SUMMARY
In order to understand the complex situation that faced Somalia in the early 1990s it is important to also understand the process that brought the country there. Major General Siad Barre had ruled the country since he took power in a coup in 1969. His politics were seen as favorable primarily to those of his own clan, the Marehan subclan (Darod). The unfavorable politics towards other clans made a number of organizations, namely SSF (Somali Salvation Front), SWP (Somali Workers Party), and DFLS (Democratic Front for the Liberation of Somalia) unite in SSDF (Somali Salvation and Democratic Front), a mainly Majerteen subclan (Darod) coalition against Barre. The conflict over Somalia thus began in 1981 and in 1982 another group, the Isaaq clan-based SNM (Somali National Movement), launched yet another campaign against the Barre regime. The two groups cooperated at times but never merged.
In 1989 two new groups entered into the conflict; SPM (Somali Patriotic Movement) and USC (United Somali Congress). SPM had its backbone in the Ogaden clan (Darod) while USC grew to become a large Hawiye clan coalition of several sub-clans. All these factions were thus fighting, and sometimes cooperating, to overthrow the regime of Siad Barre but there were some differences in how they perceived that this would best be done. One section of the USC, led by, amongst others, Ali Mahdi (Abgal/Hawiye) joined up with some prominent politicians and formed the so-called ‘Manifesto group’, calling for a diplomatic solution to the conflict.
Apart from those in the ‘Manifesto group’ there was another section of the USC, together with SNM, SPM and other guerrilla forces that promoted a military settlement and dismissed any possibility of negotiations with Siad Barre. If Ali Mahdi can be seen as one of the forerunners of the Manifesto group, and thus a diplomatic solution to the conflict, Mohammed Farah “Aideed” (Habar Gidir/Hawiye), at least for the USC and thus the Hawiye clans, represented a military solution. Aideed was elected Chairman of USC at a conference in Mustahil, Ethiopia, in 1990. From that time on USC and SNM were cooperating militarily in order to overthrow Barre and together with SPM they had agreed on a power-sharing deal that would make Aideed (USC) President, Abdurahman Ahmed Ali Tuur (SNM) prime minister, and Omar Jess (SPM) minister of defense once they succeeded to take power.
By January 1991 victory was achieved, and Siad Barre was forced to flee Mogadishu as USC troops captured the capital. However, despite the previously agreed-upon USC, SNM, and SPM plan, it was Ali Mahdi who seized power in Mogadishu and declared himself President of Somalia. In the aftermath of these events several of the groups that had previously united to fight a common enemy turned on one another, and a number of groups splintered. This was the start of a new phase of the conflict for control of Somalia. In the largely Isaaq clan inhabited territories that were formerly known as British Somalia, SNM declared secession and created the Republic of Somaliland, which has still only gained recognition from a handful of states. SSDF occupied the territories in the north-east that later became the internationally unrecognized Puntland state. This was the state of Somalia in the early 1990s and the context within which the conflict between Habar Gidir clan (Hawiye) and the Xawaadle clan (Hawiye) began.
There had been a longstanding conflict between members of Habar Gidir clan (Hawiye) and the Xawaadle clan (Hawiye) over the control of Mogadishu airport when violent clashes broke out in April 1994. What exactly triggered the fighting is unclear but during a few weeks in late April and early May clashes between the groups caused havoc and left dozens of fatalities on the streets of Mogadishu. Some of the troubles also spread to the city of Beled Weyne (Belet Huen) in Hiraan in central Somalia. Hawadle had traditionally been the dominant clan in Beled Weyne but the city fell into the hands of USC/SNA in 1994.
The conflict in Mogadishu took the shape of street battles between members of the different clans. In Beled Weyne however, it was the assassination of a Habar Gidir clan (Hawiye) leader within the USC/SNA that sparked revenge attacks from members of Habar Gidir clan (Hawiye) on Xawaadle clan (Hawiye) people in the city. It is unclear to what extent the conflict between Habar Gidir clan (Hawiye) and Xawaadle clan (Hawiye) members in 1994 is connected to the conflict that took place in Beled Weyne in 1995 between the Xawaadle clan (Hawiye) based USC – PM (United Somali Congress – Peace Movement) and the Habar Gidir clan (Hawiye) based USC/SNA when the former ousted the latter from the city. None of the reporting from 1994 however seems to indicate that the conflict in Mogadishu had any direct connection to the larger political conflict in the county.
The non-state conflict between the Habar Gidir clan (Hawiye) and the Xawaadle clan (Hawiye) is first included in UCDP data in 1994. In April of that year violent clashes flared up in Mogadishu, resulting in over 25 battle-related deaths.
