Yusuf Ali spent his childhood carrying weapons instead of books. Now in his late twenties, he still wakes drenched in sweat, reliving moments when armed men forced him into combat across the streets of Mogadishu. His words cut through any attempt to soften the reality of life as a child soldier: "It was either killed or be killed."
A Childhood Forged in Conflict
Ali was recruited at the age of nine, during one of the most violent periods in Somalia's modern history. Armed groups operating in Mogadishu and across the Horn of Africa nation routinely abducted children from their homes, schools, and displaced persons camps. These boys and girls were given weapons, trained to kill, and deployed on frontlines that consumed thousands of young lives.
"They took me from my family in Benadir region," Ali told local media in Mogadishu. "I never went back to school. I never had a normal childhood." The recruitment happened during the early 2000s, a period when multiple factions fought for control of the Somali capital, leaving entire neighbourhoods in ruins and civilians caught in the crossfire.
The Choice That Haunts Him
Ali escaped after three years, but freedom did not bring peace. The psychological damage runs deeper than any physical scar. He describes recurring nightmares where he sees the faces of people he was forced to harm, children his own age who stood on the opposite side of the conflict.
The stark choice he faced—kill or be killed—has become a defining sentence of his existence. Mental health workers in Mogadishu say such testimonies are common among former child soldiers who manage to rejoin civilian life. The moral injury of being forced to commit violence as a child creates trauma that often proves more debilitating than the combat itself.
"You cannot unlearn what they taught me," Ali said. "Every night, I am back there. Every night, I have to make that choice again."
Somalia's Hidden Crisis of Child Soldiers
Human rights organisations have documented the use of child soldiers across multiple conflicts in Somalia spanning more than three decades. Armed groups on all sides of the Somali civil war have recruited minors, according to reports from international monitors. The practice continued despite repeated government commitments to demobilise children from military service.
In Mogadishu's displaced persons camps, families who fled rural areas affected by drought and violence report ongoing fears of recruitment. Children as young as eight have been identified among armed patrols in certain neighbourhoods, according to local community leaders.
The Road to Recovery
Ali eventually accessed a reintegration programme run by a local organisation working in Mogadishu. These programmes offer education, vocational training, and psychological support to former child soldiers attempting to rebuild their lives. The goal is simple: replace the identity of combatant with that of productive civilian.
For many participants, the process takes years. Ali attended counselling sessions for eighteen months before he could speak publicly about his experiences. The trauma specialist who worked with him described the case as representative of hundreds of similar stories unfolding across Somalia's urban centres.
"The mind holds onto violence differently when you are a child," the specialist explained during an interview in Mogadishu. "The brain is still developing. When you force it to process trauma at that age, the effects last forever."
What Recovery Looks Like
Today, Ali works as a mechanic in the Hamarweyne district of Mogadishu. He learned the trade through his reintegration programme and now earns enough to rent a small room. He married last year, a milestone he never imagined possible during his years as a combatant.
Yet he struggles to maintain relationships. He cannot hold a conversation about childhood memories because he has none worth sharing. His wife has learned not to wake him during his nightmares, which can last for hours.
"She stays still until it passes," Ali said. "She knows I might not recognise her when I first open my eyes."
Broader Efforts to Address Child Soldier Crisis
The Somali government signed the Paris Principles in 2017, committing to end the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict. Subsequent action plans with the United Nations outlined specific steps to release children from government-affiliated forces and provide them with support services.
Implementation remains inconsistent. Funding gaps have disrupted demobilisation programmes, and monitoring groups continue to report new recruitment in areas affected by the ongoing insurgency led by al-Shabaab militants. The group has been responsible for a significant portion of documented child soldier recruitment in southern and central Somalia.
International organisations have provided training to Somali security forces on age-verification procedures, but enforcement varies across different military units and regional administrations.
What Comes Next
Ali plans to have children, though he fears the day he might have to explain his past to them. He has not decided what words he will use. The reintegration programme that helped him rebuild his life now asks him to speak to newly arrived former child soldiers, to offer hope that recovery is possible.
He accepts the invitations, though the conversations exhaust him. "I tell them it gets easier," he said. "I am not sure if that is true, but someone needed to tell me the same thing once."
Ali represents one of thousands of former child soldiers in Somalia who continue navigating the long-term consequences of recruitment. Watch for updated government statistics on reintegration programme enrollment and any new international funding commitments aimed at expanding mental health services for conflict-affected youth in Mogadishu and beyond.
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The group has been responsible for a significant portion of documented child soldier recruitment in southern and central Somalia. The goal is simple: replace the identity of combatant with that of productive civilian.
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