[50] He and his frontline deputies faced off against their mentor and former Frunze alumnus, General Vasily Ivanovich Petrov, who was assigned by the USSR to advise the Ethiopian Army, in addition to 15,000 Cuban troops supporting Ethiopia,[52] led by General Arnaldo Ochoa. Also, since the Ethiopian army was a client of U.S weapons, hasty acclimatization to the new Warsaw Pact bloc weaponry took place. Beyond Conflict in the Horn (1992): 185-8. Soviet Union. The SNA briefly took some hills overlooking the town before the EA pushed them back from both the town and the hills. The Somalia War, Ethiopian Invasion Of Somalia, or Ethiopian intervention in Somali Civil War, was an armed conflict involving largely Ethiopian and Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG) forces and Somali troops from Puntland versus the Somali Islamist umbrella group, the Islamic Court Union (ICU), and other affiliated militias for control of the country. [33][34], In 1948, under pressure from their World War II allies and to the dismay of the Somalis,[35] the British returned the Haud (an important Somali grazing area that was presumably 'protected' by British treaties with the Somalis in 1884 and 1886) and the Ogaden to Ethiopia, based on a treaty they signed in 1897 in which the British, French and Italians agreed upon the territorial boundaries of Ethiopia with the Ethiopian Emperor Menelik in exchange for his help against raids by hostile clans. The EAF lost the use of a fighter direction radar near the pass, and the SNA occupied both the pass and the town. Ethiopia was saved from a major defeat and a permanent loss of territory through a massive airlift of military supplies worth $1 billion, the arrival of between 16,000-24,000 Cuban troops sent by Fidel Castro to win a second African victory (after his first success in Angola in 1975–76),[22] and 1,500 Soviet advisors, led by General Vasily Petrov. (Later became Minister of Tourism. [39] There was also widespread vote rigging, with the French expelling thousands of Somalis before the referendum reached the polls. The Soviet Union disapproved of the invasion and ceased its support of Somalia, instead starting to support Ethiopia; the United States, conversely, ceased its support of Ethiopia and started supporting Somalia. [44], On 15 October 1969, while paying a visit to the northern town of Las Anod, Somalia's then President Shermarke was shot dead by one of his own bodyguards. [45], Alongside Barre, the Supreme Revolutionary Council (SRC) that assumed power after President Sharmarke's assassination was led by Lieutenant Colonel Salaad Gabeyre Kediye and Chief of Police Jama Korshel. Other Cubans planned to fight, including two mech brigades with T-54/55s. The Ogaden War was a conventional conflict between Somalia and Ethiopia in 1977 and 1978 over the Ogaden region of Ethiopia. [31] Britain also granted administration of the almost exclusively Somali-inhabited[37] Northern Frontier District (NFD) to Kenyan nationalists despite an informal plebiscite demonstrating the overwhelming desire of the region's population to join the newly formed Somali Republic. The raid on Abole oil exploration facility occurred in the early morning of April 24, 2007, when gunmen of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) attacked the oil exploration facility of Zhongyuan Petroleum Exploration Bureau (ZPEB), a subsidiary of the China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec), in the town of Abole, 30 km (19 mi) northwest of Degehabur, in the Somali Region of Ethiopia. [22], Between 16–17 March 2012, according to a Human Rights Watch report, Ethiopian special police forces executed 10 civilians and looted dozens of shops in the village of Raqda, the attack came as a retaliation for the recent death of several policemen. The West condemned the Soviet/Cuban assistance but refused to provide Somalia with any aid. The SNA shifted its focus to Jijiga. Somalia – Ethiopia region. The Russian generals decided to outflank the pass; how they accomplished that goal is still not entirely clear. The border conflict was a continuation of the Eritrean–Ethiopian War of 1998–2000. It was fought by separatist insurgency, the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), against the Ethiopian government. [23], Between 10 – 24 October 2013, ONLF carried out attacks on 13 military outposts in the Korehey and Nogob zones, the faction claimed to have killed 24 soldiers during the operation. Russian arms equipped each of them. On December 24, Ethiopia stated it would actively combat the ICU. The war began in 1994, when the ONLF attempted to recreate Greater Somalia by unifying Ethiopia's Somali Region with Somalia.It ended in a peace agreement as part of the Abiy Ahmed reforms. This put them northwest of Jijiga and behind the SNA/WSLF forces at the pass. Her losses included over 6,000 killed, and about 400 Cubans and 100 South Yemenis also died. Articles and news. The Eritrean–Ethiopian border conflict was a violent standoff and a proxy conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia. Makhtal denied all allegations, stating that the reason behind his prosecution is his relation to one of ONLF's founding members. Advancing in the mountains was difficult. Following the withdrawal of the SNA, the WSLF continued their insurgency. Abdullahi Geelqaad commanded Dirir-Dewa. The crackdown against the guerrillas began after they killed 74 people in an attack on a Chinese-run oil exploration field in April 2007. "Pastoral Resources, Human Displacement and State Policy: The Ogaden Case." Not all communist states sided with Ethiopia. Almost one-third of the regular SNA soldiers, three-eighths of the armored units and half of the Somali Air Force (SAF) were lost. Six Somali generals were blamed and executed. With Hargeisa over 200 kilometers away, months of war overwhelmed their logistics system and supplies were short. Timeline Militia armed with RPG-7s completed the defenses. [56][57][58], The Somali National Army committed to invade the Ogaden on July 12, 1977, according to Ethiopian Ministry of National Defense documents (some other sources state July 13[59] or 23 July). With only a tenth of Ethiopia’s people, Somalia created an army almost half the size of the former’s. [21], On 2 September 2011, a band of ONLF rebels attacked a military convoy escorting Chinese oil workers, outside the city of Jijiga. He was released after the collapse of the Mengistu regime in 1991), Col. Abdullahi Ahmed Irro commanded SNA in the Godey Front. Col Ahmed was arrested by Ethiopia's Mengistu. Next, some 60 Cuban T-54/55s and the EA’s 11th Inf Div attacked the SNA at Harrar. The Somali command, logistics, and maintenance also coalesced on the town as the capital city Mogadishu lay too far from the upcoming war. [49], In addition to previous Soviet funding and arms support to Somalia, Egypt sent millions of dollars in arms to Somalia, established military training and sent experts to Somalia. The SNA suffered 21 tanks lost; 10 bogged down in rough terrain, and EAF F-5s knocked the rest out. The 2009–present phase of the Somali Civil War is concentrated in southern and central Somalia and portions of north eastern Kenya. Somalis of the Ogaden welcomed the 2nd and 5th Divisions (about 6,000 men each) of the WSLF, which occupied the countryside in short order. Mustahīl is a town in eastern Ethiopia, close to the border with Somalia. The coup was spearheaded by Major General Mohamed Siad Barre, who at the time commanded the army. The 75th Militia Bde and 1st Paracommando Bde occupied the pass in early March. Fedis also held. However, Somalia was easily overpowering Ethiopian military hardware and technology capability. Privacy Policy | Terms of Service. The local defenders were no match for the assaulting Somalis and the Ethiopian military was forced to withdraw past the strategic strongpoint of the Marda Pass, halfway between Jijiga and Harar. The Ogaden War ended in a rout and by March of 1978 all Somali forces had withdrawn from Ethiopian territory. When the Cubans and the Soviets learned of the Somali plans to annex the Ogaden, Castro flew to Aden in March 1977 where he suggested an Ethiopian-Somali-Yemeni Socialist Federation. (Retired and became a Professor of Strategy in Mogadishu Somalia), Col. Ali Hussein commanded SNA in two front's, Qabri Dahare and Harrar. The Ethiopian Air Force (EAF) flew nearly a dozen F-5A/Bs and eight F-5Es. [citation needed], Under the leadership of General Mohamed Ali Samatar, Irro and other senior Somali military officials were mandated in 1977 with formulating a national strategy in preparation for the Ogaden campaign in Ethiopia. A few unusual units further reinforced the town: the 21st and 23rd Battalions consisted of old, recalled veterans. [10], On 15 November 2005, Ethiopian troops allegedly committed a massacre of 30 civilians and prisoners after the later demanded better treatment from their captors. [39] There was also widespread vote rigging, with the French expelling thousands of Somalis before the referendum reached the polls. [67] The last significant Somali unit left Ethiopia on 15 March 1978, marking the end of the war.