The Danab Brigade: Inside Somalia's Elite Special Operations Force

Somalia is a country that consistently ranks near the top of any list regarding war-torn conflict zones, brutal civil wars, and failed states. Between the de-facto independent government in the northern Somaliland region, the autonomous state of Puntland at Somalia’s outermost tip, the fragile Somali central government, and the continued resurgence of the simultaneously Somali-ethnonationalist and jihadist terror group al-Shabaab, the nation remains profoundly fractured. It appears far from finding its footing as a coherent sovereign state. Yet, among the carnage and chaos, one group of elite special operators stands out. This is not a unit on loan from the United States, Europe, Russia, or China, but a force made up entirely of Somalis directly loyal to the Somali National Army. Known as the Danab Brigade, these operators are armed with the best weapons foreign aid can buy, distinguished by a sky-blue beret, and equipped with a wealth of tactical knowledge drawn directly from the mouths of American Navy SEALs. They have become an enigmatic and deadly force operating across the deserts of Somalia.

Key Takeaways

Formed in October 2013 at Baledogle Airfield, the Danab Brigade began with 150 recruits trained by Bancroft Global Development to combat the al-Shabaab insurgency.
Danab strictly recruits across various Somali clans to bypass intense factionalism, ensuring the commando force represents the broader Somali state rather than single tribal interests.
During a 2017 raid on the Shebelle River alongside SEAL Team Six targeting Mahad Karate, Danab commandos demonstrated tactical resilience, taking zero casualties during the firefight.
The unit maintains a highly rigorous selection process inspired by US Navy SEALs and Army Rangers, expanding to an operational strength of roughly two thousand active commandos.
Danab frequently relies on joint operations with highly motivated local militias to hold territory, as the conventional Somali military remains poorly trained and vulnerable to counterattacks.

The Historical Context of Somalia's Collapse

The history of the Danab Brigade cannot be understood without clear context regarding what hell Somalia has endured over the last half-century. While Somalia has known little peace since it first gained its independence in 1950, the truly difficult years began in 1969, when Muhammad Siad Barre rose to power in a coup after the nation’s prior president was assassinated. Through famine and mass starvation in the 1970s, and a devastating war with Ethiopia and its Cuban allies through the 1980s, Somalia narrowly survived the Barre years. However, when he was overthrown in 1991, the entire nation descended into chaos. For the following several years, Somalia would know perpetual civil war between a wide range of warlords and militia factions, with a United States-led intervention trying and failing to put a stop to the violence. Even after the Somali government technically did consolidate in Mogadishu, that war has only continued. Intermittent flares in bloodshed have proven more than enough to keep the entire fractured nation perpetually on a knife’s edge, preventing any meaningful national recovery. But since the mid-2000s, no armed group in Somalia has been quite so devastating as the al-Shabaab organization. With a name translating to 'the Youth,' and a history tracing back to popular guerrilla resistance against an Ethiopian invasion of Somalia in late 2006, the group rapidly radicalized through the late 2000s and picked up widespread support as a popular insurgent movement. An Islamist and fiercely Somali-nationalist group, al-Shabaab claims to represent the interests of the entire Somali diaspora, even outside Somalia's own borders. The group aspires to create a new, larger Somali state under strict Islamic law, spanning across the African Horn. The group declared allegiance to al-Qaeda in 2012 and has long relied on suicide attacks and brutal violence to fight against the Somali government. It is known for its harsh imposition of Sharia law on the areas of Somalia that it controls, and for its continued resilience against counterattacks by the Somali government, even when the government is supported directly by foreign powers. Al-Shabaab is present all over Somalia, holding significant territory in the south, and maintaining bases even in Somaliland and Puntland, where the government in Mogadishu wields next to no power. Against al-Shabaab's rising tide, international onlookers watching Somalia understood that something more was necessary if the nation's fragile government was going to prevent a complete al-Shabaab takeover.

The Genesis and Formation of the Commando Force

The solution came by way of the United States. At that time, America was still deeply embroiled in Afghanistan, trying to cope with the Syrian Civil War and the broader repercussions of the Arab Spring, and working to create any points of stabilization that they possibly could as bulwarks in the evolving War on Terror. In Somalia, America's vision was ambitious, but precise in terms of what exactly Mogadishu would need if it was going to prevent Somalia from getting any worse. The choice to support the Somali central government was much more one of urgent need than pure choice. Backing that regime was better than kicking off a whole new round of large-scale civil war. In order to try and ensure Mogadishu's survival, America was going to give them a weapon: a highly trained group of loyal Somalis who were capable of standing up to al-Shabaab in a direct firefight and coming out on top. The group would have to be able to include members of many Somali clans, not just one, and its members would have to be willing to work together in service to the Somali state, not their own clan leaders. They would have to be very well-trained to stand up to al-Shabaab militants who were, at that time, the most fearsome fighters in the country, and they would have to be exceptionally brave in order to hold their ground against fighters with a deservedly terrifying reputation for their brutality in combat. The training and selection processes were to be carried out not by the US military directly, but by a private military contractor known as Bancroft Global Development. Previously known as Landmine Clearance International, Bancroft had gained a strong reputation for training hardened units in war-torn nations, although Somalia has since become the group's primary focus. Their trainees were a total of 150 recruits, who began the process at Baledogle Airfield, about 90 kilometers northwest of Mogadishu, in October of 2013. After a grueling six-month training course, the recruits who had made it through Bancroft's training were inaugurated to the first class of commandos. The group was given a name—Danab, meaning 'lightning'—and by the end of 2014, the unit had swelled its ranks to include somewhere around five to six hundred commandos in total. The Danab Brigade was born, its mission was urgent, and it wasted no time getting to work.

Recruitment, Selection, and Tactical Training

In the early days of the Danab Brigade, the regular Somali military was not a place where the average person wanted to be. At that time, the military was only loosely held together by its few loyal officers, and was hardly more of a formidable force than any of the country's patchwork of militias. Its recruits largely came from the poorest of the poor across Somalia, enticed to the military by the opportunity to make a small, but non-zero amount of money. When Danab got its start, it brought together the relatively few Somali soldiers who had been willing to distinguish themselves over and above what was expected to earn their pay. Those soldiers have since proved more than capable of surpassing expectations. Non-military recruits are also welcome in Danab, undergoing a crash course in basic training as part of their selection. All recruits are scrutinized for physical fitness, political affiliation, and socioeconomic background. They have biometric data collected and evaluated to ensure that they have not committed any known human rights violations in the past. Since the early days, Somalia has begun to target more experienced combat veterans for recruitment in Danab, especially as the Somali government has waged a more active counteroffensive against al-Shabaab and taken steps to improve troop quality overall. Highly educated Somalis are in particular demand to join Danab’s ranks, further helping to shape perceptions of the unit as some of the best that Somalia has to offer. Women, too, were allowed to qualify in Danab by 2021, and a handful have since joined the group’s elite ranks. Equally important within Danab is the group’s absolute emphasis on recruiting from multiple Somali clans, in order to avoid the intense factionalism and clan loyalties that permeate all of Somali politics. It would be all too easy for Danab to gain a reputation as a Western-backed, highly trained enforcement arm of just one clan, and thus quickly become despised by all the others. Instead, Danab recruits from clans representing a range of Somali federal states. One of the eventual American goals for the unit is to be able to deploy brigades made up of local troops in each of Somalia’s states, making the group into an elite combination of military and police forces trusted by the local population. By weighing a recruit's clan loyalties against their individual merit as a potential soldier, Bancroft and the US have successfully kept Danab from seeming like an occupying army. When a Danab recruit enters the selection process, they face an ordeal deeply inspired by the US Army Rangers, Special Forces operators, and Navy SEALs who have had a major impact on the unit. Soldiers who make it through the hazy selection trials receive intense training on both urban and rural warfare, with an emphasis on asymmetric tactics that have become commonplace across Somalia. Unlike other military elements within Somalia, Danab is expected to wage war on al-Shabaab's home territory, dealing with the best of the group's fighters and using its own tactics against it. They are taught how to navigate through the Somali savannah, engage in close-quarters combat, and conduct raids and helicopter insertions against enemy camps. While they initially received nearly all their training from foreigners, Danab's own veteran commandos are now responsible for handling a majority of the training of new batches of about 350 recruits at a time.

Combat Operations and the Fight Against Al-Shabaab

By all accounts, the trainees within Danab's ranks have proven more than able to pick up on the hard lessons supplied to them, first by Bancroft, and then by the US Navy SEALs and other military advisors. From their start as a small platoon, the group's numbers have swelled into a full-on brigade, with an estimated unit strength of around two thousand troops at a given time. The United States wants the force to eventually reach a size of three to four thousand. With that increase in size has come an increase in direct American involvement; the United States Special Operations Command Africa and the United States Africa Command now maintain a direct presence at Baledogle Airfield. Their garrison and headquarters at Baledogle have been significantly expanded to the point that Danab now runs what is functionally its own command center, coordinating activities across Somalia. The Danab Brigade's operations are shrouded in mystery, partly owing to the secret nature of many of their missions and the communications blackout that still exists over much of modern Somalia. However, it is known that Danab began its work quickly after its first platoons graduated. In 2017, Danab operators were on the ground alongside members of SEAL Team Six during a raid on a part of the Shebelle River called Barii, pursuing an al-Shabaab leader colloquially known as Mahad Karate. The mission was unsuccessful and claimed the life of a Navy SEAL, Senior Chief Petty Officer Kyle Milliken. Two other SEALs were wounded, while none of the accompanying Danab commandos were hit in the fierce firefight. Danab did not bear the blame for the casualties; in fact, it was shortly afterward that the US began advocating for an expanded version of the brigade. In the following years, Danab launched regular self-run operations against al-Shabaab across a broad swath of territory in Somalia’s central and southern reaches. Frequently, they are joined by US close air support, artillery fire, and joint terminal attack controllers on the ground. American troops and a detachment of Turkish forces that assist with training appear to regard the brigade’s work highly positively. The commandos have become highly proficient at responding to al-Shabaab’s particular combat approach, including surprise attacks in the savannah, truck bombs, rocket-propelled grenades, and waves of suicide bombers. Since the start of the 2020s, Danab has engaged in a broadening offensive. According to Foreign Policy, the group has been able to clear roughly ninety percent of al-Shabaab targets in designated operational areas since mid-2022. In late 2023, Danab dismantled al-Shabaab control over three districts in the Somali province of Galmudug. Recent press materials have indicated that Danab has led the liberation of well over 100 towns and villages across Somalia, a figure distinguishing them as the only domestic group able to perform operations on that scale. Danab has taken heavy losses in this fight; the 2023 training class, for example, was rushed across Somalia just after graduation to replenish two battalions that had seen over a hundred commandos killed the month prior. Yet, the soldiers of Danab understand that risk will endure whether they go to the front lines or not, as unchecked al-Shabaab expansion would eventually put them all in the crosshairs.

Implications, Limitations, and the Future of Somalia

While the Danab Brigade has been largely successful in its direct combat operations, the group is often forced to watch helplessly as much of its work is undone by the terror group after the commandos move on. Fierce as they are, Danab is just a specialized strike force of some two thousand troops, meaning they do not have the manpower to protect the targets they seize or permanently hold captured territory. That stabilization work falls to the regular Somali National Army, which remains woefully corrupt and poorly trained, alongside various forces established by the United Nations to assist with Somalia’s internal crisis. Those regular troops and UN-backed forces are simply not capable of holding out against determined al-Shabaab counterattacks in force. Danab is adept at working jointly with local militias in the countryside, who tend to be strongly motivated to protect their homes, children, and communities. Nonetheless, Danab remains the razor-sharp tip of the spear in Somalia, but the rest of the spear happens to be little more than a twig. Without capable holding forces, Danab’s victories frequently become fleeting propaganda wins, relying instead on a slow, attritional progress that comes from killing members of al-Shabaab one raid at a time. Furthermore, Danab's standing inside Somalia is nowhere near as firmly entrenched as its commanders would like. The problem is twofold: a lack of security inside Somalia, and a lack of reliability regarding American support. Domestically, Danab is empowered by a government in Mogadishu that is managing to survive but certainly isn’t strong. If that government becomes too weak to exert its influence, Danab risks disintegration, with members forced to either band together as independent factions or head back to their clans. Additionally, Danab could easily be co-opted by a political strongman if such a person gained enough power in Mogadishu to exert unilateral authority over the military. Internationally, Danab exists entirely at the mercy of political realities in Washington. A slash of the red pen here, a few angry Democrats or Republicans there, and the entire Danab project could very easily have its US support pulled out from underneath it. That risk runs all the higher as American involvement across the Middle East ramps up in 2024, creating a situation in which political and military leaders must question whether resource expenditures in Somalia remain a strategic priority. But for as long as they exist, Danab appears driven to carry on, liberating Somalia kilometer by kilometer. Following a convoy of about thirty to forty Danab operators in 2022, BBC reporter Andrew Harding noted the platoon remained highly motivated. Harding wrote, 'They are lean, confident men, at ease with their weapons and used to traveling light.' One commando recounted a recent operation in the town of Bukure where Danab killed sixty al-Shabaab fighters in a single day and pushed out hundreds more, despite the insurgents destroying the central water tower and shooting civilians in a vengeful retreat. Ultimately, that faith in the unit and their capabilities is perhaps the Danab battalion’s greatest achievement. For the first time in generations, Somalis liberated from al-Shabaab control are able to live in relative confidence that they will be protected by a homegrown Somali force capable of handling offensive operations. Civilians now have far less to fear from foreign intervention and airstrikes, which previously caused high civilian casualty rates. In many ways, Danab is the proof of concept that a multi-clan, Western-backed, meritocratic organization can successfully exist within Somalia's fractured society. If Somalia is ever going to chart a real path toward a better future, it is likely to be Danab that leads the way. The country stands a chance at subduing al-Shabaab, and pivoting toward the countless other issues Somalia will have to grow through if it is going to become a true nation again.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who are the special forces in Somalia?

The special forces in Somalia are the Danab Brigade, an elite unit within the Somali National Army, made up of Somalis and directly loyal to the Somali government. They were trained by American Navy SEALs and are armed with the best weapons foreign aid can buy. The Danab Brigade plays a crucial role in the nation's ongoing efforts to combat terrorism and instability. They operate with a distinctive sky-blue beret and have a unique history and purpose. The unit's primary goal is to fight against the al-Shabaab organization and other militant groups in Somalia.

How many Delta Force operators were killed in Somalia?

Although the exact number of Delta Force operators killed in Somalia is not specified, it is known that several US military personnel, including Navy SEALs and other special operators, have lost their lives in the country since the 1990s. One notable example is the death of Navy SEAL Kyle Milliken in 2017, who was killed during a mission in support of Somali Army forces. However, the number of Delta Force operators specifically killed in Somalia is not publicly available due to the classified nature of their operations.

Are US troops still in Somalia?

Yes, US troops are still present in Somalia, although their numbers are limited and their role is primarily focused on training and advising the Somali National Army. The US military has maintained a presence in Somalia since the early 2000s, with the goal of supporting the Somali government in its fight against al-Shabaab and other terrorist organizations. In recent years, the US has conducted several airstrikes against al-Shabaab targets in Somalia, and US special operations forces have been involved in various missions to support the Somali military.

What is the Danab in Somalia?

The Danab is a special operations unit within the Somali National Army, playing a crucial role in the nation's ongoing efforts to combat terrorism and instability. The Danab Brigade was established with the support of the United States and has received training from American Navy SEALs. The unit is made up of Somalis and is directly loyal to the Somali government. The Danab's primary goal is to fight against the al-Shabaab organization and other militant groups in Somalia, and they have been involved in several operations against these groups in recent years.

What is the main problem in Somalia?

The main problem in Somalia is the ongoing conflict and instability caused by the al-Shabaab organization and other militant groups. Al-Shabaab, which means 'the Youth' in Arabic, is a jihadist terrorist group that has been waging a violent insurgency against the Somali government since the mid-2000s. The group has carried out numerous attacks against civilians, government officials, and foreign targets, and has imposed harsh Sharia law on areas under its control. The conflict has resulted in thousands of deaths, displacements, and human rights abuses, and has hindered Somalia's ability to establish a stable and functional government.

Were the green berets in Somalia?

Although there is no specific information available on the presence of US Army Green Berets in Somalia, it is known that US special operations forces, including Navy SEALs and other units, have been involved in various missions in the country since the 1990s. The US military has maintained a presence in Somalia, with the goal of supporting the Somali government in its fight against al-Shabaab and other terrorist organizations. However, the exact role and involvement of Green Berets in Somalia are not publicly available due to the classified nature of their operations.

Is there a US military base in Somalia?

There are no permanent US military bases in Somalia, although the US has maintained a limited military presence in the country since the early 2000s. The US has used various temporary facilities and forward operating bases in Somalia to support its operations against al-Shabaab and other terrorist organizations. However, these facilities are not permanent bases and are typically used for specific missions or operations. The US has also worked with the Somali government to establish several training facilities for the Somali National Army, but these are not US military bases per se.

What happened to Kyle Milliken?

Kyle Milliken was a US Navy SEAL who was killed in action on May 5, 2017, during a mission in support of Somali Army forces in Somalia. Milliken, a 38-year-old senior chief petty officer, died from injuries sustained during the mission, which was aimed at supporting the Somali government's efforts to combat al-Shabaab. Milliken's death was the first US military fatality in Somalia since the 1990s, and it highlighted the ongoing risks and challenges faced by US special operations forces in the country. Milliken was honored for his sacrifice, and his death served as a reminder of the importance of the US mission in Somalia to support the Somali government and combat terrorist organizations.