Female Soldier
The emergence of warlords and prolonged conflict in Somalia has forced Somali women to join the army and fight for Somalia. The women, whose ages vary, opted to join hands with their male counterparts and free Somalia from the hands of the warlords and insurgent groups.
The Somali female soldiers say that they will fight alongside their husbands, brothers and sons until Somalia is free from foreign and dictatorial intervention.
Somalia Report spent time with the female fighters on the Mogadishu frontlines.
Fighting for country
Leyla Yunis, a corporal in the TFG army at Ex-control Afgoye, dressed in full military gear and an AK 47 on her back, spoke as she inspected a car.
Leyla joined the force in 2000 as a volunteer and wanted to fight the warlords who were frustrating peace and security of Somalia with an ambition of becoming one of the few women to fight for peace in Somalia at this delicate time. Leyla’s main task now is to inspect vehicles and interrogate suspicious looking characters at the strategic check point.
Leyla, a mother of six, says that she joined the force not only to protect her motherland but to raise her family since her husband died in fighting between tribal militias in Mogadishu.
‘‘My children depend on me and I must provide for them: Somalia is not a safe place for children and I need to take good care of them so that they may not be deceived into joining the enemy, I hope to provide my children a decent livelihood just like their late father would have done for them’’ she told Somalia Report.
Female Soldiers
Leyla resides in Waberi district of the capital Mogadishu in a cheap rented two-room house with no running water. Leyla says that the economic hardship has had a heavy toll on her and she has to live with the ‘peanuts’ that she gets for a salary at the end of the month.
“All that is not important, as long as I work for the people and the republic of Somalia: despite the meager salary, I shall tie up my laces and fight the war to the end,” she said.
Leyla, 46, has undergone full training and is an infantry soldier with techniques in ambush, troop guidance and fight coordination and receives a basic salary of $200 USD.
Discrimination from fellow men colleagues
Amina, 42, is also a TFG military corporal stationed a few meters from the district office of Bondhere, trained in ambush and coordination of attacks. Amina, a mother of four, says that she and her husband both serve and she has no regrets about making that decision.
‘‘Despite the discrimination I endure from my male colleagues, I still work to better my country, my people and my society at large’’ Amina said.
Amina says that the men perceive her as inferior, but she puts all this aside and carries out her duties.
The female soldier in Somalia was perceived by the society as one that had gone astray, but with times changing the Somali community finally accepted hundreds of Somali ladies who joined the Somali government forces in all sectors.
Leyla and Amina are both soldiers who have suffered serious bullet wounds.
“Al-Shabaab opened fire on us, with one of the bullets hitting my ankle and another one my thigh: I managed to escape after my fellow soldiers carried me and my loaded gun on the back,’’ Amina said.
