Somalia, a country with a surface area of 640,000 square kilometres and a population of 8,000,000 inhabitants (in 2004), is situated in the Horn of Africa, with a coastline along the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.
Divided in the nineteenth century into several European protectorates, Somalia was put under the trusteeship of the UN in 1950, and became independent in 1960.
Thereafter, Somalia witnessed several calamities: in 1974 and 1975, extensive drought and famine, and in 1977 and 1978, armed conflict against Ethiopia in the Ogaden region.
Early January 1991, the civil war between rival factions intensified, causing close to 50,000 deaths. Then famine broke out again on a dreadful scale and claimed 300,000 lives in less than two years.
Touched by the situation, world powers embarked on Operation Restore Hope initiated by the US. In December 1992, an expeditionary force of marines landed at the Somalian coast of Mogadishu.
These troops were followed by UN forces to form a shield for the distribution of humanitarian aid amid inter-clannish confrontations…
The UN and the US suffered losses as several tens of peacekeepers and American soldiers were killed. With the failure of negotiations with the clans, the UN and the US realized their mission could not be accomplishable and withdrew their troops from Somalia.
The final withdrawal took place in 1995.
France role
Early 1992, France, with a big military base in Djibouti, intervened in Somalia within the framework of Operation ORYX, alongside US “Restore Hope” troops. France's mission was to secure the channelling and distribution of humanitarian aid. A total of 2,400 men drawn from the army, the air force and the navy took part in the operation.
The operation subsequently continued under the UN banner. A few soldiers of the French army lingered on in Somalia till December 1996, after the withdrawal of
Une sélection de quelques sites, textes ou photos...