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Sub Saharan Africa

Somalia

 Flag of Somalia

Map of Somalia Last reviewed: 21 May 2009

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HISTORY

Somali-speaking people inhabit the eastern part of the Horn of Africa, extending into areas of present-day Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti. The north west of Somalia became a British Protectorate in 1887. The east and south became established as an Italian colony from 1894 to 1905. After World War II and a brief period of British military administration it became a UN Trust Territory. At independence in 1960 the British Protectorate and Italian-administered Somalia merged to form the Somali Republic. The fundamental goal was to unite all Somali-speaking people in a single country, but this has not been realised.

Civilian rule ended in 1969 when General Mohamed Siad Barre seized power in a military coup. He established a one party system around the concept of 'scientific socialism'. He presided over the disastrous Ogaden war of 1977-8, which was an unsuccessful attempt to liberate the Ogaden from Ethiopian rule. In the 1980s state authority began to crumble as various clan-based groups opposed to Barre’s rule began to form. In the northwest (former British Somaliland), the Somali National Movement (SNM) attempted to seize control in 1988. Barre countered with great violence, resulting in thousands of deaths and the flight of 400,000 refugees into Ethiopia.

Barre fled the country in January 1991 when another rebel group, the United Somali Congress (USC) gained control of Mogadishu. A full-blown civil war developed in the capital when the USC fragmented into rival, clan based factions. This contest remains unresolved and control of Mogadishu is divided among a variety of principally Hawiye warlords.

BBC News Country Profile: Somalia

In January 1992 the UN established a small Cease-fire Observer Force operation (UNOSOM I). It failed to make any impact and as civil war escalated a massive humanitarian crisis developed. In December 1992 a US-led task force (UNITAF) intervened to create a secure environment for relief operations. It succeeded in securing the main relief centres in the starvation area but did not attempt to disarm the Somali clan militias or the warlords. UNITAF handed over to UNOSOM II in May 1993. In response to militia attacks, the Security Council authorised UNOSOM to take all necessary measures against those responsible and to arrest General Aideed. In the confrontation that ensued, 18 US Rangers were killed, which prompted the departure of US troops in March 1994. The last UNOSOM troops withdrew in March 1995 after the loss of thousands of Somalis and 70 UN peacekeepers.

United Nations Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM)

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