Somali National Alliance

The Somali National Alliance (SNA) was formed in 1992 as an alliance of four different rebel groups following the fall of former dictator Siad Barre. Formed and led by General Mohamed Farah Aidid, the alliance consisted of one member of the United Somali Congress (USC), the Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM), the Somali Southern National Movement (SSNM), and the Somali Democratic Movement (SDM). The alliance became one of the major factions in the civil war that followed and famously clashed against the United Nations in 1993. The group would eventually be placed into the hands of his son, who was a US Marine. Initially, the goal was to win the civil war and establish peace and stability in Somalia. After Aidid’s son, Hussein Farah Aidid, took over, the SNA became a political entity, and it took part in 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. This marked the end of the group’s militant activities.