Somaliland Armed Forces

Somaliland Armed Forces
Ciidanka Qaranka
Current form 1997
Service branches Army
Navy
Headquarters Hargeisa
Leadership
President Muse Bihi Abdi
Minister of Defense Ahmed Haji Abdi Adami
Chief of Defense Nuh Ismail Tani
Manpower
Military age 18-45
Active personnel 10,000[1]

The Somaliland National Armed Forces (Somali: Ciidanka Qaranka Jamhuuriyada Somaliland) are the military service of the Republic of Somaliland, a self-declared state that is internationally recognized as an autonomous region of Somalia. They are composed of two active military branches: the army and the navy. There is no air force.[2]

The Somaliland Police Force is also a part of the internal security forces and subordinate to the military. The Armed Forces is under the command of President Muse Bihi Abdi, who is the Commander-in-chief. Minister of Defence Ahmed Haji Abdi Adami is the designated minister that oversees the armed forces.

Somaliland spends more on its armed forces than any other item, allocating 30% of budget to the military. Due to a United Nations arms embargo on Somalia, the region is not allowed to procure weapons.[3]

Commanders

Chief of Staff
NameTook officeLeft officeNote
Nuh Ismail Tani[3]200311 December 2011Dismissed
Mohamed Hasan Abdullahi 2011 2012
?
Nuh Ismail Tani 2016

Army

Personnel

The sub of Somaliland army İn Somaliland has long operated without a formal rank structure. However, in December 2012, Somaliland defense ministry announced that a chain of command had been developed and would be implemented by January 2013.[2]

Equipment

When the former Somalia ruler Siad Barre was ousted in 1990, Somaliland inherited the military equipment, hardware and facilities that were within the territories of present-day Somaliland.[3]

Due to a United Nations arms embargo on Somalia, which the semi-autonomous Somaliland region is internationally recognized as being a part of, the territory is not allowed to purchase weapons. Consequently, military officials from the region rely on repairing and modifying old equipment. Some also claim that weapons are at times delivered from Ethiopia and Yemen via the port of Berbera, usually during the night.[3]

Regular Somaliland soldiers have been seen with SKS carbines and various versions of the AK-47.[4]

Additionally, the Somaliland army operates an unknown number of the following equipment:[3]

  • BM-21 mobile rocket launchers
  • BGM-71 TOW anti-tank guided missiles
  • BTR-50 tracked armored personnel carriers
  • T-34 medium tank
  • T-55 Main Battle tank

The Somaliland navy (Somali: Ciidanka Bada ee Somaliland) was formed in 2009.[3] The headquarters is located in the coastal town of Berbera; a diving center run by foreign divers who train the Somaliland navy is also located there. The Navy operates with small speedboats mounted with guns.[3] Much of this equipment was provided by the United Kingdom, in an effort to combat piracy.[2]

References

  1. ↑ "Kirk Report Ending Somali Piracy Against American and Allied Shipping" (PDF). Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 Hasan, Yusuf M. "Somaliland: After Two Decades the Armed Forces Come to Age" indepthafrica.com November 27, 2012. Retrieved February 12, 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Hussein, Abdi "Somalilands Military Is A Shadow of the Past" SomaliaReport, August 13, 2011, accessed August 13, 2011
  4. ↑ Forberg, Ekkehard and Ulf Terlinden. "Small Arms in Somaliland: Their Role and Diffusion" Berlin Information-centre for Transatlantic Study (BITS). March 1999. Retrieved February 13, 2013.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.