The Victory Pioneers ( so, Guulwadayaal) were a neighborhood-level
secret police
Secret police (or political police) are intelligence, security or police agencies that engage in covert operations against a government's political, religious, or social opponents and dissidents. Secret police organizations are characteristic of a ...
unit active in the closing years of the
Siad Barre
Mohamed Siad Barre ( so, Maxamed Siyaad Barre, Osmanya script: ; ar, محمد سياد بري; c. 1910 – 2 January 1995) was a Somali head of state and general who served as the 3rd president of the Somali Democratic Republic from 1969 to 199 ...
regime
In politics, a regime (also "régime") is the form of government or the set of rules, cultural or social norms, etc. that regulate the operation of a government or institution and its interactions with society. According to Yale professor Juan Jo ...
in
Somalia
Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...
, until its
overthrow in 1991. Numbering approximately 10,000, they were also known as the "People's Militia".
Synopsis
According to a U.S. Library of Congress Country Study published in 1993, "Pioneer units,
xistingin every town and village, ensured loyalty to Siad Barre's regime by encouraging people to spy on each other in the work place, schools, mosques, and private homes."
After the more widely known
NSS was formally dissolved in 1990 as a palliative measure, its functions were taken over by other units within Barré's internal security apparatus, such as the ''
Hangash The Hangash ( so, Hay'adda Nabadgalyada Gaashaandhiga), an acronym standing for Defence Security Agency, was a notorious secret police unit of the Siad Barre regime in Somalia until his overthrow in 1991.
Overview
Created in the aftermath of th ...
'' (a military intelligence unit), the Victory Pioneers, and others.
References
Communism in Somalia
Military history of Somalia
{{Somalia-stub