Somali Rebellion

Somali Rebellion
Date10 April 1978 – 26 January 1991[5]
(12 years, 9 months, 2 weeks and 2 days)
Location
Somali Democratic Republic
Result

Rebel victory

Belligerents

Somalia Somali Democratic Republic

Puntland USC[2]
SNM
SPM
SSDF
Supported by:
Ethiopia[3][4]
Commanders and leaders
Somalia Siad Barre
Somalia Mohammed Said Hersi Morgan
Somalia Muhammad Ali Samatar		 Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed
Somalia Mohamed Farrah Aidid
Abdirahman Ahmed Ali Tuur[6]
Bashir Bililiqo

The Somali Rebellion was the start of the Somali Civil War that began in the 1970s and resulted in the collapse of the Somali Democratic Republic in 1991. The rebellion effectively began in 1978 following a failed coup d’état and President Siad Barre began using his special forces, the "Red Berets" (Duub Cas), to attack clan-based dissident groups opposed to his regime. Backed by Ethiopia, the two earliest rebel factions, the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF) and the Somali National Movement (SNM) began attacks during the against government forces during the early 1980s.

The SSDF assaults culminated in a joint invasion with Ethiopian troops in 1982, which stalemated into a border war and later resulted in the decline of the SSDF. The SNM continued operating and carrying out insurgent attacks on the government. During the late 1980s other rebel organizations proliferated throughout the country. When Barre was injured in an automobile accident on May 23, 1986, rivals within his own government and from opposition groups became bolder.

The final years of President Siad Barre's rule were marked by growing armed conflict across Somalia. In the north, the SNM was active, while the SSDF operated in the northeast. The United Somali Congress (USC) gained ground in the central regions, and in the south, the Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM) led efforts against the regime. Despite their resistance, these opposition fronts failed to offer a unified or viable political alternative after the central government fell.[7]

As Barre's regime weakened in its last two years, government institutions collapsed, and clan cohesion disintegrated. The state went bankrupt as taxes went unpaid and foreign aid was withdrawn.[8] The July 1989 riots and massacres brought large scale violence to Mogadishu for the first time, intensifying the rebellion. By late 1990, the country was on the brink of full-scale civil war, with the USC routed the Somali army in Mudug, Galgadud, and Hiiraan.[9] After a battle between the regime and rebels in Mogadishu, the Somali Democratic Republic collapsed in January 1991, marking the sunset of the Somali Civil War.

  1. ^ "CRAXI HA FIRMATO L' ACCORDO 550 MILIARDI ALLA SOMALIA". La repubblica.
  2. ^ Mukhtar, Mohamed Haji (2003-02-25). Historical Dictionary of Somalia. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810866041.
  3. ^ Cohen, Robin (2 November 1995). The Cambridge Survey of World Migration. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-44405-7. in return for depriving the snm of its.
  4. ^ Cordesman, Anthony H. (6 October 2016). After The Storm: The Changing Military Balance in the Middle East. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 978-1-4742-9257-3.
  5. ^ "Military Coup Foiled, Somali Leader Reports". The Washington Post. 10 April 1978.
  6. ^ Jhazbhay, Iqbal (August 2010). Civil Society & their role in Africa's struggle to deepen democracy: Experiences of Somaliland in the Horn (PDF). African Participatory Democracy Conference.
  7. ^ Farah, Ibrahim (2020). Somali Foreign Policy, 1960 - 1990: An Analysis of Thirty Years of Diplomatic History. Adonis & Abbey Publishers. p. 89. ISBN 978-1-909112-77-3.
  8. ^ Drysdale 1994, p. 20.
  9. ^ Drysdale 1994, p. 26.