1970 Zeila uprising

Date21, April, 1970^[1]

Location

Zeila and Lughaya, northern Somalia (today Somaliland)

Result uprising suppressed

1970 Zeila revolt

Part of the Conflicts in the Horn of Africa and separatism in Somalia

Date	21, April, 1970^[1]
Location	Zeila and Lughaya, northern Somalia (today Somaliland)
Result	uprising suppressed

Belligerents

Somali Democratic Republic

separatist rebels
Supported by:

Iraq^[2]

Syria^[2]

South Yemen^[3]

Commanders and leaders

Siad Barre

Saleban Dafle

Mohamed Ali (POW)
Ramadan Adari †

Strength

Unknown

36 armed men

Casualties and losses

Unknown

4 killed, rest captured

The 1970 Zeila revolt was an armed insurgency in Zeila led by Mohamed Farah Dalmar Yusuf. The rebellion was fuelled by an anti-marxist sentiment and a desire to reinstate the 1960 State of Somaliland, for which he was labelled an ‘Ishaq Nationalist’.^[4] The revolt was backed by the Ba’athist-led countries of Iraq and Syria.^[2]

Unification

Following the 1960 unification of the Trust Territory of Somaliland with the State of Somaliland, tensions quickly emerged due to political, clan, and institutional disparities. The two territories had joined under differing Acts of Union, prompting the newly formed Somali Republic's parliament to draft a new unified Act. This Act was widely rejected in the north, where many viewed it as illegitimate. A national referendum was held despite the objections, with much of the north boycotting the vote. Only around 100,000 northerners participated, and over 60% of them opposed the union. Nevertheless, the referendum passed.^[5]

Discontent deepened as southern politicians, particularly from the Hawiye and Darod clans, came to dominate the government, marginalizing the northern Isaaq clan. Many in the north feared their region would become a neglected outpost.^[6] To address growing unrest, several northern officials and military officers were reassigned to southern posts.^[7]

In addition to these broader tensions, personal grievances also emerged among northern officers. Some resented being placed under southern superiors whom they regarded as less educated and unfit for command.^[8] There was also a perception that the government favored Italian-trained officers from the south over British-trained officers from the north.^[9] At least 24 junior officers, many British-trained, began plotting to dissolve the union between Somalia and Somaliland.^[5]^[7] One conspirator, Hussein Ali Duale, would later become a prominent Somaliland separatist.^[10] The plotters believed they had the support of General Daud Abdulle Hirsi, head of the Somali National Army.^[8]

1961 revolt

In December 1961, the officers launched a coup attempt aimed at seizing key towns in Somaliland.^[6] However, according to researcher Ken Menkhaus, the revolt was ill-conceived and lacked support among the local population and troops.^[11]^[8] One faction occupied the radio station in Hargeisa, claiming support from General Hirsi,^[8] while another attempted to arrest southern officers in Burao but failed.^[11]

The revolt

Aftermath

References

↑ "Somalia (1960–present)". University of Central Arkansas - Political Science. Retrieved 2 May 2025.
1 2 3 4 5 Prunier, Gérard (2021). The Country That Does Not Exist: A History of Somaliland. Hurst Publishers. ISBN 9781787382039. The SRC asked the Aden authorities for the closure of Mohamed Ali's office but the PDRY refused, saying 'it could not close it because it had been opened at the request of the Iraqi government, the people who were running the office had Syrian passports, and they were known to be Eritreans'. This was an odd answer. But in fact the whole construct was a kind of common Arab revolutionary venture in which two national branches of the Baath party seem to have collaborated in creating a common 'Eritrean' structure with the complicity of the PDRY.
1 2 Prunier, Gérard (2021). The Country That Does Not Exist: A History of Somaliland. Hurst Publishers. ISBN 9781787382039. Mohamed Ali and his colleague started recruiting Somalis in Yemen, 36 of them. Then they requested the Yemeni government to provide them with expert trainers to train these recruits in the arts of guerrilla warfare, and the Yemeni government provided them with six trainers … After some time the Ambassador, who had good relations with Mohamed Ali, was replaced with Abdi Osman 'al-Habashi', who had been a leader of the failed coup of Hassan Kayd in December 1961.
1 2 3 4 Prunier, Gérard (2021). The Country That Does Not Exist: A History of Somaliland. Hurst Publishers. ISBN 9781787382039.
1 2 Richards, Rebecca. Understanding Statebuilding: Traditional Governance and the Modern State in Somaliland. Routledge, 2014, pp. 84–85.
1 2 Lyons, Terrence & Samatar, Ahmed I. Somalia: State Collapse, Multilateral Intervention, and Strategies for Political Reconstruction. Brookings Institution Press, 2010, p. 12.
1 2 Lewis, I. M. The Modern History of Somaliland: From Nation to State. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1963, p. 170.
1 2 3 4 Samatar, Abdi I., & Samatar, Ahmed I. The African State: Reconsiderations. Heinemann, 2005, p. 116.
↑ Kaplan, Irving. Area Handbook for Somalia. U.S. Government Printing Office, 1969, p. 388.
↑ Hansen, Stig Jarle & Bradbury, Mark. "Somaliland: A New Democracy in the Horn of Africa?" Review of African Political Economy, vol. 34, no. 113, 2007, p. 474.
1 2 Menkhaus, Ken. Elite Bargains and Political Deals Project: Somalia Case Study. UK Stabilisation Unit, 2017, p. 28.

Social, political and economic marginalisation

1961 revolt

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