The Somali National Movement (SNM; ; ) was one of the first organised guerrilla and mujahideen groups that opposed the Siad Barre regime in the 1980s to the 1990s. The group was also the main anti-government faction during the Somaliland War of Independence. The organisation was founded in London, England, on April 6, 1981 by Hassan Isse Jama, Hassan Adan Wadadid, Ahmed Mohamed Gulaid, Omar Elmi Dihood and other former Somali diplomats, who stated initially the group's purpose was to overthrow the Siad Barre regime.Helen Chapin Metz, ed., Somalia: a country study, Volume 550, Issues 86-993, (The Division: 1993), p.xxviii.
In May 1991, the group declared an independent Republic of Somaliland in the region that had constituted British Somaliland before independence and unification with the former colony of Italian Somaliland in 1960 after the Somaliland War of Independence.
Formation
Formally established in 1981 by a group of Somali intellectuals and dissidents from Saudi Arabia and England that included Dr. Omar Elmi Dihoud and Ahmed Jimaale who were both based in the United Kingdom.
In 1980, the key leaders in the Saudi group determined that London provided a more favourable political climate for operating an international dissident group, therefore several people relocated to London to work full-time with the movement. The organisation was formally founded in Jeddah in April 1981 by an intellectual elite with the objective of overthrowing Barre's dictatorial regime.
Ideological splits Internal ideological disagreements emerged during the formation, particularly between secular-oriented members and more religiously conservative factions based in Saudi Arabia. Contemporary accounts described Dihoud as openly Christian, while Jimaale was described to have secular and liberal outlooks to topics. Dihoud is said to have criticised the religious character of the organisation, arguing that the SNM should maintain a secular political direction rather than adopt a religious orientation.
I.M lewis interview with Dihoud:"They did not like drinking and were far too religious for politicians.They wanted to form an Islamic movement, but the London group rejected this idea. In comparison with his Saudi colleagues, Ahmed Jimaali was more liberal and more secular." Gérard Prunier also writes that the Ethiopian characterisation of the Somali National Movement as a ‘religious’ organisation was a fundamental misreading of the movement’s nature. To describe the SNM in such terms would have been to classify it as Islamist, which, Prunier argues, it was not.
Approaching Ethiopia The SNM additionally sought foreign backing during its formative years. In 1981, members of the SNM approached Diplomat Said Abdullahi Egal, who maintained contacts with Ethiopian diplomatic officials in Sweden and was noted for his fluency in Amharic, in an attempt to establish communication with the government of Ethiopia. Initial requests for support were rejected. Subsequent contacts were later renewed when Mohamed Kahin and several SNM members crossed into Ethiopia seeking support from the government of Mengistu Haile Mariam. Ethiopian officials later established communication with SNM representatives based in London.
Colonel Moges, an intelligence officer under Mengistu Haile Mariam, facilitated meetings with fourteen senior SNM figures in Addis Ababa, offering Ethiopian backing in exchange for breaking for secession. Among the inducements offered was the prospect of ceding the Hawd region.
Afraad
One of the major units of the Western Somali Liberation Front (WSLF) was the Fourth Brigade known as "Afraad" which was founded in Gabiley, composed of Habar Awal, Isaaq officers, businessmen and elites. Afraad's initial objective was to liberate Somalis living in Somali Region of Ethiopia, but its focus later shifted due to increasing abuses against Isaaq civilian population perpetrated by WSLF. Killing, looting and rape of civilians by WSLF was common from 1978 onwards. This abuse was due to the Somali state employing the Ogadeni subsection of WSLF as a subsidiary militia that would be used to maintain control over the northern regions of Somalia. I. M. Lewis contextualises the period in which Afraad was formed as follows: The process of Daarood colonization of the north including seizure of property and economic favouritism at Isaaq expense, greatly intensified under Gani's brutal rule, with the systematic application of the apparatuses of state repression which increased in number and scope after the formation of the Isaaq-based Somali National Movement in April 1981Armed clashes between Afraad and the Ogaden forces of WSLF began shortly after 1979. An Isaaq army officer arrested 14 leading WSLF fighters who have been harassing and abusing the local population at Gobyar.
From February 1982, Isaaq army officers and fighters from the Fourth Brigade started moving into Ethiopia where they formed the nucleus of what would later become the Somali National Movement.
Funding The task of financing the fight against the Barre regime proved a challenge as the SNM lacked a foreign sponsor. Additionally, the Somalian regime imprisoned wealthy Isaaq merchants and traders to prevent them from financially supporting the organisation. Those who were not imprisoned were forced to report to an 'orientation centre' to prove they were still in town and be degraded. These centres were originally used for socialist propaganda teaching, however were then routinely used to track the movement of citizens in Northern Somalia by the intelligence services.
The SNM had to rely on the support of its Isaaq constituency for funds, which were primarily collected on a clan basis but wealthy businessmen also contributed. Among those wealthy businessmen was Abdillahi Omaar, a Somali newspaper owner and father of Raakiya Omaar, according to a 2009 obituary written by former Somaliland presidential advisor, Abdillahi Omaar served as a firm pillar of the SNM cause abroad, with Ahmed Silanyo later acknowledging his indispensable financial assistance at key moments.
Ahmed Arwo writes:Xilligii halganka SNM waxuu ahaa tiir adag oo u fadhiya London, isagoo taakuleyn jiray Hoggaanka kasta oo SNM soo maray, sida uu sheegay Guddoomiyaha Kulmiye Axmed Siilanyo, oo qiray inuu meelo adag SNM cabdillahi Oomaar ka kaafiyey oo gurmadkiisu furdaamiyey.Translation:During the SNM struggle, he was a strong pillar in London, supporting every SNM leader, according to Kulmiye Chairman Ahmed Siilanyo, who admitted that he helped the SNM leader...... Abdillahi Oomaar helped us overcome difficult times and that his support opened the way.The SNM's initial funding model worked in a similar fashion to 'diya' payments whereby each Isaaq clan resident in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf would collect a set amount from their communities. This decentralised funding model gave the organisation relative independence. Moreover, enhancing the organisation's accountability to its numerous supporters. Therefore, this financial autonomy provided more freedom to the organisation but is also thought to have strengthened the insurgency movement.
Revenue generation The establishment of internal revenue sources was a crucial factor allowed the organisation to succeed and outperform its competitors. Therefore, facilitating the taxing of constituents themselves by commandeering one young man and one sheep from each household. As a result, encouraging entrepreneurialism but also containing it.
Therefore, these processes produced a negotiation between rulers and ruled in which the opinions of ordinary Isaaq kin mattered since they provided the resources to continue the fight.
Role of commercial intermediaries Dahabshil which would later become one of Somaliland's largest money transfer and telecom firms started out as an SNM financier. As Isaaq financiers based in Dire Dawa (Ethiopia) used SNM radios to transfer money to fighters, this allowed them to also intervene in the organisation’s affairs.
Isaaq delegates received approximately $14–25 million in remittances which funded the supply arms of to the rural guerillas who helped overthrow the Barre regime.
Publications In the Summer of 1981, the organisation published a magazine called "Somalia Uncensored". This magazine aimed to spread the message of the SNM to expatriate communities across England and elsewhere. It was edited by Hassan Isse Jama who was a former BBC Somali Service broadcaster who was forced to relinquish his role at the BBC due to his SNM related activities. This publication was printed in London and was largely financed by the Saudi-Somali community. Moreover, it was published on a monthly basis between June and December 1981 whereby its final edition announced the formal transfer of the organisation's leadership to SNM members in Ethiopia. The SNM also published the bi-monthly magazine "Liberty".
Role of women in the SNM Women often played an "invisible role" in the organisation working predominantly as nurses and medics during the conflict. Additionally, since they were less likely to arouse suspicion compared to men they travelled more freely allowing them to establish clandestine communication channels which also benefited traders. One well known woman dubbed the "Somaliland Freedom Fighter" is Amina Mahamoud Suldan.
Military operations
In 1982, the organisation moved its headquarters from London to Dire Dawa, Ethiopia where 3 key military bases were established. From here, it would launch guerrilla raids into the Maroodi Jeex and Togdheer regions. A growing number of northern civilian recruits and defectors from the Somali army, drawn almost exclusively from the Isaaq clan, were shaped into a guerrilla force and trained to produce a hard-core of disciplined fighters. Although the Ethiopians were said to have initially only supplied ammunition, Isaaq recruits came with their own arms in addition the equipment seized from the Somalian army. Soon after, the Somalian army established the "Isaaq Exterminator" command which aimed to ethnically cleanse the Isaaq population.
Over the following years, the SNM made numerous clandestine military incursions into northwest Somalia. Although these attacks never posed a direct threat to the regime's control of the area, such activities and the boldness and tenacity of its small force were a constant irritation to the Barre regime. Wounded SNM combatants were reportedly treated in Harar.
The first military offensive of the SNM took place near Baligubadle where a small force attacked a fuel tanker supplying the Somalian regime's base in the town. According to Hassan Isse, 1985–86 was the most effective period of guerrilla warfare by the SNM against the Somalian regime whereby its operations extended southwards with support from Dir clansmen which would later call themselves the "Southern SNM".
In the late 1980s, the National Security Service increased its activities against dissidents and SNM sympathisers. In response, the SNM carried out the assassination of the regional National Security Service Chief in 1986 which led to the newly appointed Northern military commander Mohammed Said Hersi Morgan in unleashing a new wave of terror against the Isaaq population as set out by his "Letter of Death".
However, in 1988 the situation rapidly changed when President Barre and Meningstu signed a peace accord where it was agreed that they would both cease hostilities towards one another and stop harbouring each other's dissident. As a result, forcing the SNM to relocate into Northern Somalia, a key event which drastically changed the trajectory of the conflict whereby its activities lead to an all out war that led to its victory.
The Regime's response to SNM activities