Somalian civil war

Date

January 26, 1991 – ongoing

(23 years, 2 months, 2 weeks and 1 day)

Location :Somalia

Status

Ongoing conflict

■Fall of Barre regime

■Consolidation of states

■Conflict between radical Islamists and Government

■New Government

Belligerents

1986–1991:

Somali Democratic Republic (until 1991)

■SNA

Allied rebel groups:

■SNF (after 1991)

1986–1991:

Armed rebel groups:

■ SSDF
■ SNM

■ SPM

■USC

■SDF

1992–93:

USC

1992–95:

United Nations

■UNOSOM I

■Unified Task Force

■UNOSOM II

2006–09:

Islamic Courts Union

Oromo Liberation Front

Al-Shabaab

Ras Kamboni Brigades

Jabhatul Islamiya

Muaskar Anole

2006–09:

Transitional Federal Government

■ Puntland

■ Galmudug

Äthiopien

AMISOM

Vereinigte Staaten

Allied armed groups:

■ ARPCT

■ Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a

2009–:

al-Qaeda
■ Al-Shabaab

Foreign Mujahedeen

Hizbul Islam

2009–:

Federal Republic of Somalia

AMISOM

Casualties and losses

Casualties:

300,000 (TFG)-500,000+ (AFP) dead

The Somali Civil War is an ongoing civil war taking place in Somalia. It grew out of resistance to
the Siad Barre regime during the 1980s. By 1988–90, the Somali Armed Forces began engaging
various armed rebel groups, including the Somali Salvation Democratic Front in the northeast,
the Somali National Movement in the northwest,and the United Somali Congress in the south.
This coalition of clan-based armed opposition groups eventually managed to overthrow the
nation's long-standing military government in 1991.

Various factions began competing for influence in the power vacuum that followed, which
precipitated an aborted UN peacekeeping attempt in the mid-1990s. A period of
decentralization ensued, characterized by a return to customary and religious law in many
areas as well as the establishment of autonomous regional governments in the northern part of
the country. This also led to a relative decrease in the intensity of the fighting, with SIPRI
removing Somalia from its list of major armed conflicts for the years 1997 and 1998.
The early 2000s saw the creation of fledgling interim federal administrations, culminating in the
establishment of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in 2004. In 2006, the TFG, assisted
by Ethiopian troops, assumed control of most of the nation's southern conflict zones from the
newly formed Islamic Courts Union (ICU). The ICU subsequently splintered into more radical
groups, notably Al-Shabaab, which have since been fighting the Somali government and the AU-
mandated AMISOM intervention force for control of the country.

In 2011, a coordinated military operation between the Somali military and multinational forces
began, which is believed to represent one of the final stages in the war's Islamist insurgency.

Background

Aftermath of the Ogaden war

After fallout from the unsuccessful Ogaden campaign of the late 1970s, the ruling socialist
government of the Somali Democratic Republic under Major General Mohamed Siad Barre
began arresting government and military officials under suspicion of participation in the
abortive 1978 coup d'état. Most of the people who had allegedly helped plot the putsch were
summarily executed. However, several officials managed to escape abroad where they formed
the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF), the first of various dissident groups dedicated to
ousting Barre's regime by force.

Fall of Barre regime (1986–1991

Major General Mohamed Siad Barre, Chairman of the Supreme Revolutionary Council.

In May 1986, Barre suffered serious injuries in a life-threatening automobile accident near
Mogadishu, when the car that was transporting him smashed into the back of a bus during a
heavy rainstorm. He was treated in a hospital in Saudi Arabia for head injuries, broken ribs and
shock over a period of a month. Lieutenant General Mohamed Ali Samatar, then Vice President,
subsequently served as de facto head of state for the next several months. Although Barre
managed to recover enough to present himself as the sole presidential candidate for re-election
over a term of seven years on December 23, 1986, his poor health and advanced age led to
speculation about who would succeed him in power. Possible contenders included his son-in-
law General Ahmed Suleiman Abdille, who was at the time the Minister of the Interior, in
addition to Samatar.
In an effort to hold on to power, Barre's ruling Supreme Revolutionary Council (SRC) became
increasingly authoritarian and arbitrary. This caused opposition to his regime to grow. Barre in
turn tried to quell the unrest by abandoning appeals to nationalism, relying more and more on
his own inner circle, and exploiting historical clan animosities. By the mid-1980s, more
resistance movements supported by Ethiopia's communist Derg administration had sprung up
across the country. Barre responded by ordering punitive measures against those he perceived
as locally supporting the guerillas, especially in the northern regions. The clampdown included
bombing of cities, with the northwestern administrative center of Hargeisa, a Somali National
Movement (SNM) stronghold, among the targeted areas in 1988.

In 1990, on the eve of the civil war, Somalia's first President Aden Abdullah Osman Daar and
about 100 other Somali politicians signed a manifesto advocating reconciliation. A number of
the signatories were subsequently arrested. Barre's heavy-handed tactics further strengthened
the appeal of the various rebel movements, although these groups' only common goal was to
overthrow of his regime.

Timeline

Red Berets, USC and SNM (1990–1992)

In December 1990, United Somali Congress (USC) militants secretly entered Mogadishu to lend
support to fellow clan members who had formed popular committees to defend themselves
from attacks by a rival clan of Barre supporters. The presence of the rebels in the capital
prompted a military intervention by the Red Berets (Duub Cas), an elite unit that served as
presidential bodyguards. Four weeks of battle between the Red Berets and USC guerrillas
ensued, over the course of which the USC brought in more forces into the city. By January 1991,
USC rebels had managed to defeat the Red Berets, in the process toppling Barre's regime. The
Somali National Army and all related military and security forces concurrently disbanded, with
indeterminate elements reconstituted as irregular regional forces and clan militias. After the
USC's victory over Barre's troops, the other rebel groups declined to cooperate with it, as each
instead drew primary support from their own constituencies. Among these other opposition
movements were the Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM) and Somali Democratic Alliance (SDA),
a Gadabuursi group which had been formed in the northwest to counter the Somali National
Movement Isaaq militia. For its part, the SNM initially refused to accept the legitimacy of the
provisional government that the USC had established. However, the SNM's former leader
Ahmed Mohamed Silanyo later proposed a power-sharing framework in March 1991 between
the SNM and USC under a new transitional government.
Many of the opposition groups subsequently began competing for influence in the power
vacuum that followed the ouster of Barre's regime. In the south, armed factions led by USC
commanders General Mohamed Farah Aidid and Ali Mahdi Mohamed, in particular, clashed as
each sought to exert authority over the capital. In the northwest, at the Burao conference of
April–May 1991, SNM secessionists proclaimed independence for the region under the name
Somaliland.They concurrently selected the SNM's leader Abdirahman Ahmed Ali Tuur as
president.

United Nations intervention (1992–1995): UNOSOM I, UNITAF, and UNOSOM II

UN Security Council Resolution 733 and UN Security Council Resolution 746 led to the creation
of UNOSOM I, the first mission to provide humanitarian relief and help restore order in Somalia
after the dissolution of its central government.

United Nations Security Council Resolution 794 was unanimously passed on December 3, 1992,
which approved a coalition of United Nations peacekeepers led by the United States. Forming
the Unified Task Force (UNITAF), the alliance was tasked with assuring security until
humanitarian efforts aimed at stabilizing the situation were transferred to the UN. Landing in
1993, the UN peacekeeping coalition started the two-year United Nations Operation in Somalia
II (UNOSOM II) primarily in the south.UNITAF's original mandate was to use "all necessary
means" to guarantee the delivery of humanitarian aid in accordance to Chapter VII of the
United Nations Charter.

During negotiations from 1993 to 1995, Somali principals had some success in reconciliation
and establishment of public authorities. Among these initiatives was the Mudug peace
agreement of June 1993 between Aidid's forces and the SSDF, which established a ceasefire
between the Haber Gedir and the Majeerteen clans, opened the trade routes, and formalized
the withdrawal of militants from Galkayo; the UNOSOM-mediated Hirab reconciliation of
January 1994 in Mogadishu between elders of the rival Abgal and Haber Gedir clans, which was
backed by politicians from these constituencies and concluded with a pact to end hostilities,
dismantle the green line partitioning the city, and remove road blocks; the UNOSOM-mediated
Kismayo initiative of 1994 between the SNA, SPM, SSDF, and representatives of nineteen clans
from the southern Lower Juba and Middle Juba regions; the 1994 Bardhere conference
between the Marehan and Rahanweyn (Digil and Mirifle), which resolved conflicts over local
resources; and the short-lived Digil-Mirifle Governing Council for the southern Bay and Bakool
regions, which was established in March 1995.

Some of the militias that were then competing for power saw UNOSOM's presence as a threat
to their hegemony. Consequently, gun battles took place in Mogadishu between local gunmen
and peacekeepers. Among these was the Battle of Mogadishu in October 1993, an unsuccessful
attempt by U.S. troops to apprehend faction leader Aidid. UN soldiers eventually withdrew
altogether from the country on March 3, 1995, having incurred more significant casualties.

USC/SSA (1995-2000)

According to Interpeace, after UNOSOM's departure in March 1995, military clashes between
local factions became shorter, generally less intense, and more localized. This was in part due to
the large-scale UN military intervention that had helped to curb the intense fighting between
the major factions, who then began to focus on consolidating gains that they had made. The
local peace and reconciliation initiatives that had been undertaken in the south-central part of
the country between 1993 and 1995 also generally had a positive impact.

Aidid subsequently declared himself President of Somalia on June 15, 1995. However, his
declaration received no recognition, as his rival Ali Mahdi Muhammad had already been elected
interim President at a conference in Djibouti and recognized as such by the international
community.

Consequently, Aidid's faction continued its quest for hegemony in the south. In September
1995, militia forces loyal to him attacked and occupied the city of Baidoa. Aidid's forces
remained in control of Baidoa from September 1995 to at least January 1996, while the local
Rahanweyn Resistance Army militia continued to engage his forces in the town's environs.

Fighting continued in the later half of 1995 in southern Kismayo and the Juba Valley, as well as
southwestern and central Somalia. However, despite these pockets of conflict, the Gedo and
Middle Shabelle regions, in addition to both the northeastern and northwestern parts of the
country remained relatively peaceful. A number of the regional and district administrations that
had been locally established in the preceding few years continued to operate in these areas.
In March 1996, Ali Mahdi was elected chairman of the United Somali Congress/Somali Salvation
Alliance (USC/SSA), based in northern Mogadishu. In the southern part of city, Aidid's forces
battled those of Osman Atto for control of the port of Merca as well as strategic areas in
Mogadishu. Fighting in Merca eventually ended after elders intervened, but continued in
Mogadishu. In August 1996, Aidid died from wounds incurred during combat in the Medina
area.

In 1998, a homegrown constitutional conference was held in the northeastern town of Garowe
over a period of three months. Attended by the area's political elite, traditional elders (Issims),
members of the business community, intellectuals and other civil society representatives, the
autonomous Puntland State of Somalia was subsequently officially established so as to deliver
services to the population, offer security, facilitate trade, and interact with both domestic and
international partners.

In 1999, the Rahanweyn Resistance Army took control of the southern Bay and Bakool. It
subsequently established the Southwestern State of Somalia regional administration.

In 2000, Ali Mahdi participated in another conference in Djibouti. He lost a re-election bid there
to Barre's former Interior Minister Abdiqasim Salad Hassan.

The TFG, Islamic Courts Union, and Ethiopia (2006–2009)

The early 2000s saw the creation of fledgling interim federal administrations, with the
Transitional National Government (TNG) established in 2000.After a two-year consultation
process, the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) was formed in 2004 by Somali politicians in
Nairobi under the auspices of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD). The
process also led to the establishment of the Transitional Federal Institutions (TFIs), and
concluded in October 2004 with the election of Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed as President.The TFG
thereafter became Somalia's internationally recognized government.

In the first half of 2005, disagreements arose between Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Ghedi
and Parliament Speaker Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden over where to base the TFG. Ghedi
preferred Jowhar while Adan favored Baidoa. In an effort to persuade President Yusuf, Adan
and a group of legislators and ministers visited Mogadishu to mobilize support from the local
business community. The two leaders, President Yusuf and members of parliament also met in
Kenya to work out a compromise. Concurrently, the TFG sent official delegations to Jowhar and
Baidoa to assess the suitability of each city as a temporary headquarters for the TFG before an
eventual relocation of government offices to Mogadishu. In June–July 2005, the Transitional
Federal Government established an interim seat in Jowhar due to ongoing insecurity in the
capital. The TFG later moved its temporary headquarters to Baidoa.

In order to stabilize the security situation, President Yusuf requested that the African Union
deploy military forces in Somalia. However, as the AU lacked the resources to do so over the
short term,President Yusuf enlisted soldiers from his own constituency. Ethiopia concurrently
provided military training for the new troops. These developments along with the U.S. funding
the ARPCT coalition of faction leaders alarmed many individuals in south-central Somalia, and
provided the ascendant Islamic Courts Union (ICU) with substantial recruitment opportunities.

A battle for Mogadishu followed in the first half of 2006 in which the ARPCT confronted the ICU.
However, with local support, the ICU captured the city in June of the year. It then expanded its
area of control in south-central Somalia over the following months, assisted militarily by
Eritrea.In an effort at reconciliation, TFG and ICU representatives held several rounds of talks in
Khartoum under the auspices of the Arab League. The meetings ended unsuccessfully due to
uncompromising positions retained by both parties.Hardline Islamists subsequently gained
power within the ICU, prompting fears of a Talibanization of the movement.

In December 2006, Ethiopian troops entered Somalia to assist the TFG against the advancing
Islamic Courts Union, initally winning the Battle of Baidoa. On December 28, 2006, the allied
forces recaptured the capital from the ICU. The offensive helped the TFG solidify its rule.
Ethiopian and TFG forces forced the ICU from Ras Kamboni between January 7–12, 2007. They
were assisted by at least two U.S. air strikes.On January 8, 2007, for the first time since taking
office, President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed entered Mogadishu from Baidoa to engage in
consultations with local business, religious and civil society representatives as the TFG moved
its base to the national capital. The interim administration had just established control over
much of the central and southern parts of the country. Government members and officials from
the International Contact Group on Somalia conurrently began planning broad-based
reconciliation talks, deployment of a peacekeeping force, disarmament, and a national
development strategy.According to AMISOM, the TFG gained widespread acceptance and made
significant progress in the areas of political institutionalization.

In Mogadishu, residents belonging to the same Hawiye clan as the ousted ICU resented the
Islamic Courts Union's defeat. They distrusted the TFG, which was at the time dominated by
individuals from the Darod clan, believing that it was dedicated to the advancement of Darod
interests in lieu of the Hawiye. Additionally, they feared reprisals for massacres committed in
1991 in Mogadishu by Hawiye militants against Darod civilians, and were dismayed by Ethiopian
involvement. Critics of the TFG likewise charged that its federalist platform was part of a plot by
the Ethiopian government to keep Somalia weak and divided. During its first few months in the
capital, the TFG was initially restricted to key strategic points, with the large northwestern and
western suburbs controlled by Hawiye rebels. In March 2007, President Ahmed announced
plans to forcibly disarm militias in the city. According to the ISA, a coalition of local insurgents
led by Al-Shabaab subsequently launched a wave of attacks against the TFG and Ethiopian
troops. The allied forces in return mounted a heavy-handed response. HRW alleged that all of
the warring parties were responsible for widespread violations of the laws of war, as civilians
were caught in the ensuing crossfire. Insurgents reportedly deployed militants and established
strongholds in heavily populated neighborhoods, launched mortar rounds from residential
areas, and targeted public and private individuals for assassination and violence. Although TFG
forces played a secondary role to the Ethiopian troops, they were in turn alleged to have failed
to efficaciously warn civilians in combat zones, impeded relief efforts, plundered property, and
mistreated detainees during mass arrests. Ethiopian forces were similarly reported to have
indiscriminately fired mortars, rockets and artillery shells into densely populated areas, looted
property, and in some instances shot and executed civilians.

In February 2007, the arms embargo on Somalia was amended to allow states to supply
weapons to the TFG's security forces, provided that they received prior approval from the UN's
Somalia Sanctions Committee. After long discussions, the African Union approved the initial
deployment of the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) in March 2007, with a mandate
to facilitate the re-constitution of Somalia's security forces. It established a small area of
protection around Mogadishu's airport, seaport, and Villa Somalia, and began to adopt a low-
key negotiating profile with key actors. In November 2008, following repeated violations of the
weapons blockade, the Security Council decided that an arms embargo could be imposed on
entities involved in such
Following their defeat, the Islamic Courts Union splintered into several different factions. Some
of the more radical elements, including Al-Shabaab, regrouped to continue their insurgency
against the TFG and oppose the Ethiopian military's presence in Somalia. Throughout 2007 and
2008, Al-Shabaab scored military victories, seizing control of key towns and ports in both
central and southern Somalia. At the end of 2008, the group had captured Baidoa but not
Mogadishu. On May 1, 2008, the U.S. made an airstrike on Dhusamareb, and followed on 3 May
with an another airstrike on the border town of Dobley. According to the International Crisis
Group, Ethiopia's leaders were surprised by the insurgency's persistence and strength and
frustrated at the TFG's chronic internal problems. By January 2009, Al-Shabaab and other
militias had managed to force the Ethiopian troops to retreat, leaving behind an understaffed
African Union peacekeeping force.

Due to a lack of funding and human resources, an arms embargo that made it difficult to re-
establish a national security force, and general indifference on the part of the international
community, President Yusuf found himself obliged to deploy thousands of troops from
Puntland to Mogadishu to sustain the battle against insurgent elements in the southern part of
the country. Financial support for this effort was provided by the autonomous region's
government. This left little revenue for Puntland's own security forces and civil service
employees, leaving the territory vulnerable to piracy and terrorist attacks.

On December 29, 2008, Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed announced before a united parliament in
Baidoa his resignation as President of Somalia. In his speech, which was broadcast on national
radio, Yusuf expressed regret at failing to end the country's seventeen-year conflict as his
government had mandated to do. He also blamed the international community for its failure to
support the government, and said that the speaker of parliament would succeed him in office
per the Charter of the Transitional Federal Government.

Coalition government

Between May 31 and June 9, 2008, representatives of Somalia's federal government and the
moderate Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS) group of Islamist rebels participated in
peace talks in Djibouti brokered by the former United Nations Special Envoy to Somalia,
Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah. The conference ended with a signed agreement calling for the
withdrawal of Ethiopian troops in exchange for the cessation of armed confrontation.
Parliament was subsequently expanded to 550 seats to accommodate ARS members, which
then elected Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, the former ARS chairman, to office. President Sharif
shortly afterwards appointed Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke, the son of slain former President
Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke, as the nation's new Prime Minister.

With the help of AMISOM, the coalition government also began a counteroffensive in February
2009 to assume full control of the southern half of the country. To solidify its rule, the TFG
formed an alliance with the Islamic Courts Union, other members of the Alliance for the Re-
liberation of Somalia, and Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a, a moderate Sufi militia. Furthermore, Al-
Shabaab and Hizbul Islam, the two main Islamist groups in opposition, began to fight amongst
themselves in mid-2009.

As a truce, in March 2009, Somalia's coalition government announced that it would re-
implement shari'a as the nation's official judicial system.However, conflict continued in the
southern and central parts of the country. Within months, the coalition government had gone
from holding about 70% of south-central Somalia's conflict zones, territory which it had
inherited from the previous Yusuf administration, to losing control of over 80% of the disputed
territory to the Islamist insurgents.

War in Somalia (2009–present)

In November 2010, a new technocratic government was elected to office, which enacted
numerous reforms. Among these, in its first 50 days in office, the new administration
completed its first monthly payment of stipends to government soldiers, and initiated the
implementation of a full biometric register for the security forces, aimed to take place within a
window of four months.

On August 6, 2011, Al-Shabaab was forced to withdraw from most areas of Mogadishu. Somali
government forces and their AMISOM allies subsequently launched offensives in January 2012
on the insurgent group's last foothold on the northern outskirts of the city. An ideological rift
within Al-Shabaab's leadership also emerged after the 2011 drought and the assassination of
top officials in the organization.
In October 2011, following a weekend preparatory meeting between Somali and Kenyan
military officials in the town of Dhobley, a coordinated operation between the Somali Armed
Forces and the Kenya Defence Forces began against the Al-Shabaab group of insurgents in
southern Somalia. The cross-border incursion had reportedly taken nearly two years of
planning, during which Kenyan officials had sought U.S. support. The mission was officially led
by the Somali army, with the Kenyan forces providing a support role. In early June 2012, Kenyan
troops were formally integrated into AMISOM.

In late September and early October 2012, Somali government troops, AMISOM's Kenyan
contingent, and the allied Raskamboni militia captured the strategic town of Kismayo from Al-
Shabaab. The southern city was a key source of revenue for the insurgent group and
constituted its last major stronghold.

By November 2012, around 85 percent of the disputed territory in Somalia was under
government control according to UN Special Representative for Somalia Augustine Mahiga. An
eventual exit date for the AMISOM troops would also be finalized once the Somali security and
police forces were adequately trained and prepared.

In January 2013, AMISOM's mandate was extended for another year following the adoption of
UNSC Resolution 2093. The 15-member UN Security Council therein also unanimously voted to
suspend Somalia's arms embargo on light weapons for a one year period. Additionally, the
Security Council welcomed the Federal Government's development of a new national security
strategy, urging the central authorities to accelerate the plan's implementation, further define
the Somali national security forces' composition, and identify capability gaps to assist their
international partners in better addressing them.

According to Laura Hammond of the School of Oriental and African Studies, the federal
government assisted by AMISOM had concurrently managed to re-capture all of Somalia's
major urban centers. However, Al-Shabaab still controlled many rural areas, where a number of
their operatives had reportedly disappeared into local communities in order to more effectively
exploit any mistakes by the central authorities.
In October 2013, the U.S. military began establishing the Mogadishu Coordinating Cell in the
Somali capital, which became fully operational in late December. The unit was formed at the
request of the Somali government and AMISOM, who had approached U.S. Department of
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel in September about the possibility. It consists of a small team of
fewer than five advisers, including planners and communicators between the Somali authorities
and AMISOM. The cell is intended to provide consultative and planning support to the allied
forces in order to enhance their capacity and to promote peace and security throughout the
country and wider region.

In November 2013, a senior Ethiopian government official announced that Ethiopia's troops
deployed in Somalia would soon join AMISOM, having already forwarded a request to do so. At
the time, an estimated 8,000 Ethiopian sodiers were stationed in the country. The Somali
Foreign Ministry welcomed the decision, asserting that the move would galvanize AMISOM's
campaign against Al-Shabaab.

Following the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 2124, which authorized the
deployment of 4,000 additional troops to augment AMISOM's 22,126 strong force, Ethiopian
troops formally joined the mission in January 2014. They are mandated to work alongside the
Somali National Army, with responsibility for the allied forces' operations in the southern Gedo,
Bakool and Bay regions. The Ethiopian troops represent AMISOM's sixth contingent after the
Djibouti, Burundi, Sierra Leone, Kenya and Uganda units.

In January 2014, at an African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, President Hassan Sheikh
Mohamud requested an extension of the UN Security Council's weapons purchasing mandate
for Somalia after its March expiration. He indicated that the Somali defence forces required
better military equipment and arms to more effectively combat militants. The following month,
the UN Somalia and Eritrea Monitoring Group released a report alleging that systematic abuses
by officials within the Somali government had allowed weapons to be diverted away from
Somalia's security forces and into the hands of faction leaders and Al-Shabaab militants. The
panel asserted that it had observed various issues and concerns surrounding the management
of weapons and ammunition stockpiles, including difficulties by monitors in accessing local
weapons stockpiles and in obtaining information about the arms. While conceding that the
monitoring panel's limited data made it impossible to quantify the scale of the alleged weapons
stock diversion, the monitors also suggested that one key adviser to the president was involved
in planning arms deliveries to Al-Shabaab and that shipments of weapons from Djibouti and
Uganda could not be accounted for. Somali Chief of Army Dahir Adan Elmi denied the
allegations, asserting that no public officials had sold or diverted weapons and that the arms
were instead in safe custody. He also indicated that a UN monitoring team had twice visited the
government's weapons and ammunition storage facilities in Mogadishu, where it was shown
the arms stockpiles for inspection and had reportedly expressed satisfaction. Additionally, the
Commander stated that the government had twice purchased weapons since the arms
embargo on Somalia was partially lifted. Elmi also asserted that Al-Shabaab already possessed
an adequate supply of weapons and mainly utilized explosive devices and sophisticated bombs.
He likewise suggested that the Monitoring Group had fabricated its allegations in an effort to
impede the functionality of the Somali government and military, while attempting to raise
funds for its own activities by trying to keep Al-Shabaab an indefinite concern.

In February 2014, a delegation led by Prime Minister of Somalia Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed met in
Addis Ababa with Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn to discuss strengthening
bilateral relations between the two countries. Ahmed commended Ethiopia's role in the
ongoing peace and stabilization process in Somalia as well as its support against Al-Shabaab,
and welcomed the Ethiopian military's decision to join AMISOM. Hailemariam Desalegn in turn
pledged his administration's continued support for the peace and stabilization efforts in
Somalia, as well as its preparedness to assist in initiatives aiming to build up the Somali security
forces through experience-sharing and training. The meeting concluded with a tripartite
Memorandum of Understanding agreeing to promote partnership and cooperation, including a
cooperative agreement to develop the police force, a second cooperative agreement covering
the information field, and a third cooperative agreement on the aviation sector.

On 5 March 2014, the UN Security Council unanimously voted to extend the partial easing of
the arms embargo on Somalia until 25 October of the year. The resolution permits the Somali
government to purchase light weapons, with the stipulation that all member states must take
steps to prevent the direct or indirect supply, transfer or sale of arms and military equipment to
individuals or entities outside of the Somali security forces. The Somali government is also
required to routinely report on the structural status of the military, as well as provide
information on the extant infrastructure and protocols designed to ensure the military
equipment's safe delivery, storage and maintenance.

In early March 2014, Somali security forces and AMISOM groops launched an intensified
military operation to remove Al-Shabaab from the remaining areas in southern Somalia under
its control. According to Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed, the government subsequently
launched stabilization efforts in the newly liberated areas, which included Rab Dhuure, Hudur,
Wajid and Burdhubo. The Ministry of Defence was providing ongoing reassurance and security
to the local residents, and supplying logistical and security support. Additionally, the Ministry of
Interior was prepared to support and put into place programs to assist local administration and
security. A Deputy Minister and several religious scholars were also dispatched to all four towns
to coordinate and supervise the federal government's stabilization initiatives. By March 26, the
allied forces had liberated ten towns within the month, including Qoryoley and El Buur. UN
Special Representative for Somalia Nicholas Kay described the military advance as the most
significant and geographically extensive offensive since AU troops began operations in 2007.

Casualties

According to Necrometrics, around 500,000 people are estimated to have been killed in Somalia
since the start of the civil war in 1991.The Armed Conflict Location & Event Dataset estimates
that 3,300 people were killed during the conflict in 2012, with the number of fatalities dropping
slightly in 2013 to 3,150.