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[169][170], In addition to the "systematic destruction of Isaaq dwellings, settlements and water points", bombing raids were conducted on major cities in the northwest regions inhabited mainly by Isaaq on orders of President Barre.[99]. The majority were due to Al-Shabab targeted and . The union of the two states proved problematic early on when in a referendum held on 20 June 1961 to approve the provisional constitution that would govern the two ex-colonial territories was rejected by half of the population in the State of Somaliland (the north-west of nascent Somali Republic), the major cities of the former British protectorate voted against the ratification of the constitution Hargeisa (72%), Berbera (69%), Lasanod (67), Burao (65), (Erigavo (69%), Borama (87%), all returned negative votes. [149] Despite an agreement between Somalian authorities and Isaaq elders that the Somalian military would not engage in reprisals against the civilian population, the Somalian army reportedly bombarded the town and then went in, killing an estimated 500 remaining members of the Isaaq clan. [99] The Siad Barre regime targeted civilian members of the Isaaq group specifically,[100] especially in the cities of Hargeisa and Burco and to that end employed the use of indiscriminate artillery shelling and aerial bombardment against civilian populations belonging to the Isaaq clan.[101][102]. The south proceeded to dominate all of the important posts of the new state, this included the President, Prime Minister, Minister of Defence, Minister of Interior and Minister of Foreign Affairs posts all given to politicians hailing from the south. Reports from eye witnesses speak of the town of Hargeisa as mere rubble, devastated to the point that it is barely recognizable even to its inhabitants.[136]. Homes are devoid of doors, window frames, appliances, clothes, and furniture. The group was split into 9 civilians and 17 SNM fighters, and many of the victims were nomads. These displaced people are hiding in the bush without adequate access to food and medical supplies.[146]. [123], As news of the SNM advance on Burao reached government officials in Hargeisa, all banks were ordered to close, and army units surrounded the banks to prevent people from approaching. "[85] In addition, he called for "the reconstruction of the Local Council [in Isaaq settlements] in such a way as to balance its present membership which is exclusively from a particular people [the Isaaq]; as well as the dilution of the school population with an infusion of [Ogaden] children from the Refugee Camps in the vicinity of Hargeisa". In addition to arresting several others, six Isaaq men were executed on the spot, including two elderly brothers, their two sons and the son-in-law of one of the elderly man who was visiting from abroad. Serious human right violations, including extra-judicial executions of unarmed civilians, detentions without trial, unfair trials, torture, rape, looting and extortion, have been a prominent feature of life in the towns and countryside in the northern region since 1981. Somalia intervention, United States-led military operation in 1992-93 mounted as part of a wider international humanitarian and peacekeeping effort in Somalia that began in the summer of 1992 and ended in the spring of 1995. Rape, of young and older women, is routine. In February 1992, Physicians for Human Rights sent a medical team to the region to examine the scale of the problem of land-mines left over from the 19881991 conflict, they have described the situation as follows: They [mines] are most prevalent in the countryside surrounding two of Somaliland's principal cities, Hargeisa and Burao, and in the pastoral and agricultural lands west of Burao. [125] Isaaq military officers were one of the first groups to be arrested. The UN and Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) reported that between January and August, droughts and floods displaced over 90,000 and 49,000 people respectively. Foa ethnic cleansing. After the republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina declared its independence in March 1992, Bosnian Serb forces waged a systematic campaignincluding forced deportation, murder, torture and rapeto expel. These included long-range artillery guns that were placed on the hilltops near the Hargeisa Zoo, artillery guns were also placed on the hilltops behind the Badhka (an open ground used for public executions by the government). [126] The government forces took a day or two to devise a plan by which they could defeat the SNM. [105] Civilian Isaaqs were "killed, imprisoned under severe conditions, forced to flee across the border, or became displaced in the far-off countryside". The exposed pale green and blue plaster walls reflect the sunlight. This page was last edited on 11 April 2023, at 15:09. [176] A report commissioned by the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation describes the ramifications of this tactic as follows: The Siad Barre government also mined rural areas to disrupt the economy and the nomadic population, who were seen as the base of support of the SNM. Tens of thousands of internally . They were accused of helping the SNM. The presence of such a large number of refugees, especially when Somalia's total population at the time was 4.1million (UN estimates[56]) meant that virtually one out of every four people in Somalia was a refugee. [179] The deep water wells at Sab'ad refugee camp was also surrounded by a minefield. The first McDonald's drive-through was built in 1975 in Sierra Vista, Arizona, near military installation called Fort Huachuca to serve military members who were not allowed to exit their vehicles off-post while wearing combat uniform. This resulted in entire villages being depopulated and towns getting plundered. [68], The Isaaq clan was not the only target of violence. NBC News reported a story on 12 January 1989 that the Reagan Administration "had information eight months earlier that Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi gave Somalia chemical weapons". [10][23] They captured the town in two hours and immediately took over the military compound at the airport (where the largest number of soldiers were stationed), the Burao central police station and the prison, where they freed political prisoners (including schoolchildren) from the city's main jail. Government forces reacted with appalling savagery to the SNM seizure of Burao and near capture of Hargeisa. [72] The testimony of Aryeh Neier (co-founder of HRW) explains the context in which the SNM was formed: Since 1981, with the formation of the SNM, northern Somalia has seen the worst atrocities. The Congressional General Accounting Office team noted the extent to which residential districts were especially targeted by the army: Hargeisa, the second largest city in Somalia, has suffered extensive damage from artillery and aerial shelling. [155], On 21 July 1989,[157] following religious disturbances that occurred a week earlier, 47 middle-class Isaaq men living in the capital city of Mogadishu were taken from their homes in the middle of the night, they were then transported to Jasiira, a communal beach west of Mogadishu and summarily executed. One example of this is the case of Abdi Rageh, an Isaaq former military officer, was forcibly removed from a flight leaving for Frankfurt. [177], One of the most densely mined areas in the north were the agricultural settlements around Gabiley and Arabsiyo. [143] The killings took place near the airport at a site about 10 kilometers from Berbera, and were conducted at night. The settlement of Ogaden refugees in Isaaq territory, and the arming of these groups (which effectively created a foreign army in the north[60]), further antagonised local Isaaq population. Another example of the simmering discontent in the north was a coup attempt by northern officers that was thwarted in 1961. According to a foreign aid-agency official who was in the north after the fighting broke out: the Siyad Barre government was so eager to arm the Ogaden refugees that it enlisted workers of the civilian National Refugee Commission which administers the Ogaden refugee camps to help distribute weapons 'Now all the camps are heavily armed' an experienced western aid official said. What was not destroyed was looted.[137]. "[143] Methods of killing included the slitting of throats, getting strangled by wires, the cutting of the back of the neck, and getting severely disabled by beating with clubs before getting shot. Although few journalists have been authorised to visit the area, tens of thousands of people are understood to have died during a series of bombing raids on the towns last August conducted mainly by mercenaries recruited in Zimbabwe. The sixth man was charged with being a member of the SNM and accompanying the SNM fighter who escaped. Those who could be of financial help or influence to the SNM, because of social status, were to be put in prison. Within British Somaliland the Isaaq constituted the majority group within the protectorate[40] with Dir and Harti groups also having sizeable populations to the west and east of Isaaq respectively. [141] The killing of detainees started when orders came from Mogadishu to cease the transfer of detainees. [141], Government attacks on Berbera included mass arrests, wanton killing of civilians, confiscation of civilian property, especially cars, luggage and food at the city's port, which were taken to Mogadishu. [68] The Somali government, represented by Prime Minister Mohammad Ali Samatar has denied possession of chemical weapons. Now that the civil war has ended, the victims of mines have been principally civilians, many of whom are women and children.[174]. Killings in Hargeisa started on 31 May. An emblematic aspect of Siad Barre's government's "policy of genocide towards the Issak group of clans" was the laying of "over one-million unmarked mines, booby traps and other lethal devices in the Northern Region"[171] over the duration of the conflict. Amnesty International confirmed the large-scale targeting and killing of civilian population by Somali government troops. [177] It is reported that thousands of people were affected by mining in that area, by either abandoning their farmlands entirely due to land-mines or by severe restrictions on farming due to the presence of mines in their fields or the roads network.[177]. We were told that long lines of trucks heavily laden with Hargeisa goods could be seen leaving the city, heading south towards Mogadishu after the heavy fighting had stopped. [33][34] Rape was also used as a weapon against Isaaqs. But, states Ingiriis, Barre extermination campaigns against other clan groups reflected the deep-seated historic cycles of repressions by the clan that gains dominant power then marginalizes other clans. Seemingly ever-present on the front lines and respected by his soldiers as a man of courage, Mladic oversaw an army of . Shortly after Somaliland gained independence, it was to form a hasty union with its southern neighbour to create the Somali Republic. They will only be released from detention centers, even after being raped, if the family pays a ransom. The Guardian reported the scale of destruction as follows: The civil war left Hargeisa in ruins: 80 percent of the building in the town were destroyed, many of them by the aerial bombardment of General Siad Barre's Zimbabwean mercenary pilots. [142] The victims were killed in batches of 30-40. No soldier or member of the security forces has ever been disciplined or prosecuted for abuses, which highlights the general lack of accountability. The brutal nature of the Siad Barre government response was unprecedented, and led to what Robin Cohen described as one of the "worst civil wars in Africa". Over 300 Isaaq detainees were held the National Security Service headquarters,[155] at Godka, another NSS facility (prison), at a military camp at Salaan Sharafta, at Laanta Bur Prison, a maximum security prison 50 kilometers from Mogadishu. However, when its goal is to exterminate and expel large numbers of people based on their group identity alone, it becomes clan cleansing. The response culminated in the bombing and artillery bombardment of Hargeisa to a point of virtual destruction. He continued: "Today, we possess the right remedy for the virus in the [body of the] Somali State." This particularly had strong support from the Isaaq clan who notably sent many volunteers, especially in 1976 as they joined WSLF guerrilla insurgencies and sent many volunteers a year before the war took place. With regards to atrocities specific to Erigavo the report noted: The military occupation of Erigavo has resulted in widespread suffering for the people of that area forcing many people flee to the bush including most of the population of Erigavo. The U.S. Embassy estimated that 70 percent of the city has been damaged or destroyed. Many Somalis have reported that military and security officers only respond to inquiries by detainees' relatives with promises to secure their release in exchange for cash payments.