Somali Civil War

The Somali Civil War started around 1988. The government of Siad Barre was overthrown in 1991 and the country became lawless. The United Nations sent peacekeeping forces in 1992 but they left in 1995 and the police force they set up collapsed. Somali was called a failed state. Many people left the country as refugees.

Transitional governments were set up in 2000 and fighting was reduced until 2007. In 2006, Ethiopian troops invaded the south of the country and destroyed the newly formed Islamic Courts Union. Al-Shabaab continued the fighting with a new Somali Civil War.