Somaliland Armed Forces

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Somaliland Armed Forces
Ciidamada qalabka sida ee Soomaaliland (Somali)
Somaliland Armed Forces emblem
Somaliland Armed Forces flag
Founded1993; 31 years ago (1993)
Service branches
Chief of Staff Major general Nuh Ismail Tani
Personnel
Fit for
military service
300,000, age 15–49
Reaching military
age annually
500,000
Active personnel36,000 est.[1][failed verification]
Expenditures
Budget$115 million (2019)[2]
Percent of GDP0.6%
Industry
Foreign suppliers United Kingdom
 Yemen
 Ethiopia
 European Union
Related articles
HistoryMilitary history of Somaliland
RanksMilitary ranks of Somaliland

The Somaliland National Armed Forces (

Somaliland Police Force, the Somaliland Custodial Corps, the Somaliland Immigration and Border Control and the Somaliland Fire Brigade. There is no air force.[3]
The Armed Forces is under the command of President
Abdiqani Mohamoud Aateye
is the designated minister that oversees the armed forces.

Somaliland has 45 T-54/55 tanks and, 20 armoured fighting vehicles, 50 rocket projectors, and has 12 pieces of artillery in its national army.

The estimated total strength of the Somaliland is estimated by 100,000 men. There are fewer than 6,000 men and women working for the Somaliland police force overall. The Special Police Unit (SPU), which protects foreign organizations and individuals who work for them, and the Rapid Response Units (RRU), which are specialized counterterrorism forces, are both housed inside the police force. Somaliland has 7 defender class boats and 1 coast guard vessels in its coast guard, and The coast guard of Somaliland numbers a few hundred in personnel.[4]

Somaliland spends $115 million budget on its armed forces, its largest government expenditure.[2] Due to a United Nations arms embargo on Somalia, the state is not allowed to procure weapons.[5]

History

Protectorate period

Logo of the Somaliland Scouts

In 1914, the Somaliland Camel Corps was formed in British Somaliland and saw service before, during, and after the Italian invasion of the territory during World War II.[6]

In 1942, the Somaliland Scouts were tasked with defending the reserve.[7]

Independence and Union with Somalia

Somaliland became independent on 26 June 1960 as the

Trust Territory of Somalia (the former Italian Somaliland) followed suit five days later. On 1 July 1960, the two territories united to form the Somali Republic.[8]

After independence, the Somaliland Scouts merged with the former Dervishes to form the 5,000 strong Somali National Army.

War of Independence

In 1981, the Somali National Movement was one of the first rebel groups to form in the country.[9]

Then Somali dictator Siad Barre accused them of being separatist groups and ordered the extermination of the Isaaq tribe,[10][11] to which the rebel group belonged. The movement fought a guerrilla war in the northwest of the country with the aim of overthrowing and replacing the military government.[12] After the dictator's defeat and special developments in 1991, the Somali sultans decided to abolish unity in 1960 and declared Somaliland an independent state.

Restoration of sovereignty

In 1991, after Somaliland reasserted its

government faced great problems with armed groups and armed clans, who were boycotting roads to earn a living.[13][14]

The new government launched the Somaliland peace process jointly with the Somali National Movement. The communities in Somaliland negotiated what led to the Great Reconciliation Conference in Borama in 1993 which allowed the transfer of power from the Somali National Movement.[15] An interim government for a new civil administration, paving the way for democratic governance and stability.[15]

After a civilian government led by Muhammad Haji Ibrahim Egal disarmed armed clans and armed groups and recruited armed forces from all over Somaliland.

The Armed Forces of Somaliland was officially established on 2 February 1994.[16]

Border War

In 1998

Sool and Sanaag
. Which led to tribal and armed conflicts, as a result, The armed forces of Somaliland withdrew from some cities in the eastern regions to avoid casualties until 2007 when the Somaliland communities in the eastern regions demanded that they intervene.

Commanders