SUMMARY
The conflict between the Forces of Abdirizak Bihi and the Forces of Ahmed Sheikh Buraleh is connected to the rancor between Somalia and the adjacent Ethiopia. The two neighboring countries have a history of distrust and animosity as well as armed conflicts partly based on Somalia’s fear of Ethiopian expansionism and Ethiopia’s fear of Islamic extremism. In the late 1990s, Ethiopia deployed troops in Bulo Hawo, bordering Ethiopia and Kenya in Gedo region of south-west of Somalia. The most salient reason was the fact that Bulo Hawo was the stronghold of the AIAI (Al-Itihad al-Islami, Islamic Unity) that had been carrying out attacks inside Ethiopia. However, Bulo Hawo was not the first intervention by Ethiopian forces. Additional towns in the region that were raided by Ethiopian forces were Balanbelle, Luq, and Dolo. A reason for the raids was the belief that Eritrea had become the purveyor of weaponry and ammunition to AIAI (one of the groups opposed by Ethiopia) and supported OLF (Oromo Liberation Front). OLF represents the Oromo minority within Ethiopia which opposed the Ethiopian Prime Minister at the time, Meles Senawi.
As Ethiopian forces crossed the border to Somalia in 1999, they did so with the intention of supporting friendly warlords and their militias. As Ethiopia feared growing Islamism, secular forces like USC/SSA (United Somali Congress/Somali National Alliance), headed by Musa Sudi Yalahow, were supported. The intrusion of Ethiopian forces fuelled the tension between Abdirizak Bihi (who was pro-Ethiopia) and Ahmed Sheikh Buraleh, who was supporting Abdiqasim Salad Hassan (the leader of the Transitional National Government) which erupted in clashes two years later. TNG (Transitional National Government) was an attempt to establish a unity government of Somalia 2001 after the Arta peace conference from 2000. Salad Hassan became the interim president of Somalia.
The non-state conflict between the Forces of Abdirizak Bihi and the Forces of Ahmed Sheikh Buraleh is first included in UCDP data in 2001. On 30 March of that year, clashes taking place in Bulo Hawo resulted in more than 25 battle-related deaths.
