[84] This led to a relative decrease in the intensity of the fighting, with the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute removing Somalia from its list of major armed conflicts for 1997 and 1998.

[94][95][96][97] After Somalia lost the Ogaden War in March 1978, the president's popularity with Somalis plummeted and widespread discontent among his generals led to an attempted coup d'état on 10 April 1978.

Most of the coup's ringleaders were rounded up and executed but some escaped and formed the Somali Salvation Democratic Front, starting the rebellion that eventually toppled Siad Barre from power 13 years later.

The clampdown included the bombing of cities, with the northwestern administrative center of Hargeisa, a Somali National Movement (SNM) stronghold, among the targeted areas in 1988.

[103] The transfer of power to non-Isaaq pro-government individuals further pushed Isaaq communities to rebel against Barre's regime and was one of the main causes of the breakout of the Somaliland War of Independence.

[106] Barre's regime responded with “systematic” human rights abuses and the genocide of thousands of Isaaq tribesmen resulting in up to 200,000 civilians slaughtered and 500,000 more people seeking refuge in neighbouring Ethiopia.

One of the most notable instances occurred in 1991, when Barre's regime initiated a ruthless aerial assault that led to the deaths of numerous innocent individuals in the town of Beledwene, situated in southern Somalia.

It is worth noting that hundreds of thousands of individuals lost their lives as a consequence of governmental strategies specifically aimed at the Rahanweyn community residing in these areas.

[115] By February 4, SNM's control extended to the entire north of Somalia, and all prisoners and pro-government ex-soldiers were released and ordered to return to their regions of origin (mainly Ethiopia), except for Hawiye ex-soldiers and ex-civil servants, who were permitted to remain in Burco since their lives would have been at risk if they had traveled through hostile pro-Barre country on their return to Mogadishu Somalia Archived September 25, 2021, at the Wayback Machine.

[128] Whereas the aim of UNOSOM 1 was primarily humanitarian UNITAFs mission statement to restore “peace, stability, law and order” suggests their belief of Somalia’s incapacity to secure the safety of the population without assistance from international military.

Among these initiatives was the Mudug peace agreement of June 1993 between Aidid's forces and the SSDF, which established a ceasefire between the Haber Gedir and the Majeerteen clans, opened the trade routes, and formalized the withdrawal of militants from Galkayo; the UNOSOM-mediated Hirab reconciliation of January 1994 in Mogadishu between elders of the rival Abgal and Haber Gedir clans, which was backed by politicians from these constituencies and concluded with a pact to end hostilities, dismantle the green line partitioning the city, and remove road blocks; the UNOSOM-mediated Kismayo initiative of 1994 between the SNA, SPM, SSDF, and representatives of nineteen clans from the southern Lower Juba and Middle Juba regions;[130] the 1994 Bardhere conference between the Marehan and Rahanweyn (Digil and Mirifle), which resolved conflicts over local resources; and the short-lived Digil-Mirifle Governing Council for the southern Bay and Bakool regions, which was established in March 1995.

Among these was the Battle of Mogadishu in October 1993, part of an unsuccessful operation by U.S. troops to apprehend Somali National Alliance faction leader Mohamed Farah Aidid.

[131] The UN stated that their withdrawal without completing their mandate was due to a lack of progress towards peace and little cooperation with Somali parties over security issues which were continually undermined.

This was in part due to the large-scale UN military intervention that had helped to curb the intense fighting between the major factions, who then began to focus on consolidating gains that they had made.

[133] However, his declaration received no recognition, as his rival Ali Mahdi Muhammad had already been elected interim President at a conference in Djibouti and recognized as such by the international community.

(Interpeace, 104) In December 2006, Ethiopian troops entered Somalia to assist the TFG against the advancing Islamic Courts Union,[78] initially winning the Battle of Baidoa.

[146] On January 8, 2007, as the Battle of Ras Kamboni raged, TFG President and founder Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed entered Mogadishu for the first time since being elected to office.

It established a "small triangle of protection" around Mogadishu's airport, seaport, and the Villa Somalia, and began to adopt a low-key negotiating profile with key actors.

Al-Shabaab did still retain a foothold in the northern outskirts of the capital, but by January 2012, the combined efforts of Somali government and AMISOM forces had expelled them from the city completely.

The cell is intended to provide consultative and planning support to the allied forces to enhance their capacity and promote peace and security throughout the country and region.

[180] They are mandated to work alongside the Somali National Army, with responsibility for the allied forces' operations in the southern Gedo, Bakool and Bay regions.

[181] In January 2014, at an African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud requested an extension of the UN Security Council's weapons purchasing mandate for Somalia after its March expiration, saying that the Somali defence forces required better military equipment and arms to more effectively combat militants.

Ahmed commended Ethiopia's role in the ongoing peace and stabilization process in Somalia as well as its opposition to Al-Shabaab, and welcomed the Ethiopian military's decision to join AMISOM.

Desalegn in turn pledged his administration's continued support for Somalia's peace and stabilization efforts, as well as its preparedness to assist in initiatives aiming to build up Somali security forces through experience-sharing and training.

[190] According to Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed, the government subsequently launched stabilization efforts in the newly liberated areas, which included Rab Dhuure, Hudur, Wajid and Burdhubo.

[192][193] UN Special Representative for Somalia Nicholas Kay described the military advance as the most significant and geographically extensive offensive since AU troops began operations in 2007.

[196] U.S. authorities hailed the raid as a major symbolic and operational loss for Al-Shabaab, and the Somali government offered a 45-day amnesty to all moderate members of the militant group.

On 15 December 2018 there were demonstrations in the city of Baidoa by supporters of Mukhtar Rowbow, a presidential candidate who had been arrested two days earlier by government forces and transferred to Mogadishu.

[198] From the beginning of 2020, humanitarian researchers and local medical personnel became increasingly concerned that the COVID-19 pandemic could be catastrophic for Somalis, because of the damage the civil war has wrought on Somalia's health care, and weak provision since the 1980s.

It was replaced by a Somali-led operation, the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS),[206] In 2023, fighting broke out between the Khatumo State and Somaliland leading to the 2023 Las Anod conflict.