1.0 Introduction
The Somali Civil War is an ongoing conflict in Somalia. Somalia is located in the Horn of Africa and is home to 10 million people and is responsible for more than 1 million of the world’s refugees. The civil war has been going on for 16 years and still hasn’t been solved. According to Necrometrics, around 500,000 people are estimated to have been killed in Somalia since the start of the civil war in 1991. This deadly conflict is fought mainly by terrorist organisations such as Al-Shabaab and Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. The purpose of this report is to find suitable solutions to the Somali Civil War. The report will go through an overview of the conflict outlining causes and impacts to the civil war, the report will then go through Australia’s, United States’ and the United Nations’ role that has been played throughout the civil war.
1.1 Overview
1991 – Somali dictator Mohammed Siad Barre who has been in charge since 1969 is forced to flee Somalia as rival clan lead by Ali Mahdi Mohamed captures Somali capital Mogadishu. During the capture of Mogadishu thousands of Somalis are killed or wounded. This is the official start of the Somali Civil War.
1992 – After only one year 350,000 Somalis die of starvation, civil war and disease. The United States media force, at the time, pressures President George Bush into sending help via emergency airlifts of food and supplies.
1993 – Somali rebels shoot down two American Blackhawk helicopters killing 19 people and capturing one American pilot. This altercation is known as the Battle of Mogadishu.
1994 – The United States formally ends all missions in Somalia costing $1.7 billion, 43 American soldiers’ lives and 153 soldiers wounded.
1996 – Somali Military Commander Mohamed Farah Aideed is assassinated and his son, Hussein Farah Aideed, takes over as Somalia’s Military Commander.
1999 – Forces in Ethiopia take over regional capital, at the time, Garba Harre in order to suppress fighting amongst rebel groups.
2000 – An outbreak of cholera due to unsanitary water kills hundreds in Somalia.
2001 – The UN pulls its international staff and aid workers out of Somalia due to dangerous fighting conditions and attempted kidnappings by rebel forces.
2002 – The United States suspect Al-Qaeda members are seeking refuge in Somalia, so the United States increase their military operations in that region.
1
2003 – An interim government is inaugurated in to put together a stable government in Somalia. Colonel Abdullahi Youssef is elected interim president.
2004 – A tsunami from Sumatra, Indonesia reaches Somalia coasts and kills 300 and displaces tens of thousands in Somalia.
2005 – Food shipments from aid organisations are constantly being hijacked off the coast of Somalia by pirates from rebel forces. Food aid programs such as UN’s World Food Program are suspended.
2006 – Deadly fighting breaks out in Somali capital Mogadishu between warring militias. The battle kills and wounds hundreds. A militia backed by a rival government to the Transitional Federal Government gains control of all of Southern Somalia and Mogadishu.
Troops from Ethiopia re-enter Somalia, because of this hard liners within the Islamic Government declare war against Ethiopia.
The breakout of the war forces thousands of Somalis flee to Kenya.
2007 – The United States send an air strike and kill Al-Shabaab leader Aden Hashi Ayro. The United States again strike southern Somalia where they suspect Al-Qaeda members are hiding.
Somalia declares state of emergency.
The official number of refugees from Somalia hits 1 million.
2009 – Ethiopia retreats from Somalia.
Al-Shabaab gain control of Baidoa as the UN make talks in Djibouti with Somalia’s government. The purpose is aimed to rally former Islamic Courts leaders. Islamist leader Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed is appointed president of the transitional administration.
2010 – Al-Shabaab express their allegiance to Al-Qaeda. They claim responsibility for the attack in Kampala, Uganda because of Uganda’s role in The African Union Mission in Somalia.
2011 – Al-Shabaab abandon most of their positions in Mogadishu.
An Al-Shabaab suicide attack in Mogadishu kill 82.
The Kenyan army send forces to south Somalia to counter Al-Shabaab. Ethiopian troops rejoin later.
2012 – Ethiopian and Somali troops regain control of Baidoa from Al-Shabaab.
2
1.2 Preliminary Personal Perspective
Given the small amount of media coverage on the situation in Somalia, I only have a very small knowledge of the subject prior to the writing of this report. However the refugee crisis in Somalia is well-known world-wide and is a very hot topic in Australia.
2.0 National Perspective
Australia’s involvement in the Somali Civil War was extremely limited when compared to other countries like the United States and Ethiopia. However Australia helped the Somali Civil War in a different way. Outside of Africa Australia is one of the leaders in taking Somali refugees.
2.1 Involvement in Conflict
Australia’s involvement in the Somali Civil War mainly consisted of helping with humanitarian aid for the United Nation and the United States. In October 1992 a 30 man unit was sent to Somalia to help organise transport for the United Nations. However Australian troops did not only provide security for Non-Government Organisation food convoys, compounds and food distribution points, Australia also became involved in formal Somali nation-building exercises amongst the Somali people. All Australians were based in Baidoa Humanitarian Relief Sector. The main purpose of the basing in Baidoa was to maintain a secure environment in Baidoa itself. However they also strived to maintain a presence in the surrounding countryside, protect humanitarian aid convoys and lastly assist in the equitable distribution of aid. Adding to this Australia deployed a battalion plus supporting elements, including a squadron of armoured personnel carriers, HQ staff, engineers, communications and electronic warfare specialists and HMAS Tobruk.
However after all this the Australian Battalion Group withdrew to Australia in 1993 and the Australian Force followed them in 1996. Overall, 1500 Australian troops served in Somalia from 1992-94. In total, only 4 troops were wounded or injured and the only casualty was Lance Corporal Shannon McAliney of the Royal Australian Infantry. However Australia continues to assist the humanitarian aid in Somalia, providing $17 million in humanitarian assistance in 2016-17 which goes to supporting counter piracy, humanitarian, state building and resilience support.
2.2 Somali Refugees
After the break out of the Somali Civil War many people were seeking a safer place to live and they still are as there are more than 1 million refugees originating from Somalia. In fact, a lot of these refugees sought refuge in Australia, more specifically Victoria. There were so many Somali refugees in Victoria that some communities were created for the Somalis. For example, the Somali Community of Victoria was established in 1988 and the Somali Cultural Association in 1995 to promote culture and community support in Australia.
Fig 2. Location of Somali refugees
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics the 2006
3 Australian national census recorded 6,403 Somali immigrants residing in Australia. Only a year later this number jumped to an estimation of 10,000 Somalis living in Melbourne only. Then the 2011 Australian national census recorded over 3,061 Australian born Somalis with a massive 15% increase from what the 2006 census recorded.
Clearly, as seen by the statistics above, Somalia is extremely important in Australia’s culture and Australia has embraced the refugee crisis in Somalia.
3.0 Global Perspective
Many countries and organisations around the world have been involved in the Somali Civil War like Ethiopia and the Red Cross. However this section of the report will focus on the involvement of the United States and the United Nations.
3.1 United States of America
The United States have been extremely active throughout the Somali Civil War attracting a lot of media attention. It all started when Mohamed Siad Barre took over Somalia. This was during the cold war and Somalia, due to its location, was extremely important. After a while the United States got Somalia to pledge their allegiance to them and the United States have been helping out ever since.
In 1992 Operation: Restore Hope was born when the United States led an intervention by a multinational force of more than 35,000 troops. Operation: Restore Hope followed, as it does today, the U.S foreign policy objectives in Somali; “To promote political and economic stability, prevent the use of Somalia as a safe haven for international terrorism, and alleviate the humanitarian crisis caused by years of conflict, drought, flooding and poor governance”.
In 1993, U.S soldiers were deployed in Mogadishu and lost their lives when their helicopter was shot down. 18 people died and 75 were injured. This altercation is called the Battle of Mogadishu. A year later the U.S withdraw from Somalia. However they would return upon finding out that Al-Qaeda members were hiding there. After this they would send air strikes all over Somalia aimed at terrorists.
In 2008, the U.S made two air strikes in Dhusamareb and Dhobley. The air strike in Dhusamareb was targeted at Al-Shabaab, 30 people were killed and 4 were injured. The air strike in Dhobley was targeted at an Al-Qaeda leader and killed 6 people. In 2014 the U.S made a drone strike targeted at Al-Shabaab leader Moktar Ali Zubeyr and killed 6 militants. In 2016, the U.S made an air strike on Raso Training Base killing 150 Al-Shabaab fighters.
Overall, the U.S have spent $1.4 billion before they pulled out in 1994 and $1.5 billion since 2006. Clearly, the U.S have spent a lot of money on Somalia’s conflict and have contributed to a lot of the civil war’s deaths.
3.2 United Nations
The United Nations conducted two operations in Somali being UNOSOM I and UNOSOM II. The first operation called the United Nations Operation in Somalia was
4 established in 1992. However more often than not UN personnel were withdrawn due to dangerous fighting conditions. UN troops were shot at, aid ships were attacked by pirates, they were prevented from docking in ports, aircrafts used for cargo and aid were shot at and all UN troops were susceptible to threats, robbery and extortion. However the UN still sent a lot of money to help the civil war raising up to $130 million. Altogether in UNOSOM I 54 military observers and 893 military personnel served and 6 UN troops died.
UNOSOM II started in 1993 and sought to establish a secure environment in Somalia. The worst was to come when Somali warlord Mohamed Farah Aideed’s forces killed 24 UN peacekeepers. Throughout the operation that spanned 2 years successfully “supported national reconciliation, provided strategic and policy advice to the Government on various aspects of peacekeeping, monitored human rights and helped coordinate the efforts of the international community.
4.0 Solutions
The Somali Civil War, even though it has lasted for a long time still hasn’t found a suitable solution and the conflict isn’t any closer to ending than it was when it started. The report will now go through suitable solutions that will help the civil war.
4.1 Piracy
The first of two solutions is piracy. The waters surrounding Somalia and the Horn of Africa is infamously known world-wide because of how dangerous it is. Although the problem is being solved already an eradication of piracy will help spread humanitarian aid more safely around the country. By doing this it will Somalia recover from other causes of fatalities
Fig 3. Piracy attacks in the Horn of Africa like disease and famine. After health is restored Somalia’s economy will grow and then should lead to a more stable government to overcome the terrorist groups staying there.
4.2 Farming
The upgrade of farming will again indirectly help the civil war. The upgrading of farming will help Somalia overcome famine and starvation. This will also lead to a more stable economy which will help keep a stable government for the future and ultimately overcome the Somali Civil War.
5
5.0 Refined Personal Perspective
In conclusion, the Somali Civil War is a war that has been continuing for a long time and is fought in Somalia. Many countries and organisations have come together to help Somalia overcome the civil war like Australia, the United States and the United Nations. However the civil war may not end in the foreseeable future if other countries as well as Australia and others help Somalia get back on track by solving the piracy issue and upgrade farming.
6