Somali National Alliance facts for kids

The Somali National Alliance (abbreviated SNA) was a political alliance formed in June 1992 by four different rebel groups that had been in opposition to the regime of Somali dictator Siad Barre. The alliance would include one of the two factions of the United Somali Congress (USC), the Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM), the Somali Southern National Movement (SSNM) and Somali Democratic Movement (SDM).

They would represent one of the major factions involved in Somali Civil War and would most famously face off against UNOSOM II during the summer and fall of 1993.

After the death of General Mohammed Farah Aidid in 1996, his son, Hussein Mohamed Farah Aidid, took over the SNA. It eventually became the core of the Somali Reconciliation and Restoration Council (SRRC), formed in 2001, which would eventually be incorporated into the internationally recognized Somali Transitional National Government in 2004.

Origins

During the spring and summer of 1992, Siad Barres army attempted to retake the capital of Somalia, Mogadishu, after being ejected by the United Somali Congress the previous year. A successful joint defence and counterattack by the USC, SPM, SSNM and SDM (under the banner of the Somali Liberation Army) to push the last remnants of Barres troops out of southern Somalia into Kenya on June 16th, 1993 would lead to the formation of the political union known as the Somali National Alliance.

General Mohammed Farah Aidid, head of one the two factions of United Somali Congress, would be elected head of the organization and would unsuccessfully attempt to persuade the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF) and the northern rebels of the Somali National Movement (SNM) to join the SNA, which would leave his rival Ali Mahdi (who also claimed to head the USC) entirely isolated.

Leaders and member Interim Government of Somalia

See also

In Spanish: Alianza Nacional Somalí para niños