Day 230

Somalia has had a tumultuous history. It was ruled by various people until July 1, 1960 when Britain and Italy granted Independence to two separate pieces of land and conjoined them to make the Republic of Somalia. Their president was assassinated in 1969 and the military took control of the country and renamed it the Somali Democratic Republic. This new organization leaned heavily towards the USSR and openly allied with rebels in Ethiopia, even participating in an 8 month war against Ethiopia in 1977. Somalia lost most of their army, tanks, and planes. President Siad Barre (who took over in 1969) fled the country in 1991 and left it in the hands of guerrilla groups. They had no established government from this time until a fragile government was formed in 2000. This expired in 2003, and left no one in charge of the country. It was ineffective and only had control of 10 percent of Somalia. In 2004 a parliament was established and elected a president, Abdullahi Yusuf. There was a terrible famine in 1992 that killed 300,000 people. The US and UN intervened in this time to help with relief efforts until the US pulled out when a warlord dragged American bodies through the streets. Different groups established unofficial rule in parts of the country until the governments were formed in 2000 and 2004. In May of 2006, an Islamic group (the Somali Islamic Courts Council) invaded and took over the capitol, Mogadishu. The Ethiopian government assisted President Yusuf and sent troops to drive the SICC out. The US stepped in in 2007 with air strikes against Islamists suspected of bombing the US Embassy in Kenya and the fighting increased. Somali people began fleeing and the military branch of the SICC, the Al-Shabab, continued to gain strength, even aligning itself with al-Qaeda. By February of 2007, they controlled much of the southern part of the country. Suicide bombs also occured in the northern, more peaceful part of Somalia. President Yusuf resigned and Sheikh Sharif Ahmed was chosen as President in January 2009. People hoped that this would be a way for Somalia to move toward peace after 18 years of conflict. Now, they are struggling with this terrible famine. They have had a rough go of it!