The 1964 Ethiopian–Somali Border War, also known as the First Ogaden War marked the first military conflict between the newly established Somali Republic and the Ethiopian Empire, lasting from February to April 1964. The border conflict was preceded by a rebellion in the Ogaden region during mid-1963 that was waged by Somalis seeking self-determination from imperial rule. Large scale Ethiopian counterinsurgency operations and increasingly harsh military crackdowns on the population of the Ogaden carried out by Emperor Haile Selassie's government resulted in a rapid decline in Ethio-Somali relations, leading to direct confrontation between both governments' armed forces.
Sporadic small-scale skirmishes between border police and Ethiopian airstrikes that began along the border in late 1963 escalated into large-scale warfare in early 1964. The conflict highlighted the disparity in military strength between the larger and highly equipped Ethiopian Imperial Army and the nascent Somali National Army, which had only formed during independence four years prior.
In mid-January 1964, border violence escalated and on 8 February both nations declared states of emergency. Regular army units from both militaries were deployed along the northern border, resulting in numerous large-scale military engagements in the Haud, such as the Battle of Tog Wajaale. In the days following, the war spread across the entire 900-km Ethiopian–Somali frontier with most combat taking place on the Somali side. The conflict was characterized by intense fighting around various border posts and villages, such as Dolow, and aerial bombardments by the vastly superior Ethiopian Air Force on major urban centers in Somalia such as Hargeisa and Galkayo. The Organization of African Unity (OAU) attempted to broker several ceasefire agreements, but they repeatedly failed. Despite the continuing hostilities, both nations participated in diplomatic negotiations in Khartoum, Sudan, at the request of various African heads of state.
On 30 March 1964, due to the mediation efforts of Sudanese President Ibrahim Abboud, Somalia and Ethiopia agreed to an armistice which led to the full cessation of hostilities on 2 April 1964. In the aftermath of the conflict, the two countries signed an accord in Khartoum, agreeing to withdraw their troops from the border, cease hostile propaganda, and initiate peace negotiations. A demilitarized zone was established along the border, ending major armed conflict between Somalia and Ethiopia until the Ogaden War 13 years later.
The brief two-month conflict attracted international attention, particularly within Africa and from international organizations such as the United Nations (UN) and OAU. Both Ethiopia and Somalia received varying degrees of foreign diplomatic and military support during the conflict.
Background
Following World War II, Somali leaders in the Ogaden region of Ethiopia repeatedly put forward demands for self-determination, only to be ignored by both Ethiopia and the United Nations.
After the independence and unification of British Somaliland and the Trust Territory of Somaliland on 1 July 1960, one of the major goals of the Somali Republic was the unification of Greater Somalia, which included the Ogaden region. Following Somalia's independence in 1960, the Ogaden was rocked by waves of popular revolts which were brutally repressed by Emperor Haile Selassie's government - resulting in deep animosity developed towards the Amharas by the Somalis. In many regional towns the Somali people were barred from employment.
Following the establishment of the Republic of Somalia, the Ethiopian government, sensing a looming Somali threat, immediately dispatched troops to set up military bases in the Ogaden, displacing and killing hundreds of Somalis in August 1960, who made up the ethnic majority of the territory. Though the Ethiopian troops (who represented the only significant Ethiopian presence in the region) were not well received by the population, it would be another 2 years until full-scale rebellion began in the region. In this period the Ethiopian government terminated grazing rights for many Somali nomads, greatly aggravating hostilities. After a series of attacks on nomads that provoked active self defence by locals, clashes started breaking out between the Ethiopian and Somali armed forces, culminating in the 1964 war.
In April 1961, nearly 100 Somali refugees fled to Hargeisa from Degehabur in the Ogaden region, reporting that the Ethiopian army had surrounded the city and machine-gunned its residents, resulting in the death of over 150 Somalis. This act was believed to be retaliation to a petition by local Somali leaders seeking self-determination. These confrontations led to approximately 100 casualties on all sides. The volatile situation was exacerbated when Somali district commissioners in the Ogaden were replaced by Ethiopian officials, intensifying concerns over a potential 'Ethiopianization' of the Somali populace in the area.
1963 Ogaden Rebellion
On 16 June 1963, the Ethiopian government began its first attempts to collect taxes in the Ogaden region, greatly incensing the already discontent Somali population, as they had lived without taxation for centuries. At Hodayo, a watering place north of Werder, 300 men picked a former public official named Mukhtal Dahir, to lead an insurgency against the Ethiopians referred to as "Nasrallah" or the Ogaden Liberation Front. The organization formed the foundation of the future Western Somali Liberation Front. Some of the guerrillas were equipped by the Somali government, though Dahir claimed that the only substantial support that they had received from Somalia had been related to treating wounded and taking in refugees. The New York Times reported a statement on the origins of the insurgency by Mukthal Dahir, who summarized the perspective of the Somali rebels in the Ogaden:
"We wanted our freedom. It was impossible to seek it through democratic means in a country where there is no free speech and no political party machinery, where expeditions are sent to collect taxes by force — seizing camels and mil-let crops. When we asked the Emperor for internal self-government, he threatened to shoot 180 Somali chiefs. He had an inkling what we were up to, and tried to impose a new head tax on cattle. Quran schools were ordered closed, and the laws allowed for one wife and no divorce. All this interfered with Muslim Somali traditions; and as leaders, we were expected to execute this policy. We discussed it and decided to pull out. When the Ethiopians discovered our opposition, they intended to arrest all of us. But by that time we had gone into hiding, where we formed the Liberation Government."
Insurgency Grows
For several months the insurgency fought against the Ethiopian army, swelling from just 300 to an estimated 3,000 to 12,000 insurgents (estimates greatly vary) and eventually forming a "liberation government". Many neutral Ogaden Somalis had been alienated by the loss of relatives, herds and homes in Ethiopian reprisal raids on their border villages, inflaming the resistance. At its peak, the combined forces of the insurgents controlled nearly 70 percent of the Ogaden region. Primarily, their operations were conducted in the lowland Hararghe and Bale provinces of Ethiopia. In 1963, the Somali government aided the Bale revolt that had begun among the Somali and Oromo populations of Ethiopia. The governments of the United States and Israel aided Haile Sellasie in suppressing Somali nationalism.
The insurgencies surprising early success is attributed to the terrain advantage the Ogaden offered, ideal for traditional guerrilla hit-and-run tactics, placing the mechanized troops at a large disadvantage. The insurgents honed their skills in ambushing military convoys, leading the Ethiopian army to restrict its operations to administrative centers. In response these centers were reinforced and deployed motor patrols, which were repeatedly ambushed by rebels seeking to obtain arms. The Ethiopian army's lackluster performance against the insurgents bolstered their confidence, encouraging them to expand their activities. However, their hit-and-run tactics ultimately proved insufficient to weaken the strategic control of the Ethiopian Empire. According to the Central Intelligence Agency, Ethiopian Defense Minister General Merid Mengesha came under fire for the poor showing of the military against the Ogaden rebels.
The Ethiopian government argued that the conflict was a result of armed bandits being sent across the border by Somalia to harass the country into ceding a large slice of Ethiopian territory, to which the Somali government repeatedly denied that it either inspired or fomented the troubles in Ogaden. Despite the Ethiopian government's allegations, it was widely recognized that the Somali government could assert no real control over the Ogaden insurgents, as the rebels had made it clear that they were not willing to take orders from Mogadishu, despite desiring its recognition. A CIA report submitted to U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson concluded, "Somali authorities show no ability to control Somali tribesmen whose depredations in the Ogaden so infuriate the Ethiopians."
Suppression of Insurgency and First Border Clashes
In August 1963 Ethiopian forces regrouped and the 3rd Division of the Imperial Army swept back through the Ogaden with relative ease, aided an eight-week-long air campaign against Somali targets on both sides of the border and the inexperience of the guerrillas. Despite regaining control of large portions of the region the 3rd Division was unable to stamp out the insurgency. International observers reported at least 500 had been killed in the fighting on both sides.
Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie responded to the insurrection with brutal and repressive crackdowns against the Somalis in the Ogaden region. The Ethiopian government began mounting punitive expeditions on Somali nomads, which consisted of the total destruction or confiscation of livestock in the Somali nomadic pastoral communities. Most infamous of these reprisals was on the town of Degehabur in what became known locally as the "Kanone Massacre". Degehabur was bombarded by artillery from nearby high ground, which was followed by a killing spree when army troops later entered the settlement. In another notable incident following rebel activity in the town of Shilabo, the Ethiopian army blockaded and shelled the city to punish the inhabitants. In a bid to control the largely nomadic population of the region during 1963, an Ethiopian Imperial Army division based out of Harar torched Somali villages and carried out mass killings of livestock. Watering holes were machine gunned by aircraft in order to control the Somalis by denying them access to water. Thousands of residents were driven from the Ogaden into Somalia as refugees.
The news of these crackdowns exacerbated the already deteriorating relations between Somalia and Ethiopia, and clashes between their forces began to break out in late 1963 and early 1964. Though the newly formed Somali government and army was weak, it had felt pressured and obliged to respond to what Somali citizens widely perceived as oppression of its brethren by an Ethiopian military occupation. In late fall 1963, small units of Somali soldiers allegedly began to join and operate with the Somali Ogaden insurgents, though according to Prof. Klaus Jürgen Gantzel there has never been proof of this. During November 1963, the Somali government signed an agreement with the Soviet Union to begin working toward the creation of a 20,000 man force, effectively quadrupling the size of the Somali National Army, greatly alarming the Ethiopian government.
Forces involved
Somali Republic
Composed of seven battalions, the Somali National Army (SNA) was poorly equipped and around 4,000 strong at the start of the war. The army possessed five British made Comet tanks and several armoured cars.
By 1964 the Somali Air Force had little combat capacity, as it only possessed transport and trainer aircraft.
Ethiopian Empire
By the start of 1964, the Ethiopian Imperial Army fielded a total of approximately 29,000 to 30,000 men.
At the time of the war, the Ethiopian Air Force (EAF) was the only country in Sub-Saharan Africa to own and operate F-86 Sabre fighter jets.
War
Starting around the 14 January 1964, tensions on the border began rapidly escalating. Both Ethiopia and Somalia claimed that the other had launched intrusions into their respective territory. The Ethiopians claimed that bandits armed by Somalia had assaulted a police convoy and station killing numerous personnel, while the Somalis counter charged the Ethiopians with violating Somali airspace and launching airstrikes.
On 15 January 1964, three Ethiopian aircraft bombed multiple Somali border police posts in the Upper Jubba River region. According to the Somali government, the Ethiopian Air Force launched a six-hour air attack on the border posts, totally destroying them. This prompted a diplomatic protest from Somali Foreign Minister Abdullah Issa to the Ethiopian Ambassador, Ato Ahadu Sabure. He warned that the Somali government would hold Ethiopia responsible for any consequences of "armed aggression and violation of national territory". The Ethiopian government refused to publicly acknowledge the Somali airstrike claim, but according to foreign correspondent Richard Boyce, sources close to Halie Selassie's inner circle privately confided that the airstrike had been ordered in response to guerrilla attacks on Ethiopian forces in the Ogaden earlier in the week.
On 17 January the Ethiopian Information Ministry announced that its security forces had killed dozens of "Somali bandits" in a border skirmish, while also seizing an SNA supply vehicle.
First Incursions
Accounts dispute who launched the first major incursion that sparked the war, but in mid to late January 1964, either Somali or Ethiopian army units crossed the opposing sides northern border in the Haud. The initiator of the conflict is unclear as no impartial third party observed the start of the conflict. Soon both sides had begun making military incursions into each other's respective territories.