SOMALI NATIONAL ARMY (SNA) INSIDE STORY, May 5, 2016
Iman Elman currently is a Captain in Somali National Army.
She is leading a team of soldiers battling Al-Shabaab liberating towns and villages from the control of the Islamist militant group.
Iman Elman, 24, joined the unusual career in the SNA which is male dominated after her father was assassinated by warlords. Her father, Elman Ali Ahmed was a peace activist.
Women soldiers account only 7 percent of Somalia military (SNA).
According to Elman, Women soldiers are supposed to take duties such cooking, cleaning and lighter office tasks and only a few of them go into the frontline into the combat.
Even fewer who have attained the rank of captain, which involves commanding a troop of (mostly male) soldiers. Most are confined to menial roles, such as providing security at police stations, rather than fighting on the frontline.
Iman Elman, now a captain in the Somali National Army, wants to overcome Al-Shabaab in order to improve the situation of Somalia's women.
She believes women need also to be given equal chances on the war in Somalia if the war-torn country is to be pacified from the control of Al-Shabaab in the remaining territories.
Elman is adamant that the SNA, with public support, will destroy the militants. “I absolutely believe that the Somali people will overcome Al-Shabaab once and for all,” she says.
