The armed movements against military rule, 1978–1991: SSDF, SNM, USC and SPM

In short

After the Ogaden war, opposition to the military government grew. Some of it took up arms. Four main movements fought the government of Siad Barre from 1978 to 1991. Most drew their support mainly from one clan-family, though each said it spoke for the whole nation (Library of Congress, Somalia: A Country Study).

By January 1991 they had driven the government from power. They had agreed to coordinate in 1990, but they never fought jointly or agreed on who would govern next (Library of Congress).

This page records what each movement was, where it fought, and what the record says about the war, from the main published sources.

The SSDF, 1978

Full page: Somali Salvation Democratic Front.

In April 1978, army officers attempted a coup in Mogadishu. The Library of Congress records that about 500 soldiers were killed in the fighting. Seventeen officers were then executed (Library of Congress).

Several colonels escaped abroad. One of them, Colonel Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, played a major role in founding the Somali Salvation Front (SSF). It was the first movement dedicated to ending the government by force. In October 1981 it became the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF). Its support came mainly from the Majeerteen (same source).

In 1982 SSDF fighters, with Ethiopian army units, took areas along the border, including two district towns. From 1988 they extended their control in western Mudug and southern Nugaal and Bari (same source). Abdullahi Yusuf later became president of Puntland and of Somalia; see Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed.

The SNM, 1981

Full page: Somali National Movement.

In 1981 Somalis living in London founded the Somali National Movement (SNM) to remove the government. Its support came mainly from the Isaaq clans of the north-west. In 1982 it moved its headquarters to Dire Dawa in Ethiopia and began raids into Woqooyi Galbeed and Togdheer (Library of Congress).

Like the SSDF, it had military and political wings and sought support from other clans. Its best-known early action was the 1983 attack on Mandera prison near Berbera, which freed northern political prisoners (same source).

The war in the north, from May 1988

In April 1988 Siad Barre and Ethiopia's leader Mengistu Haile Mariam signed a peace agreement. Ethiopian support for the SNM was to end (Library of Congress).

The SNM then moved its fighters into Somalia. In May 1988 the fighting reached Burao and Hargeisa, and by August the SNM had taken Hargeisa and other northern towns (Library of Congress). Human Rights Watch records that the war in the north "broke out in May 1988" and was still going on in 1990 (Human Rights Watch, World Report 1990, Somalia).

The government answered with force. The Library of Congress records "massive aerial bombing, carried out by foreign mercenary pilots, that damaged or destroyed virtually every building in Hargeysa" (Library of Congress). Another study says the fighting led to "the virtual destruction of the urban centers of the north, most notably Hargeysa… and Burao" (Library of Congress).

In January 1990 Africa Watch published a 268-page report on the war, A Government at War with Its Own People. It examined "the conduct of the war by government forces and SNM insurgents". It estimated that by early 1990, 50,000 to 60,000 people had been killed and nearly half a million had fled the country, most to Ethiopia (Human Rights Watch, World Report 1990).

The SPM, 1985

Full page: Somali Patriotic Movement.

The Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM) formed in 1985 after a split in the SSDF. Its support came mainly from the Ogaden clan, many of whom were unhappy with the 1988 peace agreement with Ethiopia (Library of Congress).

In 1990 many Ogaden officers left the army and joined the SPM. With them it took and held several government garrisons in the south (same source).

The USC, 1989

Full page: United Somali Congress.

Hawiye leaders who had worked with the SNM formed their own movement in 1989, the United Somali Congress (USC) (Library of Congress). From August 1990 it stepped up its attacks around Mogadishu (Human Rights Watch, World Report 1990).

The USC had two main wings, linked to the Abgaal and the Habar Gidir. Mohamed Farah Aidid led the Habar Gidir wing (Library of Congress).

Other movements

By 1990 the north had more armed groups. The Gadabuursi formed the Somali Democratic Alliance (SDA) in 1990, and members of the Ciise formed the United Somali Front (USF) (Library of Congress; Library of Congress). These movements were wary of SNM control of their areas.

A civilian voice: the Manifesto of May 1990

Not all opposition was armed. In May 1990, 114 prominent citizens of Mogadishu signed a manifesto that called on Siad Barre to resign and for multiparty elections. They came from all major clans (Library of Congress).

Forty-five signers were arrested and charged with sedition and treason. Human Rights Watch records that they were acquitted "for lack of evidence", the first such acquittals in a political trial in Somalia (Human Rights Watch, World Report 1990).

The fall of the government, 1990–1991

• August–September 1990. The SNM, Aidid's wing of the USC and the SPM agreed to coordinate. They then signed a military alliance in Ethiopia (Library of Congress).
• December 1990–January 1991. USC fighters entered Mogadishu and fought the government forces there. The Library of Congress records that this was done "without the assistance of either the SNM, the SPM, or the Habar Gidir faction of the USC" (same source). Siad Barre left the capital in late January 1991.
• January 1991, the north. The SNM took the remaining garrisons at Berbera, Burao and Hargeisa (Library of Congress).

What came after

The USC named a provisional government in Mogadishu in February 1991. The SSDF, SPM and SNM said they had not been consulted and did not accept it (Library of Congress).

In the north, the SNM held a conference of the region's clans at Burao in April 1991. On 18 May 1991 it announced the Republic of Somaliland, with the SNM's Abdirahman Ahmed Ali "Tuur" as president (same source; the Library of Congress gives 17 May). See Abdirahman Ahmed Ali Tuur.

In Mogadishu the two wings of the USC fought each other from September 1991. By the end of the year the city was divided (Library of Congress). What followed is told in the collapse, 1991–2000.

Who suffered?

The sources record civilian deaths and losses on every side and in every region.

• In the north. Africa Watch estimated 50,000 to 60,000 killed by early 1990, and nearly half a million refugees (Human Rights Watch, World Report 1990). On 16 August 1990, soldiers in Berbera shot dead 17 Isaaq men in front of a restaurant, in reprisal for SNM attacks (same source).
• In the centre and south. The same report records that the army killed unarmed civilians and destroyed herds, water reservoirs and homes in Beledweyne, Kismayo, Bosaso, Burao and elsewhere. Several thousand Hawiye farmers and herders were held in army camps near Mogadishu and Beledweyne (same source).
• In Mogadishu. On 6 July 1990 the presidential guard shot dead more than 100 people at a football stadium after the crowd jeered the president (same source).
• After the fall. The Library of Congress records that fighters of both USC wings looted food meant for famine victims in 1991–92 (Library of Congress).

Sources differ

• The date of Somaliland's declaration. The Library of Congress gives 17 May 1991. Somaliland marks 18 May.
• The dead in the north. Africa Watch's estimate of 50,000 to 60,000 dates from early 1990. Other estimates, made later, are higher. No agreed figure exists.
• The SSDF's founding. It began as the SSF after April 1978 and took the name SSDF in October 1981. Some accounts date the SSDF to 1978 or 1979.

Read the primary sources yourself

• Library of Congress, Somalia: A Country Study (1993): Opposition movements, Reconciliation, Succession, Disintegration.
• Human Rights Watch (Africa Watch), World Report 1990, Somalia chapter: text.
• Africa Watch, Somalia: A Government at War with Its Own People (1990): catalogue record and digital copy, University of Halle.