What it took Somalia to revive its military from the ruins of civil war

Hassan Sheikh Mohamud is the first Somali President in more than thirty years to put the country's armed forces at the vanguard of his security detail.

That this even warrants mention tells you about Somalia's journey since 1991, when civil war dissolved the military and crushed the state's authority.

For the next three decades, it fell to foreign peacekeepers to guard whoever occupied the presidential palace. Mohamud makes no attempt to understate the significance of the shift he has overseen.

"It's a profound honour and a historic privilege," the President says of being protected by the Somali National Army.

He isn't exaggerating. Over the past four years, the Somali National Army (SNA) has achieved significant success in blunting the terrorist outfit Al-Shabaab. Several senior operatives responsible for the deaths of thousands of civilians have been identified, targeted and neutralised. Terrorist strongholds far beyond Mogadishu have been busted. Command networks of the outfit have been disrupted.

Not long ago, Al-Shabaab was able to mount devastating attacks even within the capital. The October 14, 2017 bombing in which hundreds were killed remains one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in Somalia's chequered history.

Today, territories once held to ransom by Al-Shabaab have been liberated, roads reopened, and schools, water supply and markets restored.

At the centre of this transformation stands the SNA.

A resurgent force

Established in April 1960 under Somalia's first President, Aden Abdulle Osman, the SNA quickly became one of Africa's most formidable militaries.

While its dissolution in 1991 under the spectre of extraordinary circumstances may have been unexpected, the rebuilding more than a decade later was just as complex.

In 1992, at the height of the civil war, the United Nations imposed an arms embargo to stem the flow of weapons to rival warlords after the ousting of the then President, Mohamed Siad Barre. Although considered necessary at the time, the restrictions constrained the federal government's ability to equip, modernise and standardise its armed forces.

Since 2011, international community's backing, including Türkiye, has been crucial to rebuilding the SNA. Ankara has invested in Somalia's military capacity, a commitment deepened by the establishment of the TURKSOM Military Academy in Mogadishu in 2017. Thousands of Somali personnel have since received advanced military training through its specialised programmes.

The recent change of command — Lieutenant General Ibrahim Mohamed Mahmoud replacing Major General Odawa Yusuf Rage as the Somali army chief — is expected to sustain the momentum. It isn't a coincidence that both officers trained in Türkiye.

Building from within

Away from the frontlines, the SNA looks nothing like the patchwork force it was a decade ago. Every recruit is now biometrically registered and salaries go directly into soldiers' bank accounts. A modern human resource system tracks recruitment and promotions, bringing structure where there was little.

The hardware has changed too. The SNA now fields modern tactical assets and expanded aerial capabilities, operating alongside the Somali Air Force in a way that would have been unthinkable some years ago.

"The consecutive victories achieved by our armed forces on the frontlines reflect the strength, professionalism and determination of our national forces," says President Mohamud. "As a government, we are advancing two historic and complementary strategies. On the one hand, we are decisively eliminating terrorism; with the other, we are rebuilding our national armed forces to ensure lasting peace and security."

The international community has responded accordingly. In 2022, the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) withdrew 5,000 troops and handed over 13 military bases to Somali forces. A year later, the Uganda People's Defence Forces transferred the responsibility of securing the presidential palace, Villa Somalia, and the parliament to the SNA.

In December 2023, the UN lifted a 30-year arms embargo that restored Somalia's right to upgrade its military capabilities, marking what authorities term "a historic shift" and growing confidence in what the SNA has become.

President Mohamud acknowledges the peacekeeping mission's contribution to rebuilding the national army. "We recognise and deeply appreciate the historic role that AMISOM (African Union Mission in Somalia) has played in advancing peace and state-building," he says.  

Somali forces have now reached, as the President proudly points out, "a level of readiness and capability that enables them to assume full responsibility for securing our national leadership, government institutions, and the country as a whole".

For Somalia, adding heft to its military capabilities now goes beyond securing its territory. In 2024, it assumed leadership of the East Africa Standby Force, signalling a broader ambition to contribute to regional peace and security rather than just receive assistance.

"The significant defeats inflicted on the Khawarij (Al-Shabaab) is a clear indication that their end is near," says Mohamud. "The heroic men and women of the Somali armed forces have demonstrated that they possess both the capacity and the resolve to liberate every territory in which these terrorists seek refuge."