Ministry of Defense (TFG)

Main article: Military of Somalia

The Ministry of Defense of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of the Somali Republic is the government body in charge of the TFG armed forces

Established by Transitional Federal Charter

The Somali National Army (SNA) had dissolved after the downfall of the government of Siad Barre in the early 1990s. For many years, the country was run by independent warlords and ethnic tribal militias. In February 2004, the establishment of a new national military was granted in the Transitional Federal Charter, Chapter 10, Article 65:

CHAPTER TEN

ARTICLE 65
SECURITY AND DEFENSE FORCES.
1. The Somali Republic shall have a national armed force consisting of the army and police.
2. The Armed forces shall faithfully abide and preserve the Charter, the laws of the land and unity of the country.

3. The law shall regulate the structure and functions of the armed forces and the system of cooperation and coordination amongst them in the fulfilment of their institutional duties.

Minister of Defense

• Minister of Defense: Colonel Barre Adan Shire Hiiraale
• Deputy Minister of Defense: Salad Ali Jelle

Opposition from Islamic Courts Union

Main articles: Somali Civil War, Rise of the Islamic Courts Union (2006), and War in Somalia (2006-present)

The creation of a national army was opposed militarily by the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), which sought to establish national institutions based on Islamic sharia law. However, diplomatically the ICU had agreed to work with the TFG for the creation of a national army, as noted in this report before the United Nations Security Council:

On 4 September 2006, the Transitional Federal Government and the Supreme Council of the Islamic Courts signed an agreement in which they, inter alia, agreed to: (a) reconstitute the Somali national army and national police force and work towards reintegration of the forces of the Islamic Courts, the Transitional Federal Government and other armed militias once an agreement on a political programme was in place...

The ICU was defeated in December 2006 at a series of battles by the TFG, along with allies from Ethiopia and the autonomous Somali states of Puntland and Galmudug. These include the battles of Baidoa, Beledweyne, Bandiradley and Jowhar. The final major operation took place in January 2007 at the Battle of Ras Kamboni, though scattered insurgency and inter-clan violence remains an issue.

External sources

• Somali Government