The Western Somali Liberation Front (; abbreviated WSLF) was a Somali nationalist movement that waged an insurgency for the independence of the Somali-inhabited Ogaden from Ethiopia and its unification with Somalia.
Originating from Somali insurgent networks resisting the rule of the Ethiopian Empire in the early 1960s, the WSLF became the principal force behind the armed struggle for self-determination and independence in the Ogaden throughout the 1970s. Though a Somali oriented movement, the organization also included many members of the Harari and Oromo peoples of Ethiopia’s Muslim population who supported the Somali cause.
The WSLF eventually received the backing of the Somali Democratic Republic led by Siad Barre, and played a central role in the 1977–78 Ogaden War, fighting alongside the Somali National Army (SNA) after it had launched a major invasion intended to capitalize on the growing success of the WSLF insurgency. Despite early gains, the war ended in strategic defeat after a massive Soviet and Cuban military intervention on Ethiopia’s behalf.
The WSLF continued its guerrilla operations into the 1980s, but gradually declined due to internal divisions and intensified Ethiopian counterinsurgency campaigns, which were supported by Cuban forces and Somali proxy factions that were aligned with the Ethiopian government. By 1989, it had ceased to exist as an effective guerrilla force. Despite its decline, the WSLF laid the foundation for subsequent Somali insurgent movements in the region, most notably the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF).
Background
After World War II, Somali leaders in the Somali Region persistently advocated for self-determination from the Ethiopian Empire, yet their pleas were consistently disregarded by both imperial authorities and the United Nations. In the post-war period, the British handed over the Ogaden to Emperor Haile Selassie's government. While parts of the region had been nominally under the rule of the Ethiopian Empire since Menelik's expansions in the 1890s, the British also handed over Somali lands east of the city of Jigjiga which had never been administered by the Ethiopian Empire.
In the mid-1950s, Ethiopia for the first time controlled the entire Ogaden and began incorporating it into the empire. In the decades following the British handover, hardly any infrastructure was built in the Somali region by the central government. The Ethiopian presence in the region was always colonial in nature, primarily consisting of soldiers and tax collectors. The Somalis were never treated as equals by the Amhara settlers and were scarcely integrated into the Ethiopian Empire.
1960s uprising
During the late 1940s and 1950s, covert Somali organizations in the Somali Region had formed with the aim of freeing the region from Ethiopian rule. During mid-1963, the first major rebellion in the region broke out. Known as 'Nasrallah' or the Ogaden Liberation Front, the organization began with 300 men and soon swelled to 3,000.
Emperor Selassie enlisted the help of both the United States and Israel to suppress Somalis fighting for the Ogaden region's independence. The Ethiopian Imperial Army launched a large scale counterinsurgency campaign during the summer and fall of 1963. The imperial governments reprisals during the counterinsurgency campaign, which consisted large scale artillery bombardments of Somali cities in the Region, resulted in rapidly deteriorating relations between the Ethiopian Empire and the Somali Republic, eventually resulting the 1964 Border War. In the years following, insurgent activity continued but declined over the late 1960s due to pressures from both the Ethiopian and Somali governments. The Nasrallah insurgents formed the foundation of the future Western Somali Liberation Front.
Between 1965 and 1975, Nasrallah began emphasizing on building the political and diplomatic groundwork for another liberation struggle. The organization opened an office in Mogadishu and in sympathetic Arab states such as Iraq and Syria. Somali insurgents remained active in the regions hinterlands until the rebels under the banner of the Western Somali Liberation Front began operations in 1974.
History
Formation In 1969 a new liberation organization began forming. The early 1970s saw the Ogaden liberation movement continue to gain momentum off the foundations of Nasrallah, though the original organization had gradually started to disintegrate. In light of this, veteran insurgents and young intelligentsia from the Ogaden region within Siad Barre's government lobbied for Somalia to support the resumption of the armed struggle. Following the toppling of Halie Selassie's imperial regime by the Derg military junta, the situation in the Ogaden deteriorated. In the same period, a severe drought gripped the Ogaden resulting in mass suffering. The Derg opted to suppress news of the situation in the region rather than provide relief, and under the junta military oppression in the region increased. As 1974 and 1975 drew on, pressure from Ogaden Somalis rapidly built on the government of Siad Barre. By 1975, the Somali government had been convinced to aid the movement. Significant reorganizations were made in this period, including the decision to choose a new name. There was a sharp debate over whether to name the organization the 'Ogaden' or 'Western Somali' liberation front, with the latter eventually prevailing as the choice. The Ethiopian government claimed the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) was training the Somali guerrillas.
In January 1976, a general conference of Western Somali society was held 100 km north-west of Mogadishu. A twenty-five-member committee was elected to lead the WSLF, and Abdullahi Hassan Mahmoud became its first leader when the organization was formerly founded at the conference. That same year, training camps were soon formed across the Ogaden and Somalia. WSLF launched the Western Somali Youth Organization which became the adolescent faction of the WSLF. The youth divisions president was Mohamoud Dirir Gheddi. WSLF's youth organization would build academies for minors in the region.
Despite the organizations clear emphasis on Somalis, the WSLF found support among Muslim Harari and Oromo populations. Many Hararis joined the organization, with several such as Colonel Ezedin Yusuf in leading positions during the armed struggle. According to WSLF accounts, a large number of the fronts younger guerrillas were Harari "boys and girls", which was named the Imam Ahmed squad after the sixteenth century Muslim leader Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi. Ioan Lewis noted that Muslim Oromo support was significant to the WSLF, and extended into the command structure of the organization.
According to Dan Connell, the WSLF adopted an ideology of "Islamic nationalism".
Initiation of WSLF insurgency (1974–1976) During the last years of the Emperor Haile Selassie's rule the WSLF started becoming active in the south. The WSLF found its opportunity when the Derg overthrew Haile Selassie in 1974 and switched from American support to the Soviet Union. The initiation of full-scale guerrilla warfare occurred almost simultaneously in the northern and southern regions in the early months of 1976. By the year's end, it had expanded across southeastern Bale and Sidamo. The terrain, comprising partly arid scrubland and mountainous and wooded areas, was familiar to the fighters, and the local inhabitants were considered friendly. Infiltrating from various points in the Somali republic, the guerrillas moved rapidly across the rugged hills. Wherever they went, they dismantled the state presence by destroying government offices and systematically targeting police and civilian administration. In total there were fourth Brigades or in Somali "Afar Gaas" within the WSLF movement. At the start of 1977, the WSLF began escalating it attacks against Ethiopian troops. First Brigade was known as "Duufaan". Second Brigade was known as "Ahmed Gurey" and was the largest Brigade of the WSLF. Third Brigade was known as "Horyaal" and the Fourth Brigade was known as "Ciil Tire". Each brigade was assigned to enter different front in the Somali Region of Ethiopia.
In 1976, the Somali government set up a counterpart of WSLF to fight in the Oromo areas, calling it the Somali Abo Liberation Front (SALF), whose sphere of operations was in the provinces of Bale, Sidamo, and Arsi, where it advocated union with Somalia or the creation of an independent state. Wako Gutu and Shekih Hussein were some of the prominent Oromo nationalists who joined SALF, which soon surpassed the Oromo Liberation Army (OLF). Somalia equipped both groups with Soviet arms, and in early 1977 sent 3,000 soldiers from the Somali Army to fight as guerrillas with the WSLF.
Escalation (1976–1977) During early 1977, with the exception of towns strategically positioned on vital routes and intersections, the WSLF effectively controlled most of the Ogaden lowlands. The rebels employed hit-and-run tactics, targeting the Ethiopian army at its vulnerable points and then blending into a predominantly supportive or sympathetic local population. These tactics eroded the morale of the Ethiopian troops, compelling them to retreat to bunkers and camps. The Ethiopian army found itself confined to garrison towns, many of which were besieged. While any attempt to storm these garrison towns invited devastating firepower from the Ethiopian defenders, travel between towns became perilous. Military and civilian vehicles required armed escorts, often falling into ambushes or encountering land mines. On February 11, 1977, a notable ambush occurred near Horakelifo (between Degehabur and Jijiga), resulting in the death of 25 soldiers and officers, with another 24 wounded, and the destruction of armored cars and trucks. Around the same time, a police contingent was annihilated not far from Filtu. These disruptions to supply lines led to frequent transportation delays to the camps. In addition to affecting the morale of the troops, guerrilla actions aimed at sabotaging the economy also occurred. In the summer of 1977, WSLF fighters destroyed several important installations, and on June 1, they detonated the railway connecting the Ethiopian capital to the port of Djibouti. This crucial economic lifeline, normally handling 70 percent of Ethiopia's exports and 50 percent of her imports, remained out of commission until August.
Initially composed of an active force of roughly 5,000 guerrillas, the WSLF was not able to seize control of any major towns or important outposts controlled by the Ethiopian military during early stages of the insurgency.