List of wars involving Somaliland

This is a list of wars involving the Republic of Somaliland and its predecessors.

Ifat invasion of Shewa Sultanate (1285–1286)

Conflict	Combatant 1	Combatant 2	Result
Ifat invasion of Shewa Sultanate (1285-1286)	Ifat Sultanate	Ethiopian Empire	Victory

Ifat Sultanate (1316–1332)

Conflict	Combatant 1	Combatant 2	Result
Conquests of the Emperor Amda Seyon I (1316–1332)	Ifat Sultanate	Ethiopian Empire	Defeat

Ifat-Abyssinian War (1376–1403)

Conflict	Combatant 1	Combatant 2	Result
Ifat-Abyssinian War (1376–1403)	Ifat Sultanate	Ethiopian Empire	Defeat

Campaigns of Jamal ad-Din (1424-1429)

Conflict	Combatant 1	Combatant 2	Result
Campaigns of Jamal ad-Din	Ifat Sultanate	Ethiopian Empire	Victory Weaking of the Ethiopian Empire Adalite conquest of Eastern Ethiopia Ethiopians Abandon Bali

Adal Sultanate (1415–1577)

Conflict	Combatant 1	Combatant 2	Result
Ethiopian–Adal War (1529-1543)	Adal Sultanate Ottoman Empire (1542–43)	Ethiopian Empire Portuguese Empire (1541–43)	Stalemate Return to the status quo ante bellum^[1] Withdrawal of the few remaining Adal-Ottoman troops from the Ethiopian Highlands after the death of Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi^[2] Reprisal conflict occurs between the armies of the Ethiopian Empire and the Adal Sultanate^[3]^[4] Weakening of the Abyssinians and Adalites, which opened the door for The Great Oromo Migrations

Sultanate of Adal (1550–1577)

Conflict	Combatant 1	Combatant 2	Result
Nech Sar (1559)	Adal Sultanate	Ethiopian Empire	Victory Adal succeeds in regaining control of the southern part of the Ethiopian Empire^[5]^[6]^[7]

Somali Portoguese Conflicts

Conflict	Combatant 1	Combatant 2	Result
Somali–Portuguese conflicts	Adal Sultanate	Portuguese Empire	Victory

Ottoman-Ethiopian War (1557–1589)

Conflict	Combatant 1	Combatant 2	Result
Ottoman–Ethiopian War (1557–1589)	Ottoman Empire Ottoman Egypt Medri Bahri Adal Sultanate	Ethiopian Empire	Peace treaty Ethiopian victory in the highlands Ottoman victory in the coastline Decline and dissolution of the Adal Sultanate Establishment of Habesh Eyalet in Hergigo and Massawa The establishment of Ottoman Zeila

Isaaq Sultanate (1750–1884)

Conflict	Combatant 1	Combatant 2	Result
Battle of Lafaruug (1749)	Isaaq Sultanate	Absame tribes Ogaden tribes	Victory Establishment of the Isaaq Sultanate Isaaq expansion into southern Saaxil and parts of Maroodi Jeex

Battle of berbera (1827)

Conflict	Combatant 1	Combatant 2	Result
Battle of Berbera (1827)	Isaaq Sultanate Habr Awal	United Kingdom East India Company	Defeat

Blocade of berbera (1855–1856)

Conflict	Combatant 1	Combatant 2	Result
Blocade of berbera	Isaaq Sultanate	British empire	Resolved by treaty the dangers and the costs put off new British expeditions in the region until the 1880s

Battle of zeila (1841)

Conflict	Combatant 1	Combatant 2	Result
battle of zeila 1841	Isaaq Sultanate	Ottoman Empire	Victory

Egyptian occupation of the isaaq Sultanate (1873-1884)

Conflict	Combatant 1	Combatant 2	Result
Egyptian occupation	Isaaq Sultanate	Khedivate of Egypt	Defeat

Dervish State (1899–1920)

Conflict	Combatant 1	Combatant 2	Result
Somaliland Campaign (1900–1920)	Dervish movement Supported by: Ottoman Empire Ethiopia (1915–1916) ^[8]^[9]	British Empire Italy Ethiopia (1900–1904)	Defeat

Isaaq Tribe of Somaliland

Conflict	Combatant 1	Combatant 2	Result
Burao tax revolt (1922)	Isaaq Sultanate Habr Yunis	United Kingdom British Somaliland	Victory Captain Allan Gibb killed Protectorate Tax Policy abandoned Burao destroyed after Royal Air Force firebombing

Italian conquest of British Somaliland (1884–1960)

Conflict	Combatant 1	Combatant 2	Result
Italian conquest of British Somaliland (1940)	British Empire United Kingdom India Somaliland Kenya Nyasaland Northern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia Australia (naval) South Africa (air force)	Italy Italian East Africa	Defeat Annexed to Italian East Africa^[a]

Operation Appearance (1941)

Conflict	Combatant 1	Combatant 2	Result
Operation Appearance (1941)	United Kingdom British India South Africa Somaliland	Italy Italian East Africa	Victory Re-establishment of British Somaliland

East African campaign (WWII)

Conflict	Combatant 1	Combatant 2	Result
East African campaign (1940-1941)	British Empire United Kingdom India South Africa Kenya Sudan Nigeria Gold Coast Somaliland Northern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia Uganda Nyasaland Australia New Zealand Ethiopian Arbegnoch Belgium Congo Free France Equatorial Africa	Italy Italian East Africa	Victory Dissolution of Italian East Africa (AOI) Eritrea, Somaliland and Ethiopia under British military administration

Somali Republic (1960–1969)

Conflict	Combatant 1	Combatant 2	Result
Shifta War (1963–1967)	Northern Frontier Districts Liberation Movement Hawiye group Darod group Supported by: Somalia Soviet Union	Kenya Colony (until Dec. 1963) Kenya (from Dec. 1963) Supported by: United Kingdom Ethiopian Empire^[10]	Ceasefire

1964 Ethiopian-Somali Border War

Conflict	Combatant 1	Combatant 2	Result
First Ogaden War (1964)	Somalia Supported by: Egypt^[11]^[12]	Ethiopia Supported by: United States^[13]	Stalemate Armistice Ethiopian incursions failed Status quo ante bellum Demilitarized zone created July 1964 OAU Cairo Declaration

Somali Democratic Republic (1969–1991)

Conflict	Combatant 1	Combatant 2	Result
Second Ogaden War (1977-1978)	Somalia WSLF	Ethiopia Cuba Soviet Union^[14] South Yemen^[15]	Defeat Somalia breaks all ties with the Soviet Bloc and the Second World (except China and Romania).^[16] Beginning of the Somali Rebellion

Somali National Movement (1981-1991)

Conflict	Combatant 1	Combatant 2	Result
Somaliland War of Independence (1981–1991)	SNM Supported by: Ethiopia (1981-1986)^[17]^[18]	Somalia Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party Supported by: Djibouti^[19]^[20] United States (1981-1988)^[21]^[22]^[23] Saudi Arabia^[23] Libya (1988-1991)^[23]^[24] South Africa (1984-1991)^[24]	Victory End of the Isaaq Genocide. End of WSLF oppression Grand Conference of the Northern Clans held in Burao ends major combat operations Collapse of the Somali Democratic Republic Creation of the Republic of Somaliland on 18 May 1991. Beginning of the 1991 Zeila incursion

Republic of Somaliland (1991-Present)

Conflict	Combatant 1	Combatant 2	Result
Puntland–Somaliland dispute (1998–present)	Somaliland	Somalia SSC-Khatumo Puntland	Ongoing Khatumo forces partially seize the Sool and region from Somaliland and reintegrate it into the Federal Government of Somalia Las Anod conflict between Somaliland and SSC-Khatumo begins in 2023
Las Anod conflict (2023–present)	Somaliland	Somalia^[25] SSC-Khatumo	Ongoing Recognition of Khatumo State by Federal Government of Somalia Spillover into Togdheer and Sanaag regions SSC-Khatumo troops capture 3 military bases and towns in the Las Anod District and Sool region.^[26] SSC forces push Somaliland army 100 km west from Las Anod^[27]

Notes

^ 18 August 1940 – 8 April 1941

References

^ Gikes, Patrick (2002). "Wars in the Horn of Africa and the dismantling of the Somali State". African Studies. 2. University of Lisbon: 89–102. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
^ Henze, Paul B. (2000). Layers of Time: A History of Ethiopia. Hurst & Company. p. 89. ISBN 1-85065-522-7.
^ Historical Dictionary of Ethiopia By David Hamilton Shinn, Thomas P. Ofcansky, Chris Prouty p. 171
^ Abir, Mordechai. Ethiopia and the Red Sea: The Rise and Decline of the Solomonic Dynasty and Muslim European Rivalry in the Region. United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis, 2013, p.134
^ Beyene, Solomon Gebreyes (2016). The Chronicle of King Gälawdewos (1540-1559): A Critical Edition with Annotated Translation. Universität Hamburg. p. 32. Afterwards, the revival of the Muslim sultanate of ʿAdal under its new leader Nūr b. Muǧāḥid who succeeded to control the southern part of the Christian empire is discussed
^ Conzelman, William Eliot (1895). Chronique de Galâwdêwos (Claudius), roi d'Ethiopie: Texte éthiopien (in Amharic). E. Bouillon. pp. 95–97.
^ Beyene, Solomon Gebreyes (2016). The Chronicle of King Gälawdewos (1540-1559): A Critical Edition with Annotated Translation. Universität Hamburg. pp. 123–126.
^ "How Ethiopian prince scuppered Germany's WW1 plans". BBC News. 25 September 2016. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
^ Zaccaria 2021.
^ Behr 2018, p. 148.
^ Mekonnen, Teferi (2018). "The Nile issue and the Somali-Ethiopian wars (1960s–78)". Annales d'Éthiopie. 32: 271–291. doi:10.3406/ethio.2018.1657.
^ Thanoun, Ahmed Tahsin; Abd, Ahmed Hussein (2020). "Egypt's Position on the Somali – Ethiopian Conflict in 1964". Journal of Al-Farahidi's Arts (in Arabic). 12 (40). University of Tikrit: 177–189.
^ Lefebvre, Jeffrey (1998). "The United States, Ethiopia and the 1963 Somali-Soviet Arms Deal: Containment and the Balance of Power Dilemma in the Horn of Africa". The Journal of Modern African Studies. 36 (4): 611–643. doi:10.1017/S0022278X98002870. JSTOR 161927. S2CID 154644957.
^ Urban, Mark (1983). "Soviet intervention and the Ogaden counter-offensive of 1978". The RUSI Journal. 128 (2): 42–46. doi:10.1080/03071848308523524. ISSN 0307-1847. Soviet advisers fulfilled a number of roles, although the majority were involved in training and headquarters duties. Others flew combat missions in the MiGs and helicopters.
^ "Ogaden Area recaptured by Ethiopian Forces with Soviet and Cuban Support – International Ramifications of Ethiopian-Somali Conflict – Incipient Soviet and Cuban Involvement in Ethiopian Warfare against Eritrean Secessionists – Political Assassinations inside Ethiopia". Keesing's Record of World Events (formerly Keesing's Contemporary Archives). 1 May 1978. Archived from the original on 30 June 2022. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
^ Gorman 1981, p. 208.
^ Cohen, Robin (2 November 1995). The Cambridge Survey of World Migration. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-44405-7. in return for depriving the snm of its.
^ Cordesman, Anthony H. (6 October 2016). After The Storm: The Changing Military Balance in the Middle East. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 978-1-4742-9257-3.
^ Nelson, Elizabeth A. (2021-09-14). Regional Politics and State Secession. Edward Elgar Publishing. p. 102. ISBN 978-1-83910-377-3.
^ Gurdon, Charles (1996). "The Horn of Africa". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. 59 (1): 63. doi:10.1017/S0041977X0002927X. ISSN 1474-0699.
^ Ingiriis, Mohamed (1 April 2016). The Suicidal State in Somalia: The Rise and Fall of the Siad Barre Regime, 1969–1991. United States: University Press of America. pp. 147–150. ISBN 978-0-7618-6719-7 – via Google Books.
^ Einashe, Ismail (October 22, 2018). "In the Valley of Death: Somaliland's Forgotten Genocide". The Nation.
^ ^a ^b ^c Copson, Raymond W. (1994). Africa's Wars and Prospects for Peace. M. E. Sharpe. pp. 139–141. ISBN 9781563243004.
^ ^a ^b Metz, Country Studies, 1993, 213-214
^ Jama (2023-10-19). "Somali government makes a strategic move by recognizing SSC-Khaatumo". The Somali Digest | Somali News in English. Retrieved 2023-10-25.
^ Staff, Horseed (2023-08-25). "Somalia: SSC forces Capture Somaliland's Goojacade military Base". Horseed Media. Archived from the original on 2023-08-26. Retrieved 2023-08-26.
^ Taylor, Liam (29 August 2024). "Inside Somaliland, the state eager to become the world's next country". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 2024-08-30.

Sources

Behr, Agnes Wanjiru (2018). Border, Identity and (In) Security: The Kenya-Somalia Border 1963-2016 (PhD thesis). United States International University Africa.
Gorman, Robert F. (1981). Political Conflict on the Horn of Africa. Westport, CT: Praeger. ISBN 978-0-030-59471-7.
Zaccaria, Massimo (2021-07-29). "Somalia". 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War. Berlin: International Encyclopedia of the First World War.

[10] 18 August 1940 – 8 April 1941

[1] Gikes, Patrick (2002). "Wars in the Horn of Africa and the dismantling of the Somali State". African Studies. 2. University of Lisbon: 89–102. Retrieved 7 November 2016.

[Henze-2] Henze, Paul B. (2000). Layers of Time: A History of Ethiopia. Hurst & Company. p. 89. ISBN 1-85065-522-7.

[3] Historical Dictionary of Ethiopia By David Hamilton Shinn, Thomas P. Ofcansky, Chris Prouty p. 171

[4] Abir, Mordechai. Ethiopia and the Red Sea: The Rise and Decline of the Solomonic Dynasty and Muslim European Rivalry in the Region. United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis, 2013, p.134

[5] Beyene, Solomon Gebreyes (2016). The Chronicle of King Gälawdewos (1540-1559): A Critical Edition with Annotated Translation. Universität Hamburg. p. 32. Afterwards, the revival of the Muslim sultanate of ʿAdal under its new leader Nūr b. Muǧāḥid who succeeded to control the southern part of the Christian empire is discussed

[6] Conzelman, William Eliot (1895). Chronique de Galâwdêwos (Claudius), roi d'Ethiopie: Texte éthiopien (in Amharic). E. Bouillon. pp. 95–97.

[7] Beyene, Solomon Gebreyes (2016). The Chronicle of King Gälawdewos (1540-1559): A Critical Edition with Annotated Translation. Universität Hamburg. pp. 123–126.

[EthiopiaBBC-8] "How Ethiopian prince scuppered Germany's WW1 plans". BBC News. 25 September 2016. Retrieved 22 October 2018.

[FOOTNOTEZaccaria2021-9] Zaccaria 2021.

[FOOTNOTEBehr2018148-11] Behr 2018, p. 148.

[Tefei-12] Mekonnen, Teferi (2018). "The Nile issue and the Somali-Ethiopian wars (1960s–78)". Annales d'Éthiopie. 32: 271–291. doi:10.3406/ethio.2018.1657.

[13] Thanoun, Ahmed Tahsin; Abd, Ahmed Hussein (2020). "Egypt's Position on the Somali – Ethiopian Conflict in 1964". Journal of Al-Farahidi's Arts (in Arabic). 12 (40). University of Tikrit: 177–189.

[Jeffrey-14] Lefebvre, Jeffrey (1998). "The United States, Ethiopia and the 1963 Somali-Soviet Arms Deal: Containment and the Balance of Power Dilemma in the Horn of Africa". The Journal of Modern African Studies. 36 (4): 611–643. doi:10.1017/S0022278X98002870. JSTOR 161927. S2CID 154644957.

[15] Urban, Mark (1983). "Soviet intervention and the Ogaden counter-offensive of 1978". The RUSI Journal. 128 (2): 42–46. doi:10.1080/03071848308523524. ISSN 0307-1847. Soviet advisers fulfilled a number of roles, although the majority were involved in training and headquarters duties. Others flew combat missions in the MiGs and helicopters.

[Keesing-16] "Ogaden Area recaptured by Ethiopian Forces with Soviet and Cuban Support – International Ramifications of Ethiopian-Somali Conflict – Incipient Soviet and Cuban Involvement in Ethiopian Warfare against Eritrean Secessionists – Political Assassinations inside Ethiopia". Keesing's Record of World Events (formerly Keesing's Contemporary Archives). 1 May 1978. Archived from the original on 30 June 2022. Retrieved 4 August 2021.

[FOOTNOTEGorman1981208-17] Gorman 1981, p. 208.

[:40-18] Cohen, Robin (2 November 1995). The Cambridge Survey of World Migration. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-44405-7. in return for depriving the snm of its.

[:41-19] Cordesman, Anthony H. (6 October 2016). After The Storm: The Changing Military Balance in the Middle East. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 978-1-4742-9257-3.

[20] Nelson, Elizabeth A. (2021-09-14). Regional Politics and State Secession. Edward Elgar Publishing. p. 102. ISBN 978-1-83910-377-3.

[:22-21] Gurdon, Charles (1996). "The Horn of Africa". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. 59 (1): 63. doi:10.1017/S0041977X0002927X. ISSN 1474-0699.

[22] Ingiriis, Mohamed (1 April 2016). The Suicidal State in Somalia: The Rise and Fall of the Siad Barre Regime, 1969–1991. United States: University Press of America. pp. 147–150. ISBN 978-0-7618-6719-7 – via Google Books.

[23] Einashe, Ismail (October 22, 2018). "In the Valley of Death: Somaliland's Forgotten Genocide". The Nation.

[Copson-24] Copson, Raymond W. (1994). Africa's Wars and Prospects for Peace. M. E. Sharpe. pp. 139–141. ISBN 9781563243004.

[Metz,_Country_Studies_1993-25] Metz, Country Studies, 1993, 213-214

[26] Jama (2023-10-19). "Somali government makes a strategic move by recognizing SSC-Khaatumo". The Somali Digest | Somali News in English. Retrieved 2023-10-25.

[auto2-27] Staff, Horseed (2023-08-25). "Somalia: SSC forces Capture Somaliland's Goojacade military Base". Horseed Media. Archived from the original on 2023-08-26. Retrieved 2023-08-26.

[28] Taylor, Liam (29 August 2024). "Inside Somaliland, the state eager to become the world's next country". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 2024-08-30.

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Lists of wars involving African countries
Sovereign states	Algeria Angola Benin Botswana Burkina Faso Burundi Cameroon Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Comoros Democratic Republic of the Congo Republic of the Congo Djibouti Egypt Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Eswatini Ethiopia Gabon The Gambia Ghana Guinea Guinea-Bissau Ivory Coast Kenya Lesotho Liberia Libya Madagascar Malawi Mali Mauritania Mauritius Morocco Mozambique Namibia Niger Nigeria Rwanda São Tomé and Príncipe Senegal Seychelles Sierra Leone Somalia South Africa South Sudan Sudan Tanzania Togo Tunisia Uganda Zambia Zimbabwe
States with limited recognition	Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
Dependencies and other territories	Canary Islands / Ceuta / Melilla (Spain) Madeira (Portugal) Mayotte / Réunion (France) Saint Helena / Ascension Island / Tristan da Cunha (United Kingdom)

Ifat invasion of Shewa Sultanate (1285–1286)

Ifat Sultanate (1316–1332)

Ifat-Abyssinian War (1376–1403)

Campaigns of Jamal ad-Din (1424-1429)

Adal Sultanate (1415–1577)

Sultanate of Adal (1550–1577)

Somali Portoguese Conflicts

Ottoman-Ethiopian War (1557–1589)

Isaaq Sultanate (1750–1884)

Battle of berbera (1827)

Blocade of berbera (1855–1856)

Battle of zeila (1841)

Egyptian occupation of the isaaq Sultanate (1873-1884)

Dervish State (1899–1920)

Isaaq Tribe of Somaliland

Italian conquest of British Somaliland (1884–1960)

Operation Appearance (1941)

East African campaign (WWII)

Somali Republic (1960–1969)

1964 Ethiopian-Somali Border War

Somali Democratic Republic (1969–1991)

Somali National Movement (1981-1991)

Republic of Somaliland (1991-Present)

See also

Notes

References

Sources