The 1988 Hargeisa Burao offensive () was a major offensive conducted during the Somaliland War of Independence in May 1988 by the Somali National Movement on the cities of Hargeisa and Burao, then the second and third largest cities of Somalia. The SNM captured Burao on 27 May within two hours, while the SNM entered Hargeisa on 29 May, overrunning most of the city apart from its airport by 1 June. During the offensive the Somali National Army committed gross human rights violations, including attacking the civilian population using heavy artillery and tanks.
Background
In 1982, the Somali National Movement (shortened SNM) moved its headquarters from London to Dire Dawa, Ethiopia where 3 key military bases were established. From here, it would launch guerrilla raids into the Waqooyi Galbeed and Togdheer regions. A growing number of northern civilian recruits and defectors from the Somali army, drawn almost exclusively from the Isaaq clan, were shaped into a guerrilla force and trained to produce a hard-core of disciplined fighters. Although the Ethiopians were said to have initially only supplied ammunition, Isaaq recruits came with their own arms in addition the equipment seized from the Somalian army. Soon after, the Somalian army established the "Isaaq Exterminator" command which aimed to ethnically cleanse the Isaaq population. Over the following years, the SNM made numerous clandestine military incursions into northwest Somalia. Although these attacks never posed a direct threat to the regime's control of the area, such activities and the boldness and tenacity of its small force were a constant irritation to the Barre regime.
The first military offensive of the SNM took place near Baligubadle where a small force attacked a fuel tanker supplying the Somalian regime's base in the town. This operation was organised by local commanders without prior planning using a local force of Arap clansmen based in the organisation's Lanqeyrta base.
In the late 1980s, the National Security Service increased its activities against dissidents and SNM sympathizers. In response, the SNM carried out the assassination of the regional National Security Service Chief in 1986 which led to the newly appointed Northern military commander Mohammed Said Hersi Morgan unleashing a new wave of terror against the Isaaq population as set out by his "Letter of Death".
Cause
In 1987, Siad Barre, the president of Somalia, frustrated by lack of success of the army against insurgents from the Somali National Movement in the north of country, offered the Ethiopian government a deal in which they stop sheltering and giving support to the SNM in return for Somalia giving up its territorial claim over Ethiopia's Somali Region. Ethiopia was in agreement and a deal was signed on 3 April 1988 that included a clause confirming agreement not to assist rebel organisations based in each other's territories. The SNM felt the pressure to cease their activities on the Ethiopia-Somalia border, and had no option but to attack the northern territories of Somalia to take control of the major cities in the north. The brutal nature of the Siad Barre government response was unprecedented, and led to what Robin Cohen described as one of the "worst civil wars in Africa".Cohen, p.444
On the 14th of March 1988, The Government attacked a convoy of SNM Fighters in the vicinity of Gabiley and Tog Wajaale but were driven off. The Government troops responded by executing 25 civilians in retaliation.
The SNM originally planned to attack Adadley, Mandera and Berbera, and to then advance into Hargeisa and Berbera, however the plan was changed at the last minute by the SNM High Command. This new plan prioritized the symbolic capture of the northern capital, Hargeisa, over a logistical blockade, and would further lengthen the war. Despite light attacks conducted by the SNM, Berbera remained under Somali government control, and the port city served as a beachhead for receiving troops and supplies from southern Somalia and overseas, unloading them, and redistributing them across the region.
Offensive The SNM's forces were divided into three regiments; Mecca, Medina and the Central Front. A total of 5,700 SNM troops took part in the large offensive. Burao
At dusk on 26 May, the SNM units left the village of Samatar Ahmed. The unit consisted of roughly 1,200 fighters, with minimal ammunition and vehicles, and was led by Colonel Ahmed Mire. They arrived in the town of Dhoqoshay at sunset and by early morning the next day, the SNM advanced to Badhka, an execution site outside of Burao used by Barre's government. SNM troops passed Badhka and advanced directly to Burao without any resistance.
On 27 May the Medina Front forces of the SNM launched an offensive on Burao early on Friday morning, overrunning it within 2 hours. When SNM forces reached the Baarsiigo restaurant, the unit was divided into two sections. One was heading for Burao's main bridge and the other heading for Burao's military headquarters. Almost immediately SNM fighters took over the military compound at Burao airport where the majority of Somali army soldiers were stationed, the military compound at Goon Ad () in the outskirts of the city, as well as two police stations (including the central police station of Burao), Burao prison and a variety of government offices in the city. Government troops fled, leaving behind large amounts of ammunition, guns, and tanks captured and used by the SNM troops. The SNM executed a number of Somali military officers and officials.
After capturing Burao's central prison the SNM freed political prisoners (including schoolchildren). Somali troops subsequently retreated to their base in Goon Ad. Upon capturing Burao the SNM was overwhelmed with recruits, with over 30,000 men picking up arms and joining the group. During the fighting the commander of the SNM units in Burao, Colonel Ahmed Mire, suffered a head injury and was temporarily replaced by Colonel Handulleh.
Hargeisa
The western SNM forces were still behind in their preparation, thereby delaying the attack on Hargeisa. The unit marched from Masaajidka, on the Ethiopia-Somalia border at noon on 27 May.
To relieve the pressure on the SNM forces attacking Burao, 300 men were sent to attack Adadley, which hosted one of the largest Somali army defenses in northern Somalia, as well as a large weapons depot. Around 30 armed vehicles were captured, with the captured armed vehicles being distributed to other attacking groups in Hargeisa and Burao.
On 28 May, the Sayyid Omar Brigade () captured Debis, a place in the mid-point of both the Hargeisa-Burao and Hargeisa-Berbera roads, with the goal being preventing Somali government forces from moving between the three cities. On 29 May, the Sayid Ali and Barkhad Brigades from the central regiment captured Adadley. Upon receiving news of Somali army reinforcements being sent to Werarta in preparations for a counteroffensive on Adadley, the SNM launched a sudden attack, with the SNM capturing material, including field guns and jeeps. The SNM then advanced to Abdaal, where the SNM ambushed convoys of reinforcements arriving from southern Somalia, and attacked Mandera Prison, where they freed 664 prisoners, including the former mayor of Hargeisa, Ethiopians and southern Somalis.
An SNM fighter who partook in the battle of Adadley recounted the SNM offensive on the village:
Wounded Somali troops who claimed to be from the Hawiye clan in southern Somalia were to their surprise spared and left unharmed, being sent back to their villages of origin upon their recovery and told to not join government forces ever again. Occasionally captured Somali soldiers would, upon realizing SNM forces would not harm them, reveal hidden guns and hand them over.
On 30 May the SNM reached Sheikh Mowdhle at 5 pm, and advanced to Sheikh Omar, Adrosh and Hagal. By 7:30 pm the SNM units were roughly 300 metres from the military headquarters of the 26th Division of the Somalian army. The same day South African mercenary planes conducted airstrikes against the SNM forces. Although the SNM forces managed to shoot down a plane they took heavy casualties.
The SNM attack on Hargeisa started at 2:15 a.m. on 31 May and was led by Colonel Mohamed Ilmi Samatar and Colonel Muse Bihi Abdi. The SNM force attacking Hargeisa was estimated at 500 men equipped with 84 vehicles, of whom only 14 were left due to vehicles being sent to the front in Adadley. The SNM captured the headquarters of the 26th Division, as well as capturing the Birjeex arms depot where the SNM collected ammunition. An SNM fighter who partook in the Hargeisa offensive described Somali troops dropping their uniforms on the ground and fleeing. The SNM encountered stiff resistance from the Somalian Army as they surrounded Radio Hargeisa's headquarters. The Somalian army units withdrew to Hargeisa Airport and the hills east of the city. Due to heavy bombardment from Somalian heavy artillery and tanks, the SNM force tasked with capturing Hargeisa airport fell back and retreated to Adadley.
By 1 June, with the exception of Hargeisa Airport, the SNM overran the city. During the Somali army counterattack the SNM line of defense in the city was behind Hargeisa's radio station.
Government retaliation and counteroffensive
Hargeisa
As news of the SNM advance on Burao and its capture reached government officials in Hargeisa, all banks were ordered to close, and army units surrounded the banks to prevent people from approaching. Both electricity and water-supply lines were cut from the city, and residents resorted to fetching water from streams, and due to it being the rainy season they were also able to collect water from rooftops. All vehicles (including taxis) were confiscated to control the movement of civilian population, this also ensured sufficient transport was available for the use of military and government officials. Top government officials evacuated their families to the capital Mogadishu. The period between 27 and 31 May was marked by much looting by government forces as well as mass arrests. Killings in Hargeisa started on 31 May.
A curfew was imposed on 27 May starting at 6:00 p.m, the army began systematic house-to-house searches, looking for SNM fighters. On the following day the curfew started earlier at 4:00 pm; the third day at 2:00 pm; and on the fourth day at 11:00 am.
Anticipating fighting to start, people stock-piled food, coal and other essential supplies. Government forces looted all warehouses and shops, with the open market of the city being one of their prime targets. Soldiers raided mosques and looted its carpets and loudspeakers. Later, civilians would be killed inside mosques. A significant number of civilian deaths at the time occurred as a result of government soldiers robbing them, those who refused to hand valuables (watches, jewellery and money) or were not quick enough to comply with soldiers' demands were shot on the spot. Another major cause of civilian deaths was food robbery, this was reportedly because the soldiers were not being supplied by the government.
Artillery shelling of Hargeisa started on the third day of the fighting and was accompanied by large-scale aerial bombing of the city carried out by aircraft of the Somali Air Force. Somali government aircraft "took off from the Hargeisa Airport and then turned around to make repeated bombing runs on the city".