Military of Somalia

Somalia's Military

Before the outbreak of the civil war in the early 90s and the disintegration of the Armed Forces, Somalia's relationship with the USSR and latterly  with the US enabled it to build the biggest army in Africa. The creation of the Transitional Government in 2004 saw the re-enlistment of the Somalian military , which now has a force of 10,000 troops. The Somalian Ministry of Defence is responsible for the Armed Forces.

After nearly 20 years of absence, 500 or so marines were being trained in 2010 as a beginning to re-establish the Somalian Naval force addition, now there are plans for the re-generation of the Somalian Air Force, with six combat and six transport planes already bought. A police force was also formed, with the first police academy to be built in Somalia for quite a few years opening in December 2005 at Armo, 100 km south of Bosaso, the commercial capital of the Puntland region. Also, construction began in 2010 on a naval base Bandar Siyada, situated 25 km west of Bosaso. The naval base is funded by the Puntland administration along with Saracen International, a UK-based security company. It will include a center for training recruits, and a command post for the naval force.