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 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) 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” (Habr Gedir/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 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 SNF and USC/SNA began.
The fighting that erupted between the Somali rebel groups SNF and USC/SNA can be traced to the earlier state-based conflict against the Barre regime. After having fled Mogadishu, the forces loyal to the former president were able to regroup and unite under the banner of SNF. In an attempt to recapture state power they marched towards Mogadishu in March 1991. In the meantime the rebel group USC, which had been one of the main players in ousting Barre, had split into two factions, with USC/SSA (United Somali Congress/Somali Salvation Army) holding state power and USC/SNA, led by Mohamed Farah Aideed, contesting it. Shifting alliances in the country also meant that SNF cooperated closely with SPM (Somali Patriotic Movement), which had previously been fighting the Barre regime but was now in conflict with USC/SNA. This led USC/SNA to attempt to stop the SNF approach towards Mogadishu, crushing their forces.
By 1993 SNF had been able to regroup further north, in the Galguduug region, and clashes restarted. These clashes took place even though both groups were signatories to the Addis Ababa Agreement that sought to end the conflicts in Somalia.
The clashes between the two parties were, like much of the rest of the violence in Somalia in the 1990s, mostly clan- related. With a large number of clans, and groups, that took part in the conflict at this time there are also ad hoc and more permanent types of coalitions that played a role in deciding which groups fought which.
The non-state conflict between SNF and USC/SNA is first included in UCDP data in 1992. In April of that year violent clashes flared up in Balanbale in Galguduud region in central Somalia, resulting in over 25 battle-related deaths.
