The Greater Horn of Africa has been characterised by human suffering for decades from protracted, inter-related civil and inter-state conflict. The current situation in Somalia represents one of the most serious peace and security challenges facing the continent. The Somali civil war was seen tens of thousands of civilians wounded or fatally injured and created hundreds of thousands of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs).
The presence of unsecure small arms and light weapons (SALW) and other items of unexploded ordnance (UXO) in the country is the result of four decades of conflict. During this time Somalia has gone to war with Ethiopia twice and has suffered from various ongoing clan, militia and religion based violence.
Due to its geographical strategic importance, a large contingent of Soviet troops inhabited the country during the Cold War, abandoning large amounts of weapons and ammunition when they departed.
More recently, civil war has resulted in an increase in the illegal market and illicit use of SALW in Somalia and the wider region. Since 1998, Puntland has been involved in territorial disputes with Somaliland over the Sool and Sanaag regions. Somaliland and Puntland forces have engaged in substantial ground combat operations which have resulted in the proliferation of SALW in the area.
The strategic mine-laying around military positions and politically significant assets has resulted in further contamination. This has been fuelled by the flow of arms to various militia groups inside the country from the neighbouring countries.
Access to SALW is therefore preventing conflict recovery; indeed, it is sustaining and prolonging the conflict in Somalia, exacerbating violence, fuelling crime, and actively undermining counter-insurgency, security and peace-building efforts. The effects of SALW and UXO contamination are felt at local, national and regional levels, and pose a threat to the political stability of the Horn of Africa.
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