SUMMARY
IGLF (Issa and Guraga Liberation Front) was a separatist rebel group that fought a brief armed conflict against the Ethiopian government in the early 1990s. While the group’s origins are somewhat unclear, it emerged as a fighting force in the chaos that was Ethiopia after the military council ruling the country since 1974 was finally ousted by the rebel group EPRDF in May 1991. The new EPRDF-led government took an ethnic approach when attempting to pacify the country, which was in a disarray after decades of armed conflicts. Professing to be dedicated to the self-determination for Ethiopia’s many different ethnic groups, the new government unwittingly created an environment fraught by inter-ethnic rivalries. Dozens of ethnically based groups sprang up across the country, many of them with their own militias. When IGLF emerged, claiming to represent the Issa and Guraga ethnic groups, it demanded regional autonomy for the eastern Hararghe region. Furthermore, the group wanted to control regional security, which would involve guarding the key railway between Addis Ababa and the Red Sea port of Djibouti.
Little is known about the origins of IGLF. However, some sources claim a direct link to the by then defunct WSLF, which had fought the Ethiopian government in a separatist conflict in the 1970s and part of the 1980s. According to these sources, one of WSLF’s divisions, known as Lil Tire, remained active among members of the Issa clan in northern Hararghe even after its demise and was later re-named the Issa and Gurgura Liberation Front. Other sources state that the group was not formed until 1991, and that it was created during the EPRDF-led government‘s transitional period. According to this version, IGLF was established in 1991, by 24 people, 12 Issas and 12 Guragas. An Issa - Rayaale Hamoud - became the leader of the group, whereas a Guraga was made vice-president. Furthermore, Issa people were in charge of the group’s fighters and camps, as well as of the financial department. In 1993, Mahmoud Dirir Gheddi, a former WSLF member, was elected chairman of IGLF. It is unclear what happened to Rayaale Hamoud. Furthermore, there are no sources as to the actual size of the group.
As previously mentioned, IGLF at least initially claimed to represent the Issa and Guraga ethnic groups, both of which have a large presence in Dire Dawa town and the surrounding areas. It was also in this general area that the group fought the government forces. More specifically, much of the fighting was located along the railway going from Dire Dawa town to Djibouti.
In 1992, the group was weakened by internal divisions. In January, the Gurgaga section of IGLF left the movement, stating that it was controlled by the Issas, and only served their interests. The Guragas subsequently set up the Guraga Liberation Front. The following month, there were reports of the group overthrowing its leadership and it was suggested that several splinter groups were created. Furthermore, the group suffered military setbacks in fighting against government forces during the year, and its fighters were eventually forced to retreat to its camp at Erer, some 50 km west of Dire Dawa.
After the numerous setbacks in 1992, IGLF in 1993 reconciled with the government, transitioning from armed resistance to politics. That year, the group took part in the formation of the newly established Somali region’s first regional government. In 1994, IGLF merged with nine other organizations, creating the Ethiopian Somali Democratic League (ESDL), which became the EPRDF-government’s affiliate party in the region. ESDL subsequently went on to rule Somali regional state for almost four years. In 1998, ESDL together with a splinter faction from the separatist rebel group ONLF created the Somali People's Democratic Party (SPDP), which has ruled Somali region ever since.
