Western Somali Liberation Front

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Flag of the Western Somali Liberation Front until 1969

The Western Somali Liberation Front ( somali Jabhadda Xoreynta Somali Galbeed ; English Western Somali Liberation Front abbreviated WSLF ) was one of Somalia , founded and supported paramilitary organization in the ethnic Somali inhabited areas of Ethiopia ( Ogaden ) an armed struggle for connection to a large -Somalia led.

The first WSLF was founded soon after Somalia gained independence in 1960 and was dissolved by Siad Barre in 1969 . A second WSLF was founded in 1975, fought in the Ogaden War in 1977/78 and was active until 1983.

WSLF 1960-1969

Map of Ogaden or today's Somali region; the former provinces in gray

Somalia , which emerged from the unification of British Somaliland and Italian Somaliland in 1960 , laid claim to the Somali-inhabited eastern part of Ethiopia (as well as French Somaliland / Djibouti and the north-east of Kenya ) to form a greater Somalia incorporate. The Western Somali Liberation Front was founded to enforce the claim against Ethiopia or to liberate "Western Somalia" from the perspective of the Somali government. In 1963/64 the WSLF was involved in a revolt in the lowlands of the provinces of Harerge and Bale and at times comprised up to 3,000 fighters, but never became a real threat to Ethiopia. The revolt was quickly put down, followed by repression against the population. In 1967 further military operations were carried out against WSLF fighters in Bale, which coordinated with the Oromo rebels in the highlands ( Bale revolt ). In 1969, Siad Barre , who gained power through a military coup , formally dissolved the WSLF without giving up its claim to territory.

WSLF from 1975

When Ethiopia was weakened by power struggles and rebellions in several parts of the country after the revolution of 1974 (the fall of Haile Selassie and the takeover of communist Derg ), Siad Barre founded a new WSLF in 1975. He met agreements with elders from Ogadeni- Darod - Clan , the political loyalty zusicherten in return for exemption from the Ethiopian government of their clan. (The Ogadeni were part of the "MOD Alliance" of Marehan, Ogadeni and Dhulbahante-Darod, which supported the Siad Barres regime.) The WSLF was formally an independent organization, organizationally and logistically, however, largely dependent on the Somali state it has been trained, upgraded and organized. In addition to the WSLF, Barre founded the Somali Abo Liberation Front (SALF), which was primarily intended to mobilize Muslim Oromo for the struggle for a Greater Somalia. At a meeting of its central committee in Mogadishu in 1977 , the WSLF laid claim to the area east of a line from Moyale across the Awasch River to the Djiboutian border, which was about a third of the area of ​​Ethiopia.

There were also plans to have the French colony of Djibouti (or the French Afar and Issa Territories ) conquered by the Issa Division of the WSLF, but this project was not implemented in the further course.

Ogad war

Flag of the Western Somali Liberation Front from 1976

In early 1976, WSLF fighters from Somalia began to penetrate Ethiopian territory, where they destroyed government offices and targeted the sparsely scattered police and administrative posts in order to force the police and officials to flee to the garrison towns. The majority of the local Somali population viewed the WSLF positively. In early 1977, the WSLF and SALF had removed large rural areas in Harerge, Bale and Sidamo from control of Ethiopia. In the first half of 1977 Somalia began to send additional soldiers from the regular army alongside the WSLF to Ethiopia. The soldiers were initially disguised as WSLF fighters. In June of the same year this covert invasion turned into open war, which started the actual Ogad war . The WSLF and the Somali Army were able to quickly conquer the lowlands in the south and east, but failed in the north in attempts to conquer Dire Dawa and Harar . At the beginning of 1978, Ethiopia was finally able to gain the upper hand with massive support, especially from the Soviet Union and Cuba .

Underground activity

Flag of the Western Somali Liberation Front from 1982

Somalia continued to support the WSLF after its regular troops withdrew. In 1979 this again controlled most of the rural Somali areas of Ethiopia. In 1979/80 an army offensive began against the WSLF - and at the same time against the Oromo Liberation Front - whereby the livelihoods of the population (water points and cattle herds) became targets in order to destroy the rebel support base. For the people of Ogaden, this phase of the conflict had more serious consequences than the actual Ogaden war, hundreds of thousands poured into Somalia as refugees.

In return for Somali support to the WSLF, Ethiopia sponsored anti-Siad Barre movements such as the Somali Democratic Redemption Front (SSDF) and the Somali National Movement (SNM). The SNM was also used against the WSLF in the border area between northern Somalia and Ethiopia, while the SSDF refused to do so. Siad Barre, for his part, also used the WSLF against his opponents domestically, and the WSLF was involved in human rights violations against the Isaaq - who supported the SNM. Ogaden refugees were forcibly recruited for the WSLF between 1978 and 1983, then directly for the Somali army. By eventually cutting off the WSLF from its bases in northern Somalia, the SNM contributed significantly to its decline. In 1982 the WSLF was largely eliminated, but in 1983 there were isolated attacks, including the storming of Jijiga prison in August.

A division of the WSLF was still supported by Somalia as the Issa and Gurgura Liberation Front with the Issa and Gurgura . It allied itself with the EPRDF and fought against the SNM.

In 1984 the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) was founded as a splinter group from the WSLF, which distanced itself from Siad Barre. In contrast to the WSLF, the ONLF does not strive to join Somalia, but rather to achieve independence for the Ethiopian Somali. It is still active today (2010).

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  1. ↑ a b c d e Alex de Waal, Africa Watch: Evil Days. 30 Years of War and Famine in Ethiopia , 1991 (pp. 66, 70f., 73-76, 80-86, 91-94, 344-348)
  2. ↑ a b c Gebru Tareke: The Ethiopia-Somalia War of 1977 Revisited , in: International Journal of African Historical Studies 33, 2002
  3. ↑ acig.org about the Ogadenkrieg ( Memento of October 21, 2003 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ^ John Markakis: Anatomy of a Conflict: Afar & Ise Ethiopia , in: Review of African Political Economy , Vol. 30, No. 97: The Horn of Conflict (September 2003), pp. 445-453
  5. ^ Ioan M. Lewis: Understanding Somalia and Somaliland: Culture, History and Society , 2008, ISBN 978-1-85065-898-6 (p. 71)