Because of the Sino-Soviet rivalry, China supported Somalia diplomatically and with token military aid. A second armed clash in 1988 was resolved when the two countries agreed to withdraw their militaries from the border. Col Ahmed was arrested by Ethiopia's Mengistu. The bombings were stopped only when "catastrophic" reports from Europe started to be received.[9]. [49], In addition to previous Soviet funding and arms support to Somalia, Egypt sent millions of dollars in arms to Somalia, established military training and sent experts to Somalia. The Ethiopian Air Force (EAF) also began to establish air superiority using its Northrop F-5s, despite being initially outnumbered by Somali MiG-21s. All aid to Siad Barre's regime was halted, while arms shipments to Ethiopia were increased. On 2 May, the Emperor left Addis Ababa to go into exile. Believing that Badoglio would not share the laurels of victory with him, Graziani decided to launch an offensive in the south against Ras Nasibu's army. Background: As the conflict intensifies in the Ogaden desert war, the casualties are mounting on both sides. In roughly ten days of fighting, the Italians suffered over 2,000 casualties. [56][57][58], The Somali National Army committed to invade the Ogaden on July 12, 1977, according to Ethiopian Ministry of National Defense documents (some other sources state July 13 or 23 July). The former was practically defunct by the late 1980s, with its splinter group, the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) operating from headquarters in Kuwait. [16] On 22 January 2008, a government official announced the death of former top guerrilla commander Mohamed Sirad Dolal , following an operation in the Denan woreda of the Gode zone. Despite considerable evidence to the contrary, Barre strongly denied this, saying SNA "volunteers" were being allowed to help the WSLF. In addition, the WSLF and SALF were significantly weakened after the Ogaden War. By 17 August elements of the Somali Army had reached the outskirts of the strategic city of Dire Dawa. The Somalis took a terrible beating from Cuban artillery and aerial assaults.[67]. Between 12 January and 20 January 1936, Ras Desta's army was completely decimated by the Italian Royal Air Force (Regia Aeronautica). While the Ethiopians themselves had over 5,000 casualties, the disparity was much less than was typical. Published prior to 2013 | Updated: 2016-04-08 00:19:19. The Ogaden… But it was the Ethiopians on the southern front, hoping to relieve the pressure on their fortified line of defense, who attacked the Italians along the whole front. The battle consisted of attacks by the Italian forces of General Rodolfo Graziani, the Commander-in-Chief of the forces on the "southern front," against Ethiopian defensive positions commanded by Ras Nasibu Emmanual. In September 1974, Emperor Haile Selassie had been overthrown by the Derg (the military council), marking a period of turmoil. As Somalia gained military strength, Ethiopia grew weaker. A United Nations peacekeeping force arrived in 2002 but disbanded in 2008 despite continuing tension [ 44 ] and the border remained inaccessible and tense through 2020, even after the two countries reached a peace agreement in 2018. He had decided to fight a "colonial war" with primarily colonial troops. Barker indicates 30,000. The Ogaden War, or the Ethio-Somali war (Somali: Dagaalkii Xoraynta Soomaali Galbeed), was a Somali military offensive between July 1977 and March 1978 over the Ethiopian sector of Ogaden, which began with the Somali invasion of Ethiopia. Soviet military aid (second in magnitude only to the October 1973 gigantic resupplying of Syrian forces during the Yom Kippur War) and advisors flooded into the country along with around 15,000 Cuban combat troops. [21] The Soviet Union disapproved of the invasion and ceased its support of Somalia, instead starting to support Ethiopia. The strong defensive positions were designed by Wehib Pasha and known as the "Hindenburg Wall". [66] A column of Ethiopian and Cuban troops crossed northeast into the highlands between Jijiga and the border with Somalia, bypassing the SNA-WSLF force defending the Marda Pass. However, the Somalis were unable to press their advantage because of the high attrition on its tank battalions, constant Ethiopian air attacks on their supply lines, and the onset of the rainy season which made the dirt roads unusable. The regional balance of power now favoured Somalia. Result: Ethiopian victory. Last edited on 23 December 2020, at 01:30, attacked the Italians along the whole front, Ethiopian Order of Battle Second Italo-Abyssinian War, Italian Order of Battle Second Italo-Abyssinian War, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Ogaden&oldid=995818229, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 23 December 2020, at 01:30. [44], On 15 October 1969, while paying a visit to the northern town of Las Anod, Somalia's then President Shermarke was shot dead by one of his own bodyguards. In addition, he had the garrisons of Jijiga and Harar. The Ogaden National Liberation Front (abbreviated ONLF, Somali: Jabhadda Wadaniga Xoreynta Ogaadeenya; Arabic: الجبهة الوطنية لتحرير أوغادين‎) is a separatist rebel group fighting for the right to self-determination for Somalis in the Somali Region of Ethiopia. The failure of the war aggravated discontent with the Barre regime; the first organized opposition group, the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF), was formed by army officers in 1979. The biggest obstacle to the Italian advance was heavy rain, swollen rivers, and thick mud. He describes them as "half-prepared trenches and gun-sites," manned by two battalions of the Imperial Bodyguard who had fled before the Italians six months before. One observer of the Ogaden War summed up the antagonists best, stating that Somali soldiers and Ethiopian pilots would make the best armed forces in Africa. On 3 July 2007, an ONLF ambush outside the town of Shilaabo resulted in the deaths of 43 soldiers, the separatists suffered 5 casualties and 8 rebels were injured. The Derg quickly fell into internal conflict to determine who would have primacy. (Eventually joined the SNM late 1988), Col. Farah Handulle commanded SNA on the Warder Front. Ogaden War; Part of the Ethiopian–Somali conflict and the Cold War: Cuban artillerymen prepare to fire at Somali forces in the Ogaden: Date: July 13, 1977 – March 23, 1978 (8 months and 2 days) Location: Ogaden, Ethiopia. His assassination was quickly followed by a military coup d'état on 21 October 1969 (the day after his funeral), in which the Somali Army seized power without encountering armed opposition—essentially a bloodless takeover. Her losses included over 6,000 killed, and about 400 Cubans and 100 South Yemenis also died. Castro's plan didn't get any support and two months later Somali forces attacked the Ethiopians. In just one day, Marshal of Italy Pietro Badoglio routed an army personally commanded by Emperor Haile Selassie I. [29] The Soviet Union disapproved of the invasion and ceased its support of Somalia, instead starting to support Ethiopia. On the northern front, the usual ratio between Ethiopian and Italian casualties was ten to one. From October 1977 until January 1978, the SNA-WSLF forces attempted to capture Harar during the Battle of Harar, where 40,000 Ethiopians had regrouped and re-armed with Soviet-supplied artillery and armor; backed by 1,500 Soviet advisors and 16,000 Cuban soldiers, they engaged the attackers in vicious fighting. (Both Officers were lLater chosen to reinforce the Harar campaign; Col Aare eventually became a military attache and retired as a private citizen after the collapse of SNA in 1990). [59] By the end of the month 60% of the Ogaden had been taken by the SNA-WSLF force, including Gode, on the Shabelle River. Somalia - Somalia - Civil war: Somalia’s defeat in the Ogaden War strained the stability of the Siad regime as the country faced a surge of clan pressures. A sign that order had been restored among the Derg was the announcement of Mengistu Haile Mariam as head of state on February 11, 1977. Some 160 Ethiopians were executed in the early stages of the war. One of the separatist groups seeking to take advantage of the chaos was the pro-Somalia Western Somali Liberation Front (WSLF) operating in the Somali-inhabited Ogaden, which by late 1975 had struck numerous government outposts. According to A. J. Barker, he had "made brilliant use of the ground and exploited to the fullest the military engineering techniques of the day". While the army of Ras Nasibu disintegrated, it was not destroyed. The ground forces fielded by Graziani were almost entirely "mechanized" and made use of an air component that was empowered to inflict the maximum losses on the enemy. [2], Late in the year, Ras Desta Damtew started preparations to launch an offensive with his army of approximately 40,000 men. Estimated deaths Korean War 1950-1953 2,950,000 Rwanda and Burundi Civil Wars 1959-1995 1,150,000 Indochina 1960-1975 1,900,000 Ethiopian (Ogaden and Eritrean) 1962-1992 250,000 Nigerian Civil War 1966-1970 2,000,000 Bangladesh War of Independence 1971 1,500,000 His goal was to advance from Negele Boran, take Dolo near the border, and to then invade Italian Somaliland. After British Somalia and Italian Somalia gained independence from the UK in 1960 as the unified state of Somalia, the leadership aspired to create a Greater Somalia which incorporated surrounding territories populated by Somali. [3], On 31 March, the last Ethiopian army on the northern front was destroyed during the Battle of Maychew. Death has become an increasingly accepted fact, and in Ethiopia they are reserving graves for people who have not yet been killed. But it may have been the overcast skies more than a change of heart on Graziani's part that saved the withdrawing Ethiopians from the Italian Royal Air Force. The attacking forces did suffer some early setbacks; Ethiopian defenders at Dire Dawa and Jijiga inflicted heavy casualties on assaulting forces. In 1950, as a result of the Paris Peace Treaties, the United Nations granted Italy trusteeship of Italian Somaliland, but only under close supervision and on the condition—first proposed by the Somali Youth League (SYL) and other nascent Somali political organizations, such as Hizbia Digil Mirifle Somali (HDMS) and the Somali National League (SNL)—that Somalia achieve independence within ten years. The weakness of the Barre administration led it to effectively abandon the dream of a unified Greater Somalia. Harbi was killed in a plane crash two years later. The Somali National Army committed to invade the Ogaden on July 12, 1977, according to Ethiopian Ministry of National Defense documents (some other sources state July 13 or 23 July). [53] General Samatar was assisted in the offensive by several field commanders, most of whom were also Frunze graduates:[54], General Yussuf Salhan commanded SNA on the Jijiga Front assisted by Col. A. Naji, capturing the area on August 30, 1977. On 3 May, about one third of the officers on the southern front followed his example. But, according to Baer, Graziani had approximately 30,000 men. (Became a civilian administrator and Governor of Sanaag, later killed in Hargheisa as the new appointed Governor of Hargheisa in 1987 one day before he took over the Governorship), General Mohamed Nur Galaal assisted by Col.Mohamud Sh. The town had been declared an "open city" since 2 December 1935 and was devoid of military activity. The Battle of the Ogaden was fought in 1936 in the southern front of the Second Italo-Abyssinian War. His one aim—to reach Harar before Badoglio's March of the Iron Will reached Addis Ababa—was the victim of a sea of mud that slowed all progress to a crawl. [61], The USSR, finding itself supplying both sides of a war, attempted to mediate a ceasefire. [40] The majority of those who voted no were Somalis who were strongly in favour of joining a united Somalia, as had been proposed by Mahmoud Harbi, Vice President of the Government Council. The Ogaden War, also known as the Ethio-Somali War, was a Somali military offensive between July 1977 and March 1978 over the disputed Ethiopian region Ogaden starting with the Somali Democratic Republic's invasion of Ethiopia. [citation needed], Under the leadership of General Mohamed Ali Samatar, Irro and other senior Somali military officials were mandated in 1977 with formulating a national strategy in preparation for the Ogaden campaign in Ethiopia. Other communist countries offered assistance: the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen offered military assistance and North Korea helped train a "People's Militia";[citation needed] East Germany likewise offered training, engineering and support troops. His initial gains were modest. [59][60], According to Ethiopian sources, the invaders numbered 70,000 troops, 40 fighter planes, 250 tanks, 350 APCs, and 600 artillery, which would have meant practically the whole Somali Army. The Soviet Union disapproved of the invasion and ceased its support of Somalia, instead starting to support Ethiopia. [38], A referendum was held in neighboring Djibouti (then known as French Somaliland) in 1958, on the eve of Somalia's independence in 1960, to decide whether or not to join the Somali Republic or to remain with France. Degehabur fell on 30 April and Nasibu withdrew to Harar. The Somalis tallied their losses. Ogaden War. In 1977 Ethiopia and Somalia engaged in a brief territory conflict over the Ogaden region situated between and claimed by both nations. [39], British Somaliland became independent on 26 June 1960 as the State of Somaliland and the Trust Territory of Somalia (the former Italian Somaliland) followed suit five days later. ( Aftoje became a General and a military attache to France). WSLF had control of most of the Ogaden, the first time since the Second World War that all Somalia was united with the exception of the NFD region in Kenya. The Insurgency in Ogaden was an armed conflict that took place from 1994 to 2018. The coup was spearheaded by Major General Mohamed Siad Barre, who at the time commanded the army. However, against the weight of the Italian firepower, the Ethiopians could make little progress. According to Ethiopian sources, the invaders numbered 70,000 troops, 40 fighter planes, 250 tanks, 350 APCs, and 600 artillery, which would have meant practically the whole Somali Army. Ethiopia started to build up its military presence along the border; something that was quickly countered by Somalia and in 1973 the two countries were on the brink of open conflict. When the Cubans and the Soviets learned of the Somali plans to annex the Ogaden, Castro flew to Aden in March 1977 where he suggested an Ethiopian-Somali-Yemeni Socialist Federation. [55] From 1976 to 1977, Somalia supplied arms and other aid to the WSLF. By September Ethiopia was forced to admit that it controlled only about 10% of the Ogaden and that the Ethiopian defenders had been pushed back into the non-Somali areas of Harerge, Bale, and Sidamo. The Ogaden War, or the Ethio-Somali war (Somali: Dagaalkii Xoraynta Soomaali Galbeed), was a Somali military offensive between July 1977 and March 1978 over the disputed Ethiopian region of Ogaden, which began with the Somali invasion of Ethiopia.The Soviet Union disapproved of the invasion and ceased its support of Somalia, instead starting to support Ethiopia. The line was a series of entrenched positions known as the "Hindenburg Wall" in deference to the famous German defensive line of World War I, the "Hindenburg Line". This conflict however held significance greater than most territorial disputes because Ethiopia was backed by the Soviet Union and Somalia was supported by the United States, thus bringing the Cold War to eastern Africa. (Retired and became a Professor of Strategy in Mogadishu Somalia), Col. Ali Hussein commanded SNA in two front's, Qabri Dahare and Harar. The Somali army was equipped entirely by the Soviets and trained by Soviet and Cuban advisors. By 23 March 1978, the Ethiopians and Cubans had recaptured more than two-thirds of the Ogaden, marking the official end of the war. [6] Anthony Mockler does not express the same opinion of Wehib Pasha's defenses. The war began in 1994, when the ONLF attempted to recreate Greater Somalia by unifying Ethiopia's Somali Region with Somalia.It ended in a peace agreement as part of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's reforms. The second column, commanded by General Luigi Frusci, was to move forward to the pivotal point of the "Hindenburg Wall." [4], A third of the initial Somali National Army invasion force was killed, and half of the Somali Airforce destroyed; the war left Somalia with a disorganized and demoralized army and an angry population. [39] Djibouti finally gained its independence from France in 1977, and Hassan Gouled Aptidon, who had campaigned for a yes vote in the referendum of 1958, eventually wound up as Djibouti's first president (1977–1991). Mohamad A. Col. Abukar Liban 'Aftooje' Initially served as acting logistics coordinator for the Southern Command and later commanded the SNA on the Iimeey Front. Meanwhile, various anti-Derg as well as separatist movements began throughout the country. Though the Somali forces reached the city outskirts by November, they were too exhausted to take the city and eventually had to withdraw to await the Ethiopian counterattack. [12], It was not until 25 April that the Italians were able to overcome the Ethiopian resistance. The architect of the Ethiopian version was Wehib Pasha, who had been a general in the army of the Ottoman Empire, and was serving as Ras Nasibu's Chief-of-Staff for the southern front. In roughly ten days of fighting, the Italians suffered over 2,000 casualties. [25] The Ethiopians and Cubans (using 300 tanks, 156 pieces of artillery, and 46 combat aircraft)[19] prevailed at Harar, Dire Dawa and Jijiga, and began to push the Somalis systematically out of the Ogaden. Ogaden War; Part of the Ethiopian–Somali conflict and the Cold War: Cuban artillerymen prepare to fire at Somali forces in the Ogaden: Date: July 13, 1977 – March 23, 1978 (8 months and 2 days) Location: ... Beginning of war: 25,000–47,000 soldiers in total By May 1980, the rebels, with the assistance of a small number of SNA soldiers who continued to help the guerrilla war, controlled a substantial region of the Ogaden. [31] This prompted an unsuccessful bid by Britain in 1956 to buy back the Somali lands it had turned over. Salhan was eventually expelled from the Somali Socialist Party in 1985), Col. Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed commanded SNA on the Negellie Front. (Later became Minister of Tourism. Barker indicates 38,000. Despite the violence, the Soviet Union, which had been closely observing developments, came to believe that Ethiopia was developing into a genuine Marxist–Leninist state and that it was in Soviet interests to aid the new regime. All of these conditions led to a revolt in the army which eventually spiraled into a civil war. [33][34], In 1948, under pressure from their World War II allies and to the dismay of the Somalis,[35] the British returned the Haud (an important Somali grazing area that was presumably 'protected' by British treaties with the Somalis in 1884 and 1886) and the Ogaden to Ethiopia, based on a treaty they signed in 1897 in which the British, French and Italians agreed upon the territorial boundaries of Ethiopia with the Ethiopian Emperor Menelik in exchange for his help against raids by hostile clans. [50] This was part of a broader effort to unite all of the Somali-inhabited territories in the Horn region into a Greater Somalia (Soomaaliweyn). ( Galaal became Minister of Public Works and Leading member of the ruling Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party), Col. Abdulrahman Aare and Col. Ali Ismail co-commanded the Degeh-Bur Front. Ethiopia closed the U.S. military mission and the communications centre in April 1977. Soviet Mil Mi-6 and Mil Mi-8 helicopters airlifted a Cuban battalion behind enemy lines. [10], The Libyans of the first column encountered stiff resistance that next day, and made only limited progress in the next two days. Not only was the country's second largest military airbase located here, as well as Ethiopia's crossroads into the Ogaden, but Ethiopia's rail lifeline to the Red Sea ran through this city, and if the Somalis held Dire Dawa, Ethiopia would be unable to export its crops or bring in equipment needed to continue the fight. However, the country remained in chaos as the military attempted to suppress its civilian opponents in a period known as the Red Terror (or Qey Shibir in Amharic). [13], In the end, Graziani finally reached Harar on 8 May.[14]. While the Ethiopians themselves had over 5,000 casualties, the disparity was much less than was typical. 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