Page 138 - Conflitti Militari e Popolazioni Civili - Tomo II

640 XXXIV Congresso della CommIssIone InternazIonale dI storIa mIlItare • CIHm

nationalised much of the modern economy of Somalia, while soon afterwards (1974-75) a
massive drought caused widespread starvation. Barre’s support for uprisings by ethnic So-
mali’s in Ethiopia’s Ogaden region from mid 1977 onwards resulted in a devastating conflict
with Ethiopia that lasted well into the 1980s (a peace accord was finally signed in 1988).
The Barre regime was notoriously repressive and from 1987 onwards the country was
ravaged by internal conflict. Central authority soon disintegrated and by 1990 most of the
country was a patchwork of contending fiefdoms, controlled by clan chiefs. After Barre’s
1
army was driven out of Mogadishu by the Militia of General Muhammed Farah “Aideed”, he
fled the country in January 1991.
2
As Somalia rapidly spiralled into anarchy and chaos with factional fighting and starva-
tion, successive international intervention efforts failed. The first two (UNOSOM I and
3
UNITAF) were small scale deployments, but in accordance with Security Council Resolution
814, UNOSOM II took over, with a mandate to establish a new government, police force,
justice system and to rebuild the economy. UNOSOM II was a multinational force, consist-
ing of 20 000 peacekeepers, 8000 logistical staff and 3000 civilians from 23 nations. As their
mandate included peace enforcement, the militias would have to disarm. aideed was seen
4
as the principle obstacles to UNOSOM achieving its aims. A number of efforts to arrest or
kill Aideed failed, and after the infamous “Black Hawk Down” incident, or the “Day of the
Rangers” as the Somalis refer to it (October 1993), the US withdrew from Somalia by March
1994. Soon the other governments lost interest and the UN departed, leaving the warring
5
factions to their own designs.
Various subsequent mediation efforts failed as many of the warring factions receiving
external support (from Ethiopia, Eritrea, the Saudi Peninsula, etc) and fought for local auton-
omy. In the north, the breakaway region of Somaliland aspires to be recognised as a separate
state, while Puntland have also declared itself as an autonomous region. In June 2006 the Un-
ion of Islamic Courts (UIC) seized Mogadishu and much of the south. However, at the end of
2006 forces loyal to the interim administration (a Transitional Federal Government created in
2004) seized control from the Islamists with the backing of Ethiopian troops, which caused a
new surge in violence. After 17 years of violence and anarchy, Somalia is still without strong
central government authority. It is one of the failed post-Cold War efforts at conflict resolu-
tion and the international community have become little more than bystanders.
With utter civil lawlessness, banditry, mass starvation, no organised government, and
warlords fighting each other for the spoils, policing along Somalia’s coast and harbours dis-
appeared. Somalia was also hit by a series of natural disasters and droughts, causing the
humanitarian situation to become extremely serious and millions of Somalis depends on
humanitarian aid (of which 80% is delivered by sea).

1 M. Meredith, The State of Africa. A History of Fifty Years of Independence (Jonathan Ball, Johannesburg,
2005), p.469.
2 G. arnold, Africa. A Modern History (Atlantic, London, 2006), pp.660-3.
3 A. Oyebade and A. Olao, Africa after the Cold War. The Changing Perspectives on Security (Africa World
Press, Trenton NJ, 1998), p.162.
4 M. Meredith, The State of Africa, p.478.
5 M. Meredith, The State of Africa, pp.482-3.