Military history of Somalia: a timeline from Adal to AUSSOM

Show who took part and what each event meant for unity ## In short

This page puts Somalia's wars and armed forces in date order. Each line links to a full page with its sources. For wars with Ethiopia alone, see Ethiopia and Somalia at war: a timeline. For deaths by year since 1989, see deaths in armed conflict by year.

Before 1884

1500 to 1884

1. 1527–1543

   Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim led Adal against Ethiopia. The Arabic chronicle Futuh al-Habasha, written by a man in his army, names Somali clans among his forces (Basset, Histoire de la conquête de l'Abyssinie, 1897). He was killed at Wayna Daga on 21 February 1543 after Portugal sent musketeers to Ethiopia (Whiteway, The Portuguese Expedition to Abyssinia, 1902). See Imam Ahmad and the Adal campaigns and the end of the war, 1543–1560.

2. About 1550–1700

   The Ajuran state held the southern rivers and coast. See the Ajuran state.

1884 to 1960

1884 to 1920

1. 1899–1920

   The Dervishes of Sayid Maxamed Cabdulle Xasan fought Britain, Italy and Ethiopia, until British aircraft and ground forces took Taleh in February 1920 (War Office, Official History of the Operations in Somaliland, 1907). See the Dervish movement.

1920 to 1960

1. 1925–1927

   Italy ended the north-eastern sultanates by force. See the Majeerteen and Hobyo sultanates.

2. 1940–1941

   Italy took British Somaliland in August 1940; British forces retook it in March 1941 and drove Italy from East Africa (Library of Congress). See fascist rule and the war.

1960 to 1991: the national army

1960 to 1969

1. 12 April 1960

   The Somali army was founded from the police mobile group (Darawishta) and the British Somaliland Scouts. See the Somali armed forces, 1960–1991 and the Somali National Army.

2. 1963–1967

   Fighting in Kenya's Northern Frontier District after Britain kept the area in Kenya. See the Northern Frontier District.

3. February–March 1964

   Border war with Ethiopia, ended by a ceasefire agreed in Khartoum (Library of Congress). See the 1964 border war.

1969 to 1991

1. 21 October 1969

   The army took power and suspended the constitution (Library of Congress). See the Siad Barre era.

2. July 1977 – March 1978

   The Ogaden war. Somali forces took most of the region, but "Soviet arms and about 17,000 Cuban troops turned the war", and Somalia withdrew on 9 March 1978 (Library of Congress, Ethiopia: A Country Study). See the Ogaden war.

3. 1978–1991

   Armed movements rose against the government: the SSDF, SNM, SPM and USC. See the armed movements.

4. July 1982

   Ethiopian forces with SSDF fighters took Balanbale and Galdogob. See the 1982 border war.

5. 1988–1989

   Government forces bombed Hargeisa and Burao and killed thousands of Isaaq civilians (Gersony, Why Somalis Flee, 1989). See the Isaaq genocide.

6. December 1990 – January 1991

   The USC took Mogadishu and the army dissolved. See the fall of Mogadishu.

1991 to 2009: factions and interventions

1991 to 2000

1. 1991–1992

   War between USC factions in Mogadishu, and fighting across the south. See the collapse, 1991–2000 and the Somali Civil War.

2. 1992–1995

   UN missions and a US-led force. See UNOSOM I and the battle of Mogadishu, 3–4 October 1993.

3. 1999–2006

   Militia alliances fought for Kismayo and the Juba Valley. See the Juba Valley Alliance.

2000 to 2012

1. February–June 2006

   The courts' militias defeated the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism (ARPCT) in Mogadishu. See the battle for Mogadishu, 2006.

2. December 2006 – January 2009

   Ethiopian forces backed the transitional government against an insurgency. See the war in Somalia, 2006–2009 and Ethiopia's military in Somalia.

3. March 2007

   The African Union mission AMISOM arrived, led by Ugandan troops. See AMISOM.

2009 to now: the war against al-Shabaab

1. 2009–2011

   Al-Shabaab held most of Mogadishu until 6 August 2011. See the war since 2009 and al-Shabaab.

2. October 2011

   Kenyan forces entered southern Somalia; Kismayo fell to Kenyan, AU and Somali forces in 2012. See Kenya's military in Somalia and the battles for Kismayo.

2020 to now

1. 1 April 2022

   ATMIS replaced AMISOM; on 1 January 2025 AUSSOM replaced ATMIS. See ATMIS and AUSSOM.

2. August 2022 onward

   Government forces and clan fighters (Macawisley) opened the largest campaign against al-Shabaab in a decade. See the offensive against al-Shabaab.

3. Foreign forces

   For each country's troops, trainers and bases, see foreign forces in Somalia.

Who suffered?

1. Civilians in every war,

   above all the Isaaq in 1988–1989, the people of Mogadishu since 1990, and people across the south since 2006. See the linked pages and deaths in armed conflict by year.

Sources differ

1. When the national army ended

   Most accounts date its collapse to January 1991, when the government fell. Its rebuilding is dated from 2008–2009. See the Somali National Army.

Read the primary sources yourself

• War Office, Official History of the Operations in Somaliland, 1901–04 (1907): archive.org.
• Library of Congress, Somalia: A Country Study (1993): text; Ethiopia: A Country Study: text.
• Robert Gersony, Why Somalis Flee (1989): PDF.