Editing Somali Armed Forces (section)

=== Strength and units ===
In April 2011, 1,000 recruits completed training in [[Uganda]] as a part of the agreement with the EU<ref>{{cite web |url=http://sunatimes.com/view.php?id=970 |title=Sunatimes.com – East Africa Investigative Media |website=sunatimes.com |access-date=4 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180219090333/http://sunatimes.com/view.php?id=970 |archive-date=19 February 2018 |url-status=live  }}</ref> destined for the newly forming Brigades 4, [[Brigade 5 (Somalia)|Brigade 5]] and [[Brigade 6 (Somalia)|Brigade 6]]. With a post-training drop-out rate of around 10%, the vast majority of the EUTM trainees continued to serve in the SNA after their period abroad.{{sfn|Nilsson|Norberg|2014}} Brigades 5 and 6 have fought against Al-Shabaab including in Mogadishu and [[Afgoye]].<ref>[http://allafrica.com/stories/201406100182.html Somalia: Rival Soldiers in Deadly Battle Again As PM Calls for Calm] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150501045606/http://allafrica.com/stories/201406100182.html |date=1 May 2015 }}, http://allafrica.com/stories/201406100182.html/Garoweonline.com{{Dead link|date=April 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, 9 June 2014.</ref> 

In 2013, divisions, effectively serving as area commands, began to be reformed: initially [[Division 60 (Somalia)|Division 60]] at Baidoa (1 July 2013), later joined by [[Division 21 (Somalia)|Division 21]] at [[Dhusamareb]] (30 August 2013).{{sfn|Robinson|2019|p=216-217}} In the Kismayo/Jubaland area, after [[Ahmed Madobe]] had established himself, commanders from the Mogadishu area were somewhat isolated by differing clan connections. Yet they were technically heads of SNA [[Division 43 (Somalia)]]: in reality more of a "paper" area command than a division. Then on 27 July 2015 a swearing in ceremony took place for 1,517 new SNA fighters from Lower Juba and Kismayo, and they formed multi-clan battalions.{{sfn|Robinson|2019|p=215}} Very little support or even no support was provided to this group, located at the old Kismayo Airport, in the twelve months to February 2016. By January 2016 it appeared that up to 500 had drifted away, dropping out of the integration process.

Also established by 2014 was [[Division "12 April" (Somalia)|Division "12 April"]], supervising Somali troops in the areas of [[AMISOM]] Sectors 1 and 5 around Mogadishu.{{sfn|Williams|2018|p=205}} In March 2013 there were technically six [[brigade]]s around Mogadishu,<ref name="Haisaunplae">{{cite news |last=Kwayera |first=Juma |title=Hope alive in Somalia as UN partially lifts arms embargo |url=http://www.kenyacentral.com/news/73041-kenya-hope-alive-in-somalia-as-un-partially-lifts-arms-embargo.html |access-date=14 March 2013 |newspaper=Standard Digital |date=9 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714140959/http://www.kenyacentral.com/news/73041-kenya-hope-alive-in-somalia-as-un-partially-lifts-arms-embargo.html |archive-date=14 July 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> but their motivation to fight al-Shabaab in an organised fashion, as opposed to operating as clan militia, was doubtful. The six brigades were as of July 2013 largely composed of officers from various Hawiye sub-clans, with some [[Marehan]]-[[Darod]] and minorities also present. Five brigades primarily consisted of [[Abgaal]], [[Murosade]] and [[Hawadle]] soldiers. [[Brigade 3 (Somalia)|Brigade 3]] over the same period comprised 840 fighters, most of whom belong to the [[Hawiye]]-[[Habar Gidir]]/Ayr clan. The brigade was around 30% to 50% smaller in size than the other five brigades in the wider Mogadishu area. Led by General Mohamed Roble Jimale 'Gobale,' it occupied areas in [[Lower Shabelle]], including Merka, and along the Afgoye corridor. The UN Monitoring Group reported that many Brigade 3 fighters had been drawn from militias controlled by [[Yusuf Mohamed Siyaad 'Indha Adde']], a close associate of Jimale and the former Eritrean-backed chief of defence for the [[Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia]]-Asmara.<ref name="SEMG440">{{cite web|url=http://www.securitycouncilreport.org/atf/cf/%7B65BFCF9B-6D27-4E9C-8CD3-CF6E4FF96FF9%7D/s_2013_440.pdf|title=Report S/2013/440 of the Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea pursuant to Security Council resolution 2060 (2012): Eritrea|publisher=UN Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea|access-date=26 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140323050102/http://www.securitycouncilreport.org/atf/cf/%7B65BFCF9B-6D27-4E9C-8CD3-CF6E4FF96FF9%7D/s_2013_440.pdf|archive-date=23 March 2014|url-status=live}}, page 19, para. 50–51 & footnote 44. For Gobale, see S/2013/413 and S/2016/919.</ref> Gobale was killed in a suspected Al-Shabaab attack on 18 September 2016. Brigade 3's primary focus became "the domination of the valuable riverine land and its businesses for financial gain. In the process, the local people, often from minority clans such as the Biimaal, were constantly oppressed, with numerous atrocities committed," including arbitrary torture of civilians.<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Colin D Robinson |author2=Jahara Matisek |date=2020|title=Assistance to Locally Appropriate Military Forces in Southern Somalia|journal=The RUSI Journal|volume=165|number=4|page=73}}</ref>

In Hiraan by mid-2014 Brigade 10 was active, centred on Beledweyne and made up mostly of the [[Hawaadle]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Col. Isak: Al-shabab’s plan is to destabilise Hiran Region |url=https://en.goobjoog.com/col-isak-al-shababs-plan-is-to-destabilise-hiran-region/ |date=January 31, 2015}} Note the confusion of "battalion" and "brigade" common in Somali press accounts.</ref>
[[File:Somali soldiers.jpeg|thumb|Somali military personnel in [[Turkey]] for military training in 2018|237x237px]]

In February 2014 Chief of Staff Elmi said that a new [[Biometrics|biometric]] registration system had been created for the SAF, whereby each person would be photographed and fingerprinted.<ref name="Ssnacrawtt"/> By the end of 2014, 17,000 national army soldiers and police officers had been registered for the new biometric remuneration system.<ref name="Gsyod">{{cite news |title=Somalia's Year of Delivery |url=http://goobjoog.com/english/?p=9513 |access-date=31 January 2015 |agency=Goobjoog |date=31 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402201317/http://goobjoog.com/english/?p=9513 |archive-date=2 April 2015 |url-status=dead  }}</ref> 13,829 SNA soldiers and 5,134 Somali Police Force officials were biometrically registered in the system as of May 2015.<ref name="Urotsgosmtf">{{cite web |title=Report of the Secretary – General on Somalia – S /2015/331 |url=https://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=s/2015/331 |publisher=United Nations Security Council |access-date=18 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160708002806/http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=s%2F2015%2F331 |archive-date=8 July 2016 |url-status=live  }}</ref>

As of May–June 2014, numbers were reportedly estimated at 20,000 (including around 1,500 female).<ref name="Fsijmris">{{cite news|url=http://www.dailystar.com.lb/ArticlePrint.aspx?id=258200&mode=print|title=Female soldiers increasingly joining military ranks in Somalia|last1=Guled|first1=Abdi|date=30 May 2014|access-date=21 June 2014|newspaper=The Daily Star|agency=AP|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303234643/http://www.dailystar.com.lb/ArticlePrint.aspx?id=258200&mode=print|archive-date=3 March 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

In February 2014, the Federal Government concluded a six-month training course for the first Commandos, [[Danab Brigade|Danab]] (Somali: "Lightning"), since 1991.<ref name="Stifcatcotcg">{{cite news |last=Mohyaddin |first=Shafi’i |title=Somalia trains its first commandos after the collapse of the central government |url=https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2014/Feb/53215/somalia_trains_its_first_commandos_after_the_collapse_of_the_central_government.aspx |access-date=12 February 2014 |newspaper=Hiiraan Online |date=8 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222045342/https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2014/Feb/53215/somalia_trains_its_first_commandos_after_the_collapse_of_the_central_government.aspx |archive-date=22 February 2014 |url-status=live  }}</ref>{{sfn|Williams|2018}} Training was carried out by [[Bancroft Global Development]], a U.S. private military contractor, paid by AMISOM which is then reimbursed by the U.S. State Department. The aim was to create a mixed-clan unit. The Danab unit was established at [[Baledogle Airfield]], in [[Walaweyn District]], [[Lower Shabelle]].<ref name="Stifcatcotcg" /> The training of the first Danab unit began in October 2013, with 150 recruits. As of July 2014, training of the second unit was underway. According to General Elmi, the training is geared toward both urban and rural environments, and is aimed at preparing the soldiers for guerrilla warfare and all other types of modern military operations. Elmi said that a total of 570 recruits were expected to have completed training by U.S. security personnel by the end of 2014.<ref name="Utscfa" />

In April 2015, the Federal Ministry of Defence launched its new Guulwade Plan (Victory Plan), which laid out a roadmap for long-term development of the military. It was formulated with technical support from UNSOM.<ref name="Urotsgosmtf" /> The same month, the [[United States]] government also funded the payment of 9,495 army allowances.

In March 2023, following on from an agreement in 2017, the Somali government agreed to amend troop numbers.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-03-19 |title=Somali Leaders Agree to Increase Troop Numbers |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/somali-leaders-agree-to-increase-troop-numbers/7012152.html |access-date=2023-10-24 |website=Voice of America |language=en}}</ref>