BBC Profiles Yusuf Ali, Former Child Soldier in Somalia’s War
BBC News (published 2026-06-06) profiles Yusuf Ali, 34, a Mogadishu shopkeeper who was a child soldier in Somalia’s war and still lives with the psychological scars.
Key facts:
- Somalia fell into clan warfare after President Siad Barre’s regime collapsed in 1991.
- In 2006 the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) seized power and brought a measure of stability after years of warlord rule; its military youth wing was known as al-Shabab (“The Lads”).
- Washington viewed the UIC with hostility, accusing it of ties to al-Qaeda.
- In December 2006 thousands of Ethiopian troops invaded Somalia, under the cover of American drones, to topple the courts just six months after they had taken over.
- The invasion was deeply unpopular and met fierce resistance; al-Shabab and allied groups (the Muqawama, “Resistance”) united to fight it. Heavy shelling hit densely populated civilian neighbourhoods, and teenagers like Ali were drawn into the fighting.
- Two decades on, the fighting continues and troops from more countries than ever are deployed in Somalia.
Verbatim quotes:
- Ali, on the aerial surveillance: “At night, I’d often hear a buzzing sound. I was in secondary school and didn’t realise it then, but these were planes surveilling our neighbourhood.”
- Ali, on the street fighting: “Street by street, from windows and doorways, we were firing on Ethiopian soldiers and the Somali soldiers with them.”
- On the lasting toll of child soldiering: “The long-term effects include chronic mental health conditions, social exclusion and stigma or increased risk of re-recruitment or involvement in violence.”
- “The fighting is still ongoing, people are suffering and two decades later, more countries than ever before have troops deployed in Somalia.”