Dilla Massacre

The Dilla Massacre, was a series of events that spanned from January 1991 to March 1991, perpetrated by members of the Somali National Movement (SNM) rebel group, against the Gadabuursi clan, particularly the Reer Nuur subclan. The most violent episode was on February 4, 1991 in Dilla, a town in Awdal.
Background
During the Siad Barre era of Somalia, the northern region of Somalia was neglected in order to funnel development to Mogadishu. Northern residents were encouraged to venture down south for higher education and jobs, as opposed to the government developing the Northern region as well.
Siad Barre played on clan tension and division in order to solidify his rule in the North. He began fueling hostility between the Isaaq and Gadabuursi tribes in a series of land conflicts and redistribution, using the Divide and rule policy. Members of the Isaaq clan began to blame members of the Gadabursi clan for this, in a series of tension fueled by the regime.
Ethiopian Support of the SNM
By the 1980s, members of the Isaaq tribe established a rebel group called the Somali National Movement (SNM), whose main residence and benefactor was Ethiopia, In order to topple the Siad Barre regime. The group was supported and funded by the Ethiopian President of the time, Mengistu Haile Mariam, and received partial support by Muammar Gaddafi. Ethiopia supported the SNM raids against the Somali government, and would send troops to support the SNM in multiple cross border raids against Somalia. Most of these raids would be within Gadabursi territory (The border tribe of Ethiopia and Somalia), fueling further conflict between the two groups. Ethiopia supported their SNM allies, many of whom where high level Isaaq defectors from Somalia's Government. In April 1988, Siad Barre and Mengistu, signed a peace treaty, in which they both agreed to stop supporting rebel movements in the other's territory. Siad Barre stopped supporting the Western Somali Liberation Front and Mengistu ended his help to the SSDF and SNM. Mengistu told the SNM to stop its military activities from Ethiopian territory.
Fearful of the consequences, the SNM decided to consolidate its rebel soldiers in northern Somalia and launch surprise military attacks against northern Somalia cities (in May 1988), leading to an all out civil war between the regime and the Northern areas of Somalia. During the attack on the northern Somali cities, the SNM received further assistance from the Ethiopian military, with Mengistu blatantly neglecting the peace treaty through arming the SNM. The Ethiopians supported the SNM, by providing artillery and anti tank weapons during their attacks. Mengistu continued to support the SNM and other Somali rebel groups, as late as November 1990.
Attacks on the Awdal Region
During the SNM assault against the Somali government, a bulk of their activities were based on cross border raids into the Awdal region. The Awdal region, is considered a border territory between Ethiopia and Somalia, and is considered to be the primary residence of the Gadabursi tribe in Somalia. The SNM, to further their movement, embarked on a mining campaign of northern Somalia, especially the areas between the Djibouti and Ethiopian border (Awdal). These extensive mining campaigns have affected the Awdal region to this day.
To further their attacks against the Somali National Army in the North, the SNM also installed car bombs into the vehicles of the Somali National Army. In the city of Borama, these multiple car bombs detonated and mass civilian casualties sparked panic within the city. The cross border raids were seen as an assault against the Somali Republic , and in the 1980s, the Awdal people were resisting the SNM's Ethiopian backed excursions into their territory. At the same time, the government attacked innocent Awdal residents, in response to the SNM aggression of the region . In 1989, the Somali Government has reportedly bombed Hargeisa and Borama, further causing panic and fear among Awdal residents. In early 1990, the SNM had then infiltrated Borama and killed 200 civilians and displaced and 5,000 people, further adding to the chaos of the region.
After the , in January 1991, the civilians of the Northern part of Somalia, lost all communications and support from the federal government, leaving them stranded against the rebel forces. In 1991 the Somali government collapsed, leaving northern citizens, not allied with rebel groups, in a defenseless position. At this point, the Gadabursi refused to fight for the tyrannical Siad Barre government, but rather to protect their state against rebels.
Massacre
Between January and March 1991, the SNM enacted various killings against members of the Gadabursi tribe and anyone they deemed as supporters of Siad Barre.
In January 1991, the Somali Armed Forces disengaged from the Awdal region, and President Siad Barre fled the capital. The SNM captured most of northern Somalia, and launched an attack on the Gadabursi clan, stemming from their belief that the Gadabursi had been long-time supporters of Siad Barre. This attack accumulated an additional 200,000 Somali refugees in Ethiopia.
A wholesale killing of anyone deemed "Anti SNM" was established. At this point, (From January to March 1991), the SNM's militia were out of control, Gadabursi people travelling in their cars on the national highway were burned and looted. Heavy SNM artillery had bombarded Dilla, also women and children and innocent civilians were killed for being Gadabursi. The SNM orchestrated the destruction of the town of Dilla, and the looting of Borama, the capital city of Awdal region. Thousands of Gadabursi lives were lost in the attacks against the Awdal region, and the town of Dilla was destroyed and burned. The tribal groupings of the north reported a combined SNM and Ethiopian attack on Borama. The SNM assaulted, pillaged, and occupied Borama, the capital of the Awdal region, causing about 80,000 people to flee to Ethiopia.
R.J Hayward and I.M. Lewis (2005) both state that Dilla was destroyed and plundered by the SNM as an act of revenge on the Reer Nuur subclan of the Gadabuursi:
"The major town of the Rer Mohamoud Nur, Dila, was thoroughly destroyed by the SNM and still lies in ruin, their rural and urban property has been almost entirely plundered by the SNM apparently to avenge the past fierce resistance put up by this group in particular and the Rer Nur in general, who occupy the buffer zone between the Isaq and Gadabursi." Continued armed conflict occurred In February 1991, "ethnic cleansing" by the SNM took place in the Boroma region, the main Gadabursi town The Gadabursi town of Dilla was also partially destroyed by the SNM (Ibid.). Later, fighting broke out in the Gadabursi town at the end of March 1992, spreading to Berbera two days later (Horn of Africa Bulletin Mar. 1992)
Aftermath
The town of Dilla was thoroughly and systematically destroyed by the SNM, and lied in ruins after the assault. Dilla civilians rural and urban property, were entirely plundered and looted by the SNM , apparently to avenge the past fierce resistance put up by the Reer Nuur, a sub clan of the Gadabursi. The Reer Nuur traditionally served as the buffer between the Gadabursi and the Isaaq.
The assault against the Reer Nuur and other Gadabursi, by the SNM, was described as a way of "settling old scores". It was reported that the SNM were not after Siad Barre in the late 80s, but rather were against the Gadabursi. The SNM, after the mass killings, was then occupying Borama and the surrounding areas by force. During and after the occupation, thousands of Gadabursi fled into Ethiopia into the Tog Wajaale and Awbare refugee camps for safety.

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