Re-thinking Somalia’s Stabilisation in Liberated Areas

Discussion on Somalia’s stabilisation (xasilin) has been ongoing since 2011 but gained substantially more attention in August 2022 when the Somali National Army (SNA), supported by Ma’awisley militias, launched a new offensive against Al-Shabaab following President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud’s return to power. This new offensive has marked the most significant territorial gains since the mid-2010s. Despite the persistent challenges to peace and stability in previously liberated areas of the country, the latest offensive introduces some additional complexities to Somalia’s stabilisation efforts overall. In this policy brief, we discuss some critical longstanding and emerging challenges in Somalia’s stabilisation efforts and offer suggestions on how to enhance the effectiveness of this work.