On August 2, The suicide bomber detonated an explosive device at the entrance of the Beach View Hotel on Mogadishu’s Lido beach. The attack took place in the Somalia capital, which is frequented by government officials, businessmen and youths. Before the shock had subsided, five attackers stormed the site and opened fire on civilians. By the time security officials neutralised the attackers, at least 37 people had lost their lives and 210 were injured. The attack was later claimed by al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab, which has waged a war against the Somali government for the past 17 years.
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For al-Shabab, the operation was another part of its strategy, as it has carried out similar attacks across the Horn of Africa. In March, the group seized another hotel in Mogadishu, killing 27 people, including three members of parliament and three soldiers. The deadliest attack in the country’s history was a double car bombing in Mogadishu in October 2017, which killed 358 people and injured 228. These attacks have also spread across the border into Kenya.
But as far as Somalia is concerned, al-Shabab is just one chapter in a country’s history that is filled with dictatorship, clan warfare, famine, piracy, corruption and a lack of resources, all of which led the US-based The Fund for Peace to declare the country a failed state for the fourth consecutive year in 2011. That is slowly changing, as the United Nations in 2021 said the former failed state is on a fragile path to progress.
On the formation of the state of Somalia
From the seventh to the 19th centuries, Somalia and neighboring regions were ruled by a number of sultanates in which the Sunni sub-sect of Islam was the primary religion. Colonial powers arrived in the 19th century, and the region was occupied by British, Italian, and French forces—the first two holding the largest share of the region.
After the withdrawal of British and Italian forces from the northern and southern regions in 1960, the two regions came together and formed modern Somalia. Democracy prevailed for a short time until 1969 when Siad Barre came to power through a military coup.
Siad Barre proposed an administrative policy called ‘scientific socialism’ through which he nationalized banks and insurance companies, promoted literacy and strengthened ties with the Soviet Union. Despite Somalis being a largely homogenous group, different clans ruled. However, Barre ensured that loyalty to the major clans such as the Isaaq, Darood, Dir and Hawiye remained unchallenged.
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The first signs of the authoritarian leader’s downfall came in 1977 during the Ogaden War between Somalia and its neighbour, Ethiopia.
Ogaden War
Imperialist European powers moved into the Horn of Africa and arbitrarily drew borders to separate regions as per their convenience. Similar to what happened in other parts of the world, this process turned the lives of the natives upside down, who were separated from their societies and cultures and pushed into alien living conditions. Ogaden was no different. A part of the region, which fell under Christian-dominated Ethiopia, was home to many Muslim Somalis.
Moreover, despite the colonial legacy, a second factor contributed to the region’s complex history – the region was a breeding ground for Cold War politics. The conflict began in July 1977, when Ethiopia was an ally of the US and Somalia was supported by the USSR.
But when the war ended in March 1978, Ethiopia and Somalia were receiving aid from the Soviet Union and the United States respectively.
Despite initial gains, the war proved costly for Somalia as it had to retreat from the Ogaden region and deal with an influx of Ogaden Somali refugees.
Short of finances and resources, Barre began to lose his grip on the country’s administration. Some policies did not go down well with some clans, who turned against each other. By 1991, Barre fled Somalia after clans backed by Libya and Ethiopia rebelled. The northern part of the country declared independence as Somaliland; and wars between clans raged, killing about 300,000 Somalis in one year.
Whatever international food aid Somalia received was siphoned by local thugs and militia leaders.
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US, UN and other international troops took turns entering the country to try to pacify the situation, but to no avail. In October 1993, US Marines tried to arrest a clan leader and his officers, leading to militiamen shooting down two US Black Hawk helicopters (depicted in the 2001 film The Secret of the Dead). black Hawk Down18 Americans lost their lives and 300 Somalis were killed in the effort to retrieve the helicopter crew.
Attempts to establish transitional governments also proved futile, so much so that by 2004, at least 14 attempts had been made to establish a central governing authority. Although a parliament came to power in 2012 and elected Hassan Sheikh Mohamud as president, it did not bring much improvement in the lives of the people. Somalia follows a federal system of governance, making the loyalty of clan leaders crucial. The hostility between the clans made it impossible to govern the country. The role of Ethiopia has also not escaped notice. It has been accused of interfering in Somalia’s affairs to safeguard its interests.
Rise of al-Shabaab
As famine spread across many parts of the country, al-Shabab, a militant group preaching a Salafi version of Islam, expanded its reach across Somalia, seizing Mogadishu in 2006.
Its origins are linked to Al-Ittihad al-Islamiyya (AIAI), a militant group that rose to prominence in the 1990s after the collapse of Barre’s regime. Its key members were trained in West Asia and funded by al-Qaeda.
However, radical young members of the AIAI demanded strict Sharia rule and swore allegiance to the Islamic Courts Union, and eventually became its armed wing, al-Shabab.
In order to win back Mogadishu from Al-Shabaab, Somalia’s transitional government sought Ethiopia’s help in 2006. Although the city was eventually regained, Al-Shabaab’s numbers began to grow as the operation was perceived as an invasion by a foreign force – a narrative that would be propagated by Al-Shabaab in the future to garner support. Despite carrying out suicide attacks and terror attacks in Somalia as well as Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda, Al-Shabaab gains legitimacy by establishing itself as an alternative form of governance for the people of its country. The terrorist group has stepped in to fill the void left by the corruption-ridden government machinery.
The Somalia government, with assistance from the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and the Somali National Army (SMA), succeeded in driving out al-Shabaab from Mogadishu and other port cities such as Kismayo and Baraawe.
Al-Shabab has moved south, making the southern town of Jilib its de facto capital, and now concentrates its activities in Somalia’s rural areas, where it provides security services and mediates disputes.
The terrorist group also derives revenue from the illegal charcoal trade.
Al-Shabab’s reduced activity and its being confined to rural areas is seen as a victory for the armed forces. Still, the sporadic attacks they carry out have killed 4,000 people between 2010 and 2020, making it overtaken by Boko Haram as Africa’s biggest terror threat.
More importantly, these attacks have dealt a psychological blow to a population that has not tasted peace for a long time.