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My Friend Jamal - The Civil War in Somalia
Somalia is situated in the Horn of Africa. The central government authority, the TFG, reign in the central part of Somalia but the rest of the country is run by small independent warring groups. Whilst the northern part of Somalia is quite peaceful there has been and still is a great deal of violence and war in many areas.
The violence began in the late 1980’s when rebel groups in Somalia overthrew the leader of Somalia at that time. His name was Siad Barre. Many of the rebels were angry at the way he was running the country. Civil War broke out. The war grew bloody and many people died. The war became what would be known as a humanitarian crisis.
The fighting among rival groups resulted in the killing and starvation of thousands of Somalis. Many Somalis were forced to leave their homes families and move to other places where it was safer. Often Somali families moved to South Africa where they believed they could find a better life.
Conflict between rival factions continued throughout the 1990s. The UN assisted Somalia with food aid but did not send peacekeeping troops into the country.
In the late 1990’s the country looked as if it could be improving. Yet it was still not a peaceful place and there was still fighting amongst rival groups. Even after the main civil war has ended there was and still is guerilla war between Ethiopia and the Somali government. Since 1991 around half a million Somalis have died because of the violence.
Currently the crisis has worsened due to drought in the country. Over 2.5 million are in need of aid. However because of the extremist attacks it has become hard for the UN to deliver aid to the country itself.
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