Somalia

B

Independence

On July 1, 1960, by agreement with the UN Trusteeship Council, Somalia was granted independence, merging with the former British protectorate of Somaliland, which had become independent on June 26. The country’s first president, Aden Abdullah Osman Daar, elected in 1960, was defeated in 1967 by the former prime minister Abdi Rashid Ali Shirmarke. On October 15, 1969, Shirmarke was assassinated, and days later a military group, led by Major-General Muhammad Siad Barre, seized power. In 1970 Barre declared Somalia a socialist state, and in the following years most of the country’s modern economy was nationalized. A drought in 1974 and 1975 caused widespread starvation.

C

War with Ethiopia

In mid-1977 ethnic Somalis living in the Ogadēn region of Ethiopia, just across the border, began a war to gain self-determination. The rebels were armed by Somalia, which also contributed troops to the war effort. By late 1977 the Somalis had captured most of the Ogadēn. Ethiopia, aided by Cuba and the USSR after the United States, previously its closest ally, had refused help, reasserted control over the region in early 1978.

Somalia’s army suffered heavy losses. Ethiopia also provided support to Somalia’s dissident movements, based mainly in the north, who were able to launch attacks from across the border. Subsequent fighting in the Ogadēn precipitated a flood of refugees—estimated at close to 2 million in 1981—into Somalia. The United States gave both humanitarian and military aid and was in return granted use of the naval facilities at Berbera, previously a Soviet base. Hostilities with Ethiopia continued sporadically until 1988, when a peace accord was signed.

D

Civil War and Famine

Following the peace accord, the dissident Somali National Movement continued its military campaign against the Barre government, capturing parts of the north. New opposition movements—each drawing support from a different clan—also emerged in the late 1980s. The civil war intensified, and Barre was forced to flee the capital in January 1991. During the next two years about 50,000 people were killed in factional fighting, and an estimated 300,000 died of starvation as it became impossible to distribute food within areas of the war-ravaged nation.

E

UN Involvement and Withdrawal

In December 1992 a UN peacekeeping force led by US Marines was sent to restore order, while international agencies tried to resume food distribution and other humanitarian aid. However, violence continued to engulf the country, and the peacekeeping force became embroiled in open confrontation in which a number of UN soldiers, and hundreds of Somalis, died. By the end of 1995, as a result of international criticism of its operations, the UN force had been completely withdrawn from the country.

The main figure who had ousted Barre, General Muhammad Farah Aydid, died in August 1996, having been wounded in fighting near Mogadishu. He had set out to unite Somalia through his Somali National Alliance, while his main opponent, Ali Mahdi Muhammad, who formed the Somali Salvation Alliance, competed with him for the presidency. Each man claimed to head separate governments in the war-torn country. Aydid had succeeded in capturing parts of the south and the towns of Xuddur, Dünsoor, and Doolow. Rivalries within his alliance led to further conflict, largely connected with control of the banana trade.

F

Breakaway Republics

Aydid was succeeded by his son, Hussein, who continued to lead armed groups against the opposing alliance, mainly in and around the capital. President Muhammad Ibrahim Egal of the breakaway northern region of Somaliland, awaiting UN recognition, planned to set up a constitution and possible elections. In February 1997 Egal was re-elected.

In January 1997 a meeting was held in Addis Ababa to set up a government of national unity, but Hussein Aydid accused Ethiopia of outside interference. In March a provisional peace agreement was established between most of the factions involved.

A series of natural disasters wreaked havoc in Somalia in 1997: renewed drought in March led to famine, and widespread floods in November killed over 1,400 people, rendered 230,000 homeless, and destroyed sorghum crop fields. Also in November, many European aid workers were withdrawn following a number of abductions by armed gangs.

On December 22, 1997 the Cairo Declaration was signed by all factions, including Somaliland, and plans were drawn up for a transitional government. Elections were intended for no later than 2003. In January 1998 the peace agreement was celebrated by thousands of people in Mogadishu. However, the celebrations proved to be premature—a conference of the country's clans was postponed in February, and fighting continued after the peace agreement was reported dead in March. Brief hopes for peace in July were dashed when splits appeared between the main faction leaders over a separate region in the north-east, and the autonomous region of Puntland was declared in August. A legislature in the secessionist region was inaugurated in September.

In a referendum held in Somaliland in May 2001 over 90 per cent of voters supported the proposal for a change in the constitution to allow the region to seek independence from Somalia. In July in Puntland, Yusuf Haji Nur declared himself interim president of the autonomous region.