1991 Zeila incursion

Djiboutian-backed military offensive in Somaliland 1991 Zeila incursion the Somaliland War of Independence Awdal#Somaliland 300 Awdal#Somaliland 11.353889 43.473056 right 90 Zeila Awdal#Somaliland 11.457778 43.259444 left 90 Loyada Awdal#Somaliland 10.633056 43.466667 right 90 Garisa Zeyla triangle 9 February 1991 Zeila, Somaliland SNM victory USF forces flee to Djibouti and Bosaso Military end of the Somaliland War of Independence Djibouti United Somali Front (USF)Supported by:DjiboutiSomalia Somali regime remnants Flag of the Somali National Movement.svg Somali National Movement (SNM) Djibouti Abdirahman Dualeh Ali Djibouti Hassan Gouled AptidonDjibouti Ismail Omar Guelleh Flag of the Somali National Movement.svg Abdirahman Ahmed Ali TuurFlag of the Somali National Movement.svg Mohamed Hasan Abdullahi (Jidhif) Unknown 99th Battalion 500 Unknown Unknown Minimal 50,000 Issa civilians displaced Africa Volume 2 2013 Various authors 355 https://www.google.so/books/edition/Africa/KN4K9h8TkpAC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=issa+refugees+1991&pg=PA355&printsec=frontcover Djibouti drops its territorial claims to the Zeila TriangleSNM recaptures Zeila, Loyada and Garisa The 1991 Zeila incursion (Somali: so Dagaalkii Saylac) was a Djiboutian-backed incursion during the Somaliland War of Independence led by the United Somali Front (USF), purporting to politically represent the Issa clans in the western Awdal region of Somaliland,Somalia: Civil War, Intervention and Withdrawal 1990 - 1995 https://www.refworld.org/reference/countryrep/writenet/1995/en/54273 2024-11-11 Refworld en This is a marginal front which purports to be the political expression of the Issa clans. Based in the extreme northwest (i.e. the Westernmost part of the self-proclaimed Somaliland Republic), it is supported by the Republic of Djibouti which is also politically dominated by the Issa. The USF did not fight during the civil war. Since the war ended in the North in 1991, it has several times tried to detach the Issa-populated area (the Loyada-Garissa-Zeyla triangle) from the rest of 'Somaliland'. Each time it has been swiftly crushed by SNM forces. with the goal of annexing the towns of Zeila, Loyada and Gerisa (Zeyla triangle) to Djibouti.Lewis I. M. https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Blood_and_Bone/9fAjtruUXjEC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=djibouti+SNM&pg=PA230&printsec=frontcover Blood and Bone: The Call of Kinship in Somali Society 1994 The Red Sea Press 978-0-932415-93-6 en A combined force of United Somali Front (USF) militia fighters mostly consisting of Issa from Djibouti and remnant Somali regiments of the Darod clan entered Somaliland and temporarily took over parts of western Awdal, including Zeila, Loyada and Gerisa, before being routed by SNM forces.Gurdon Charles 1996 The Horn of Africa https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bulletin-of-the-school-of-oriental-and-african-studies/article/abs/charles-gurdon-ed-the-horn-of-africa-soasgrc-geopolitics-series-no-3-x-123-pp-london-ucl-press-1994-1295-paper/608FFF18B1C6285D4EEFA5A719963752 Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies en 59 1 63 10.1017/S0041977X0002927X 1474-0699 subscription Background In the late 1980s, the Issa of Awdal region, led by Abdirahman Dualeh Ali,Gebrewold Belachew https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Anatomy_of_Violence/G5kGDAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22united+somali+front%22&pg=PA149&printsec=frontcover Anatomy of Violence: Understanding the Systems of Conflict and Violence in Africa 2016-04-15 Routledge 978-1-317-18139-2 enhttps://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Pakistan_Army_Journal/i3Yo88HUHqoC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=abdurahman+ali+tur&dq=abdurahman+ali+tur&printsec=frontcover Pakistan Army Journal 1994 Inspector General Training and Evaluation Branch, General Headquarters en a former SNM leader, formed the United Somali Front (USF).Prunier Gérard https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Country_that_Does_Not_Exist/ynEhEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 The Country that Does Not Exist: A History of Somaliland 2021 Oxford University Press 978-1-78738-203-9 129 en The militia was discreetly supported and remotely controlled by current Djiboutian president Ismail Omar Guelleh,Prunier Gérard https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Country_that_Does_Not_Exist/ynEhEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 The Country that Does Not Exist: A History of Somaliland 2021 Oxford University Press 978-1-78738-203-9 252 en then head of the Djibouti secret service and the nephew of former then ruling president Hassan Gouled Aptidon.Prunier Gérard https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Country_that_Does_Not_Exist/ynEhEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 The Country that Does Not Exist: A History of Somaliland 2021 Oxford University Press 978-1-78738-203-9 116 en The USF, armed with small arms,Gebrewold Belachew https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Anatomy_of_Violence/G5kGDAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22united+somali+front%22&pg=PA149&printsec=frontcover Anatomy of Violence: Understanding the Systems of Conflict and Violence in Africa 2016-04-15 Routledge 978-1-317-18139-2 en engaged in preparation for the secession of this westernmost region of Somaliland. In a meeting of high-ranking Issa clan elders in January 1990, the annexation of Zeila and Lughaya to Djibouti was considered an imperative objective.https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Africa_Research_Bulletin/IWm4AAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=zeyla+united+somali+front&dq=zeyla+united+somali+front&printsec=frontcover Africa Research Bulletin: Political series 1991 Africa Research Limited en Influential Issa politicians envisioned a Greater Djibouti or "Issa-land", where Djibouti's borders would extend from the Red Sea to Dire Dawa.Clarke Walter S. 1991 The 'Esayi Dream: A Footnote to the Ogaden War https://www.jstor.org/stable/43660335 Northeast African Studies 13 1 29–38 0740-9133 43660335 The Isaaq (who make up 13.3-20% of Djibouti's population)Schraeder Peter J. 1993 Ethnic Politics in Djibouti: From 'Eye of the Hurricane' to 'Boiling Cauldron' https://www.jstor.org/stable/723496 African Affairs 92 367 204 0001-9909Refugees United Nations High Commissioner for Refworld Somalia: Information on the Issa and the Issaq https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ab2f60.html live https://web.archive.org/web/20230216170230/https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ab2f60.html 16 February 2023 2021-10-10 Refworld en were "traditional rivals" of the Djiboutian Issa, and the Issa were suspicious of them, believing that they discriminated against their Issa kinsmen in Somaliland. The Djiboutian Issa opposed a northern republic controlled by the Isaaq, believing that a united and diverse Somalia would offer more protection to Issas in Somaliland.USA IBP https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Somalia_Investment_and_Business_Guide_Vo/KDqyDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=isaaq+djibouti&pg=PA48&printsec=frontcover Somalia Investment and Business Guide Volume 1 Strategic and Practical Information August 2013 Lulu.com 978-1-4387-6876-2 48 en In late March 1990 the Somali National Army (SNA) had retaken Zeila, Lughaya and Loyada in order to discourage the ambitious attempts of the USF to lay claim to the area.Prunier Gérard https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Country_that_Does_Not_Exist/ynEhEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 The Country that Does Not Exist: A History of Somaliland 2021 Oxford University Press 978-1-78738-203-9 123 en In January 1991, USF elements engaged in separate negotiations with the SNA in the north to retrieve their disarmed weapons to cross into Djibouti and prepare to return in combat formation in the event that the government's army in Somaliland completely collapses.Prunier Gérard https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Country_that_Does_Not_Exist/ynEhEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 The Country that Does Not Exist: A History of Somaliland 2021 Oxford University Press 978-1-78738-203-9 130 en Clashes On 9 February 1991, the SNM clashed with USF forces on the Djiboutian border,Prunier Gérard https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Country_that_Does_Not_Exist/ynEhEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 The Country that Does Not Exist: A History of Somaliland 2021 Oxford University Press 978-1-78738-203-9 137 enBerdún Maria Montserrat Guibernau i https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Ethnicity_Reader/9yBQtExDppkC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=zeyla+united+somali+front&pg=PA126&printsec=frontcover The Ethnicity Reader: Nationalism, Multiculturalism and Migration Guibernau Montserrat Rex John 2010-01-11 Polity 978-0-7456-4701-2 en with the USF forces, backed by former Somalian regulars, occupying the western parts of Awdal region with the goal of annexing Zeyla to Djibouti. SNM leader Suleiman Mohamoud Aden (Suleiman Gaal) and current speaker of Somaliland House of Elders warned Djibouti and advised Djibouti on non-intervention in the post-Siad Barre conflict. An SNM delegation led by SNM chairman Abdirahman Ahmed Ali Tuur subsequently went to Djibouti, where they were told by Hassan Guled Aptidon and his Secret Service Chief Ismail Omar Guelleh that the SNM should recognize its control over the Zeyla-Loyada-Garissa area (Zeyla triangle). The SNM chairman rejected their claims and refused to comply, and took military action against the USF soldiers, which were swiftly routed and violently crushed. The Issa component sought safety in Djibouti, while the former Siad Barre soldiers, who were primarily from the Majerteen and Ogaden clans of the Darod, were transported by sea to Bosaso, where they joined the newly resurgent Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF). Aftermath The USF would consequently continue to attempt to detach the Issa-populated area of Awdal (the Loyada-Garissa-Zeyla triangle) from the rest of Somaliland, being swiftly crushed by SNM forces each time,https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Refugee_Survey_Quarterly/HEic8uGKsM0C?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=zeyla-loyada-garisa&dq=zeyla-loyada-garisa&printsec=frontcover Refugee Survey Quarterly 1996 UNHCR, Centre for Documentation on Refugees en including eight weeks of sporadic fighting in late 1995.Somalia: Update to End August 1996 https://www.refworld.org/reference/countryrep/writenet/1996/en/94234 2024-11-12 Refworld en References Category:1991 in Somaliland Category:Battles of the Somaliland War of Independence Category:Awdal Category:Battles in 1991 Category:1991 in Djibouti Category:Military history of Djibouti Category:February 1991 in Africa Category:Djibouti–Somaliland relations