Somali National Army

Origins

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

Following its formation, the SNA was equipped with primarily British and Italian equipment from the two former Somalilands, dating from World War II. In 1962 it was noted that the SNA possessed a total of five tanks, all of which were Comet tanks. Other vehicles included six Ferret armoured car and eighteen Universal Carriers.^[1]

1970s

Following the 1969 Somali coup d'état, the army assumed a central political role in the country. SNA officers of the Supreme Revolutionary Council (SRC) ran the country's ministerial and administrative posts, while the rank and file of the army was involved more deeply in civic action programs such as sand dune stabilization, road construction and refugee resettlement.^[3]

By 1970, the Somali National Army was 10,000 men strong and possessed 150 tanks, most being Soviet T-34's.^[4] By 1975 this figure had risen to 250 tanks and 300 armored personnel carriers.^[3]

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

1980s

The 1982 Ethiopian–Somali Border War occurred while the SNA severely under-equipped and ill-prepared for conflict following serious losses in early 1978 at the end of the Ogaden War.^[5] A coalition of Ethiopian troops and rebels of the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF) launched an invasion on 30 June 1982.^[6] Despite heavy ground and air attacks, the Somali army garrison stationed nearby at the town of Beledweyne inflicted heavy losses on the invading forces and prevented the Ethiopians from capturing a vital roadway connecting north and south Somalia. Soon after a stalemate ensued.^[7] 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.^[8] The Somali army was beginning to experience significant ammunition and communications equipment shortages, all the while lacking both anti-tank and anti-aircraft weaponry.^[9]

Over the 1980s the SNA became increasingly politicized and the officer corps was distorted by promotions being given on a clan basis by the ruling elite rather than on a meritocratic one. By 1987 the armed forces had begun the process of disintegration.^[10]

During the late 1980s, the Somali army stocks suffered serious shortages of ammunition and the morale of various military formations reached a low.^[11] A 1989 strategic survey observed, "...morale has been reported to be low for lack of such vital items as ammunition and boots".^[12] Thus the SNA was also increasingly beset with mutinies of soldiers.^[13] 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.^[14] Fighting escalated between the SNA and Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM) in the south throughout the fall of 1989.^[15]

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.^[11] 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.^[16]

1990s

By mid-1990, United Somali Congress (USC) rebels had captured many of the towns and villages surrounding Mogadishu.^[17] 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.^[18]

2000s

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.^[10] 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.^[19] 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).^[20] More than 80% of the military deserted the government by the end of 2008.^[21] 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.^[20]

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).^[10] 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.^[22] By this point the SNA was estimated to be 5,000 to 7,600 strong. By 2014 the figure had risen to around 20,000 troops.^[10]

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.^[23] 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.^[10]

In 2017 the Turkish Armed Forces opened up a 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.^[24]

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.^[25]

Since 2019, Eritrea has been helping the reestablishment of the Somali National Army. That year it clandestinely accepted 5,000 recruits^[26] in an operation overseen by NISA chief Fahad Yasin.^[27]

Army equipment, 1981

The following were the Somali National Army's major weapons in 1981:^[28]

Army equipment, 1989

Prior arms acquisitions included the following equipment, much of which was unserviceable as of June 1989:^[29]

293 main battle tanks (30 Centurion from Kuwait,^[30] 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.

Officers

More information Rank group, General / flag officers ...

Rank group	General / flag officers										Senior officers						Junior officers
Somali National Army[31] v t e
					Sareeye guud		Sareeye gaas		Sareeye guuto		Gashaanle sare		Gashaanle dhexe		Gashaanle		Dhamme		Laba xídígle			Xídígle

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Enlisted

More information Rank group, Senior NCOs ...

Rank group	Senior NCOs																						Junior NCOs						Enlisted
Somali National Army[31] v t e																													No insignia
	Musharax sarkaal			Sadex xarígle			Laba xarígle		Xarígle		Sadex alífle												Laba alífle				Alífle		Dable

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