Somalia

Martyn Lowe

As it has been well reported in the news, over the last years there has been an increase in pirate attacks upon both tanker & cargo ships mostly in the coast of Somalia, the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean. As these attacks continue to increase, then so has the 'armed protection' measures which are being used by the shipping industry.

According to various NGOs and United Nations agencies, the use of child soldiers in Somalia has increased since fighting between the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) escalated in December.

15/09/1998

In 1991 president Barre's government was overthrown by the United Somali Congress (USC) and the Somali National Movement (SNM). Since then there has been no central government in Somali and therefore no national armed forces. [5]

1 Conscription

conscription not enforced

It is believed that since there is no central government in Somalia, the national service programme of president Barre's government is no longer in existence.