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Somali National Army

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Somali National Army
Ciidanka Xooga Dalka Soomaaliyeed (CXDS)
الجيش الوطني الصومالي
Founded12 April 1960; 66 years ago (1960-04-12)
Country Somalia
Part of Somali Armed Forces
Garrison/HQTaliska Ciidanka Xooga Dalka Soomaaliyeed
MottoIsku Tiirsada (Lean on each other)
Colors  Green
  Red (piping)
Anniversaries12 April (Armed Forces Day)
Engagements
Commanders
President of SomaliaHassan Sheikh Mohamud
Minister of DefenceAbdulkadir Mohamed Nur
Chief of DefenceMajor General Odowaa Yusuf Rageh
Insignia
Flag of the Somali Army

The Somali National Army (Somali: Ciidanka Xooga Dalka Soomaaliyeed, lit. 'Somali Ground Forces') are the ground forces component of the Somali Armed Forces.

Established in 1960, the Somali National Army began as a small force of roughly 2,000 troops. It steadily grew over the course of the 1960s in response to the military threat from the Ethiopian Empire, and had its first major conflict during the 1964 Ethiopian–Somali War. In the years following the SNA rapidly expanded its capacity to become one of Africa's most powerful military forces, with the assistance of the Soviet Union.

The 1970s were the height of the SNA, and in 1977 it carried out the Ogaden War in support of the Western Somali Liberation Front against Ethiopia. The war eventually resulted in defeat for the SNA-WSLF after a massive Soviet-Cuban military intervention. The post-war years saw the SNA progressively decline.

The 1982-83 Ethiopian invasion and Somali Rebellion had stretched the SNA to its breaking point by the late 1980s. In 1991 it collapsed along with the government. During the 2000s it was slowly reconstituted.

History

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Main article: Somali Armed Forces § History

Origins

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Following independence, the SNA was created by merging police units in the former trusteeship with the northern Somaliland Scouts from the former British protectorate. Combined, both forces totalled around 1,800 to 2,000 men.[1]

1960s

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Most of the SNA's weaponry was World War II in origin. The Soviet Union, Egypt, the United Kingdom and Italy were the primary sources of military equipment during the army's early years.[2] By 1962 the SNA possessed a total of five tanks, all of which were the British made Comet. Other vehicles included six Ferret armoured car and eighteen Universal Carriers.[1]

During the early 1960s, the newly independent Somali Republic and the Ethiopian Empire under Haile Selasie came on the verge of full-scale war over the Ogaden issue, particularly during 1961 and 1964. In the years following there had been a number of reported and unreported skirmishes between Ethiopian and Somali troops.[3]

Somali National Army troops on parade (1963)

1964 War

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Main article: 1964 Ethiopian–Somali Border War

In 1964, four years after its formation, the SNA faced its first major test in a short war with the Ethiopian Empire. The conflict was preceded by the Nasrallah insurgency in the Ogaden that began in mid-1963. Sporadic border skirmishes in late 1963 grew into sustained fighting by early 1964, and on 8 February regular army units clashed along the northern border. The conflict spread across the entire 900-km Ethiopian-Somali frontier. After diplomatic negotiations in Khartoum at the request of African heads of state, the war concluded in early April 1964.[4]

1970s

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Following the 1969 coup d'état, the army assumed a central political role in Somalia. SNA officers of the Supreme Revolutionary Council (SRC) ran the country's ministerial and administrative posts, while the rank and file of the army became increasingly involved in civic action programs such as sand dune stabilization, road construction and refugee resettlement.[5]

At the start of the 1970s, the Somali National Army was around 10,000 men strong and possessed 150 tanks, most being Soviet T-34's.[6] By 1975 this figure had risen to 250 tanks and 300 armored personnel carriers.[5] Much of the SNA officer corps in this period trained in the Soviet Union.[7]

Following the end of the Ogaden War and coup attempt in 1978, the state of the SNA began to decline.[1]

1980s

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The 1982 Ethiopian–Somali Border War occurred while the SNA severely under-equipped and ill-prepared for conflict following serious equipment losses incurred at the end of the Ogaden War.[8] A coalition of Ethiopian troops and rebels of the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF) launched an invasion on 30 June 1982.[9] Despite heavy ground and air attacks, the Somali army garrison stationed nearby at the town of Beledweyne inflicted heavy losses on the invaders and prevented the Ethiopians from capturing a vital roadway connecting north and south Somalia. Soon after a stalemate ensued.[10] To the surprise of observers, the 1982 invasion was repulsed by the SNA. In spite of losses taken four years earlier, the army had regrouped and the Ethiopian attack led to a large increase in volunteers joining the army.[11]

A Somali army soldier points at two captured Ethiopian BTR-60 armored personnel carriers that were disabled on the battlefields near Balambale and Guldogob (1982)

During the 1982 fighting with the Ethiopians, the Somali army started experiencing significant ammunition and communications equipment shortages, all the while lacking both anti-tank and anti-aircraft weaponry.[12]

Over the 1980s the SNA became increasingly politicized and the effectiveness of the officer corps was hampered by promotions being given on a clan basis by the ruling elite rather than on a meritocratic one. By 1987 the armed forces as a whole had started the process of disintegration.[13] Many soldiers in the army had strong reservations about the war raging against the SNM in northern Somalia, officers from clans in the south began to desert the military.[14]

Two Somali National Army soldiers posing with an AK-47 and M16A1 during Operation Bright Star (1983)

During the late 1980s, the Somali army stocks suffered serious shortages of ammunition and the morale of various military formations reached a low.[15] A 1989 strategic survey observed, "...morale has been reported to be low for lack of such vital items as ammunition and boots".[16] Thus the SNA was also increasingly beset with mutinies of soldiers.[17] After the hundreds were killed during the eruption of violence in Mogadishu during July 1989, mutinies occurred in Galkayo and Beledweyne over the following weeks. Mutineers in Galkayo briefly captured the city during November 1989 and seized significant quantities of military equipment from the local army division and destroyed it.[18] Fighting escalated between the SNA and Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM) in the south throughout the fall of 1989.[19]

By the end of 1989 new rebel groups were carrying out attacks in southern Somalia as the government was desperately seeking foreign military aid to remedy the SNA's supply situation, with little success.[15] Particularly in the northern Somalia, the supply situation for SNA troops deployed in the strategic port of Berbera and other localities became dire by the end of the year as Somali National Movement (SNM) rebels began cutting key roads. Army supplies heading to north which managed to escape rebel attacks were usually requisitioned by SNA troops along the route further to the south. Attempts to clear these vital logistical links of rebel forces repeatedly faltered as the Somali military began to unravel.[20]

1990s

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Somali National army M47 Patton tanks abandoned after the collapse of the government and armed forces (1993)

By mid-1990, United Somali Congress (USC) rebels had captured many of the towns and villages surrounding Mogadishu.[21] By the autumn of that year, the USC had overrun the SNA divisions deployed in the Mudug, Galgudud and Hiran regions. The civilian population began rapidly arming itself as security situation unravelled and the SNA collapsed in the south. In January 1991, the SNA dissolved as the government was toppled by rebel groups.[22]

2000s

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Efforts to reconstitute the SNA date back to 2000-2005 when the Transitional National Government (TNG) attempted to revive it. After the TNG failed and was replaced with the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), some of the forces organized in the early 2000s were placed under TFG command.[13] The armed forces of the TFG were nominally under the control of the Ministry of Defence but was dominated by clan based paramilitary units. These army units generally answered only to their clan commander and refused to take orders from the Ministry of Defense.[23] Ethiopia had taken the lead in training and integrating a new Somali army but failed as over 10,000 Ethiopian trained TFG soldiers deserted or defected to the insurgency that erupted during the War in Somalia (2006–2009).[24] More than 80% of the military deserted the government by the end of 2008.[25] When Ethiopian forces withdrew from Somalia soon after, the task of forming a new army was given to AMISOM. At this point there was still no meaningful chain of command.[24]

SNA soldier on patrol near Afgooye

The basis of the present iteration of the SNA stems from the late 2008 agreement made by TFG and the insurgent opposition known as Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia (ARS).[13] After the Ethiopian withdrawal and the election of a new Somali government in 2009, elements of the Islamic Courts Union forces and broader insurgency were integrated into the SNA.[26] By this point the SNA was estimated to be 5,000 to 7,600 strong.[13]

2010s & 2020s

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Official Somali National Army poster (2023)

In 2013, a major step in the revival of the SNA was made with the first division sized element of the army being reinstated.[27]

By 2014 there were around 20,000 troops in the army.[13] In the decade since its reconstitution, the SNA has suffered serious deficiencies in logistics, operational capacity and financial support. A 2017 report found that 30% of SNA soldiers did not even possess weapons.[28] The army was estimated to have around 2,100 officers, who led a force of 12 brigades. A critical issue for the SNA had been a lack of young officers, as the corps is dominated by older officers over the age of 50.[13]

Only in the late 2010s did the SNA begin to successfully reconstitute military formations of a multi-clan nature similar to the pre-1991 army.[29] In 2017 the Turkish Armed Forces opened up its largest overseas military base in Mogadishu, known as Camp TURKSOM. More than 10,000 SNA soldiers were planned to be trained at the facility.[30] By the early 2020s, more than 1/3rd of the SNA had been trained by Turkish forces.[31] Eritrea has also played a key role in the reestablishment of the Somali National Army. Beginning in 2019 it clandestinely began training thousands of Somali recruits on Eritrean soil[32] in an operation overseen by NISA chief Fahad Yasin.[33]

As of 2026 the SNA's internal structuring and military hardware has seen a significant improvement, the latter in large part due to the repealing of a UN weapons embargo on Somalia.[34]

SNA soldier reading Quran in his machine gun fighting position (2026)

Former equipment

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Main article: List of equipment of the Somali Armed Forces

Army equipment, 1981

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The following heavy weaponry was in the Somali National Army's inventory during 1981:[35]

Type Description Country of manufacture Inventory
Tanks
Centurion Main battle tank; 105 mm gun United Kingdom 40
T-54/55 Main battle tank; 100 mm quick firing gun; most transferred 1974–1976 Soviet Union 40
Armoured personnel carriers
BTR-50 12-passenger tracked APC Soviet Union 50
BTR-60 10-12-passenger wheeled APC Soviet Union
BTR-152 12-passenger wheeled APC Soviet Union 150
Fiat 6614 10-passenger wheeled APC Italy 900
Fiat 6616 Armored car; 20 mm gun Italy
Artillery
130 mm Field gun, towed Soviet Union 250
122 mm Field gun, towed Soviet Union
122 mm Howitzer, towed Soviet Union
100 mm Anti-tank gun, field gun, towed Soviet Union 150
85 mm Anti-tank gun, towed Soviet Union
76 mm Divisional gun, towed Soviet Union
120 mm Heavy mortar Soviet Union n/a
82 mm Medium mortar Soviet Union n/a
106mm B-11 recoilless rifle China n/a
Anti-aircraft guns
100 mm air defense gun KS-19 Towed Soviet Union 250
57 mm AZP S-60 Towed Soviet Union
37 mm M1939 Towed Soviet Union
23mm ZU-23-2-type, towed Soviet Union
Missiles
MILAN Surface-to-surface, man-portable, anti-tank guided missile France, West Germany 100
S-125 Neva/Pechora

Army equipment, 1989

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Prior arms acquisitions included the following equipment, much of which was unserviceable as of June 1989:[36]

293 main battle tanks (30 Centurion from Kuwait,[37] 123 M47 Patton, 30 T-34, 110 T-54/55 from various sources). Other armoured fighting vehicles included 10 M41 Walker Bulldog light tanks, 30 BRDM-2 and 15 Panhard AML-90 armored cars (formerly owned by Saudi Arabia). The IISS estimated in 1989 that there were 474 armoured personnel carriers, including 64 BTR-40, BTR-50, BTR-60; 100 BTR-152 wheeled armored personnel carriers, 310 Fiat 6614 and 6616s, and that BMR-600s had been reported. The IISS estimated that there were 210 towed artillery pieces (8 M-1944 100 mm, 100 M-56 105 mm, 84 M-1938 122 mm, and 18 M198 155 mm towed howitzers). Other equipment reported by the IISS included 82 mm and 120 mm mortars, 100 Milan and BGM-71 TOW anti-tank guided missiles, rocket launchers, recoilless rifles, and a variety of Soviet air defence guns of 20 mm, 23 mm, 37 mm, 40 mm, 57 mm, and 100 mm calibre.

Ranks and insignia

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Main article: Military ranks of Somalia

Officers

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Rank group General / flag officers Senior officers Junior officers
 Somali National Army[38]
Sareeye guud Sareeye gaas Sareeye guuto Gashaanle sare Gashaanle dhexe Gashaanle Dhamme Laba xídígle Xídígle

Enlisted

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Rank group Senior NCOs Junior NCOs Enlisted
Somali National Army[38]
 No insignia
Musharax sarkaal Sadex xarígle Laba xarígle Xarígle Sadex alífle Laba alífle Alífle Dable

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Robinson, Colin D. (2019-10-02). "Glimpse into an army at its peak: notes on the Somali National Army in the 1960–80s". Defense & Security Analysis. 35 (4): 423–429. doi:10.1080/14751798.2019.1675944. ISSN 1475-1798. S2CID 211441701.
  2. ^ Studies, American University (Washington, D. C. ) Foreign Area (1969). Area Handbook for Somalia: Co-authors: Irving Kaplan [et Al.] Research and Writing Were Completed on June 15, 1969. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 402.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ Abdi, Said Y. (January–March 1978). "Self-Determination for Ogaden Somalis". Horn of Africa. 1 (1): 20–25.
  4. ^ Metz 1993, p. 201.
  5. ^ a b Ottaway, Marina (1982). Soviet and American Influence in the Horn of Africa. Praeger. pp. 66–67. ISBN 978-0-03-058908-9.
  6. ^ Ottaway, Marina (1982). Soviet and American Influence in the Horn of Africa. Praeger. p. 39. ISBN 978-0-03-058908-9.
  7. ^ Bell, J. Bowyer (1973). The Horn of Africa: Strategic Magnet in the Seventies. Crane, Russak [for] National Strategy Information Center. p. 42. ISBN 978-0-8448-0256-5.
  8. ^ Cowell, Alan (1982-10-08). "ETHIOPIAN DRIVE AGAINST SOMALIA BOGS DOWN". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-05-08.
  9. ^ Ethiopia's Invasion of Somalia, 1982-83. Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Somali Democratic Republic. 1983. p. 6.
  10. ^ Woodward, Peter; Forsyth, Murray Greensmith (1994). Conflict and Peace in the Horn of Africa: Federalism and Its Alternatives. Dartmouth Publishing Company. pp. 112–113. ISBN 978-1-85521-486-6.
  11. ^ Laitin, David D.; Samatar, Said S. (1987). Somalia: Nation in Search of a State. Profiles. Avalon Publishing. p. 159. ISBN 978-0-86531-555-6. Yet Siyaad surprised friends and foes alike by turning both events to advantage. His army vigorously repulsed the invaders...
  12. ^ "Somalia: Taking Stock". Africa Confidential. 23 (17): 8. 25 August 1982.
  13. ^ a b c d e f Williams, Paul D. (2020-04-15). "Building the Somali National Army: Anatomy of a failure, 2008–2018". Journal of Strategic Studies. 43 (3): 366–391. doi:10.1080/01402390.2019.1575210. ISSN 0140-2390.
  14. ^ Gérard Prunier (1995-07-01). Somalia: Civil War, Intervention and Withdrawal 1990 - 1995 (Report). WRITENET.
  15. ^ a b Lefebvre, Jeffrey (2010-11-23). Arms for the Horn: U.S. Security Policy in Ethiopia and Somalia, 1953–1991. University of Pittsburgh Press. pp. 252–258. ISBN 978-0-8229-7031-6.
  16. ^ The Horn of Africa: A Strategic Survey. International Security Council. 1989. p. 48.
  17. ^ DeRouen, Karl R.; Bellamy, Paul (2008). International Security and the United States: An Encyclopedia. Praeger Security International. p. 696. ISBN 978-0-275-99255-2.
  18. ^ "Human Rights Watch" (PDF). Human Rights Watch. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 March 2016. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
  19. ^ Africa Events. Dar es Salaam Limited. 1989. p. 14.
  20. ^ "Somalia: The end in sight for Siad". Africa Confidential. 30 (18): 6. 8 September 1989.
  21. ^ Hutchful, Eboe; Bathily, Abdoulaye; Codesria, eds. (1998). The military and militarism in Africa. Codesria book series. Dakar: Codesria. p. 389. ISBN 978-2-86978-069-9.
  22. ^ Drysdale, John (2001). Whatever Happened to Somalia?. HAAN. ISBN 978-1-874209-48-5.
  23. ^ Muggah, Robert (2013-07-24). Stabilization Operations, Security and Development: States of Fragility. Routledge. p. 133. ISBN 978-1-135-04448-0. ... the TFG, which was populated with clan-based para-militaries that answered only to their own clan commander. TFG security sector commanders who worked most closely with external intelligence and defence agencies often acted as privileged, quasi autonomous players in the TFG. They wore the TFG hat, but refused to take commands from the Minister of Defence.
  24. ^ a b Bryden, Matt (2013-09-10). Somalia Redux?: Assessing the New Somali Federal Government. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 9–10. ISBN 978-1-4422-2526-8.
  25. ^ "'Thousands' desert Somalia forces". BBC News. 2008-12-12. Retrieved 2024-05-06.
  26. ^ McGregor, Andrew (2009). Who's who in the Somali Insurgency: A Reference Guide. Jamestown Foundation. p. 22. ISBN 978-0-615-33338-0.
  27. ^ Macmillan, Palgrave (2025-01-10). The Statesman's Yearbook 2025: The Politics, Cultures and Economies of the World. Springer Nature. p. 1012. ISBN 978-1-349-96112-2.
  28. ^ Studies, the Africa Center for Strategic. "AMISOM's Hard-Earned Lessons in Somalia". Africa Center. Retrieved 2026-04-16.
  29. ^ Robinson, Colin D. (2019-10-02). "Glimpse into an army at its peak: notes on the Somali National Army in the 1960–80s". Defense & Security Analysis. 35 (4): 423–429. doi:10.1080/14751798.2019.1675944. ISSN 1475-1798.
  30. ^ "Turkey opens military base in Mogadishu to train Somali soldiers". Reuters. 1 October 2017.
  31. ^ "Turkey cements military ties with Somalia, has already trained one-third of its army - Nordic Monitor". nordicmonitor.com. 2022-08-30. Retrieved 2026-06-11.
  32. ^ "Eritrea instrumental in rebuilding of Somali army, says president". Garowe Online. 2020-06-30. Retrieved 2024-09-14. Eritrea first admitted 5,000 recruits in 2019
  33. ^ "Why Eritrea delayed sending back Somali soldiers it trained?". Garowe Online. 2020-06-30. Retrieved 2024-09-14.
  34. ^ "TRT Afrika - What it took Somalia to revive its military from the ruins of civil war". www.trtafrika.com. Retrieved 2026-05-16.
  35. ^ "Somalia: A Country Study – Chapter 5: National Security" (PDF). Library of Congress. c. 1981. Archived from the original on 4 October 2012.
  36. ^ IISS 1989, p. 113.
  37. ^ "Arms Trade Register". SIPRI. Archived from the original on 14 April 2010. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
  38. ^ a b Ehrenreich, Frederick (1982). "National Security". In Nelson, Harold N. (ed.). Somalia: a country study (PDF). Area Handbook (3rd ed.). Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress. p. 257. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  • IISS (1989). IISS Military Balance 1989–90. Brassey's for the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
  • Metz, Helen (c. 1993). Somalia: A Country Study (PDF). Library of Congress. Retrieved 12 July 2019.

Further reading

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