Somalia’s conflict
The causes of the conflict
The conflict in Somalia took on a large scale after the ouster of the then president Said Barre. The ouster was caused by lose of confidence with Said Barre’s regime. After the war with the neighboring Ethiopian country over territories, the consequences were horrible to Somalia. There was a group of anti-regime, who was mainly organized clans, but was led by displeased army leaders who were unhappy about Barre’s bad leadership; the group was organizing a coup against the president. Conversely, president Barre countered offensively using his armed branch, Duub Cas. The unsuccessfulness of the coup led to the killing of the officers who had engineered it. This, triggered the rise of oppositions; first the Somali Salvation Democartic Front (SSDF) and then the Somali National Movement (SNM).
The two armed groups created brought about a cause for president Barre executing the members. Of the two groups, SNM was headquartered in Ethiopia, and Somalia used diplomatic ties to reach a mutual understanding with Ethiopia that they shouldn’t support insurgents. Thus, this spelt the end of SNM in Ethiopia and was relocated to northern Somalia. President Barre retaliated against the insurgents by bombing the cities where they moved to. Thousands of civilians were killed.
There arose internal conflicts that escalated the deaths to the civilians. These conflicts were mostly by rival insurgents to control the population. After the end of the Cold War, the warring superpowers, Russia and America, didn’t take with them their weapons. Thus, when the enormous amount of weapons was left behind, as Wais (2002) points “turned the entire land of Somalia into an armed camp…and this is what kept the civil war going.”
The conflict in Somalia couldn’t be said that it was between two specific warring parties. However, the conflict can be summed by the Bedouin saying,” I against my brother, my brothers and me against my cousins, then my cousins and I against strangers.” Thus, the conflict was a wheel within wheels context (Patrick, 1994). The evidence of this is that they were internal conflicts and cross-border fights. Considering that these conflicts occurred whenever there was one group of insurgents opposing another, it can be termed the conflicts was a resolution to any form of opposition.
The pro and cons of the Somali conflict
Even though from a humanitarian perspective there can be nothing perceived as the pros of the Somalia conflict, in real sense there is. The Somalia warlords have taken advantage of the conflict. This has been through ways such as unlawful printing of the Somalia currency and exploiting the community infrastructure for own gain.
There were adverse effects that were left by the Somalia conflict. One of them, which affected the ecology, was overfishing. During the war, many people were left malnourished and when the humanitarian groups stepped in they devised ways through which the local people could improve their health. One such humanitarian group was the International Red Cross Society. To improve their diets, the humanitarian organization encouraged people to consume more fish. Thus was enacted through the provision of self-reliance help training and also fishing gear. Unfortunately, the people didn’t adhere to the international fishing regulations and the marine ecology was adversely destroyed.
Even though there are no official records and that it can be difficult to show the exact number of people who have perished in the two-decade long Somalia conflict, genocide hundreds of thousands have suffered and fueled the conflict. These deaths could either have being triggered by rival insurgents to another, including being politically triggered by leaders to stop anti-regime, or could have been caused by accidental deaths of civilians in the authorities’ bid to fight the insurgents.
There was displacement of people as they fled the war zones. The Somalia conflict mostly affected the poor, and more so, women and children (Wais, 2002). Since the rich people could afford to escape to countries such a Britain and America, the overly poor were left to seek refuge in the neighboring countries such as Kenya, by walking through the hostile environment (Anonymous).The estimated number of people, who were displaced within 2011 alone, according to UNHCR estimated figures, was over 200,000 IDPs while others more than 70, 000 had sought refuge in the adjacent countries. The conflict has also increased the vulnerability of people when faced with natural calamities such as drought, which take a heavy toll on them.
The lawlessness in Somalia has led to unnecessary expenses and caused other effects on the Horn of Africa. Pirates have taken advantage of the lawlessness in Somalia and started holding the water vessels plying the Red Sea route. This has led to the insurance companies charging acute costs for the insurance of the vessels. Also when pirates hold such cargos, awaiting ransom, it has led to the delay of the humanitarian shipments and/or the diverting of the shipments. Also to counter the lawlessness in Somalia, the bodies formed such as AU, also escalate the costs.
The lawlessness in Somalia, the lucrative piracy coupled with the poverty and the instability in the region has led to jobless people being lured to join the insurgents. It has also made other immigrants, hoping to travel through the country to other Arabic nations fall prey to traffickers. Also terrorist acts have spilled to adjacent countries, such as Uganda, where a bomb attack at a hotel left over seventy casualties; also in Kenya where an attack at a club, in the capital city and which was purportedly carried out by an insurgent group based in Somalia, left death in its wake.
Use of child soldiers; during combat with forces that are fighting the insurgents, the insurgent groups recruit children as soldiers to replace their lost and also strengthen them. Of what is even more amazing is that the insurgnts, such as Al-Shabaab, have supposedly recruited children who are as young as nine years old (Chinenye, 2011). The child soldiers are exposed to inhumane conditions such as “a lot of psychological and physical ordeals,” and this may have adverse consequences,” may instigate them to become perpetrators of violence and criminal acts when they grow up if they are not properly rehabilitated” (p. 68).
The Somalia conflict has lead to the increase of weapons in the Horn of Africa. Thus, it has armed and changed the fighting methods of communities that are involved in traditional conflicts such as cattle rustlers, thugs and other upcoming insurgent groups in the other regions.
There is forthcoming resolution to the Somali. A number of Special Forces have been formed by the African continent to counter the insurgents such as African Union peacekeepers under the name African Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). Also, the recent incursion of Somalia to get rid of the insurgents by Kenya Defense Forces (KDF), the Transitional Federal Government forces (TFG), local pro-government groups such as Ras Kamboni Brigade and United Nations Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM 1) have served to reduce the coverage and the arm of the insurgent groups. Also, there have been other humanitarian agencies that have been involved in Somalia among theM Mediciens Sans Frontieres (MSF), UNICEF, UNHCR and Red Cross that have been extensively been involved in humanitarian services.
In my conclusion A good example of the Somalia insurgents is the Niger Delta militants but unlike in the Somalia case, the Niger Delta insurgents were granted unconditional amnesty by the then president Yar’dua. Therefore, the international should help the Islamic insurgents an unconditional amnesty so that the many insurgents can unite and focus on practices that will serve the welfare and will be positive to Somalia.

References
Anonymous. (n.d.). Costs and Causes of Conflict in the Greater Horn of Africa. Retrieved November 26, 2011, from Conflict Prevention: http://www.creativeassociatesinternational.com/CAIIStaff/Dashboard_GIROAdminCAIIStaff/Dashboard_CAIIAdminDatabase/resources/ghai/costca
Chinenye, D.-O. (2011). Somalia Conflict: An African indigenous approach towards a peaceful resolution. Journal of Law and Conflict Resolution Vol. 3(4) , 63-70.
Patrick, G. (1994). Conflict in Somalia and Ethiopia. Miami: New Discovery.
Wais, D. H. (2002, November 30). Learing The Lessons: The Root Causes Of The Somalia Conflict. Retrieved November 26, 2011, from The Somaliland Times: http://www.somalilandtimes.net/Archive/45/4510.htm