in southern Somalia: What currently should donors realistically aim for?," Conflict, Security & Development (2021): 320, 330-331.
  5. ^ "Somalia: China Donates Military Equipment to Somalia to Aid War Against Terrorists". 19 March 2022.
  6. ^ "Trade Registers". Armstrade.sipri.org. Archived from the original on 14 April 2010. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
  7. ^ "United States ordered Acmat Bastion APCs for African partners". defenceweb.co.za. 13 October 2015. Archived from the original on 6 January 2019. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
  8. ^ Richards, Rebecca (24 February 2016). Understanding Statebuilding: Traditional Governance and the Modern State in Somaliland. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-00466-0.
  9. ^ Reinl, James. "Investigating genocide in Somaliland". Al Jazeera. Archived from the original on 7 May 2017. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
  10. ^ Strategic Survey, 1989–1990 (1990), p. 87, International Institute for Strategic Studies
  11. ^ Fitzgerald 2002, p. 57.
  12. ^ Geldenhuys, p.131
  13. ^ ILO 2012.
  14. ^ ILO 2012, p. Chapter 14, Article 126(3).
  15. ^ Metz 1993, p. 204.
  16. ^ Metz 1993, p. 196.
  17. ^ Alex de Waal, “Contemporary Warfare in Africa,” in Restructuring the Global Military Sector Vol. 1: New Wars, ed. Mary Kaldor and Basker Vashee (London: Pinter, 1997).
  18. ^ Compagnon 1992, p. 9.
  19. ^ Robinson 2019b, p. 424.