| 1978 Somali coup d'état attempt | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theCold War | |||||||
 Somali dictatorSiad Barre in 1978 | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Government of theSomali Democratic Republic | Military faction | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Siad Barre | Mohamed Osman Irro  Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| Unknown | 24 officers[1] 2,000 soldiers[1] 65 tanks[1] | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 17 plotters executed. | |||||||
The1978 Somali coup attempt was a violentmilitarycoup attempt that took place inSomalia (thenSomali Democratic Republic) on 9 April 1978,[2] against the regime of PresidentSiad Barre. The United StatesCentral Intelligence Agency estimated that the coup, led by ColonelMohamed Osman Irro, involved around 24 officers, 2,000 soldiers, and 65 tanks. Following the failed coup, 17 alleged ringleaders, including Osman, weresummarily executed byfiring squad.
The coup attempt was staged by a group of disgruntled Army officers, led by ColonelMohamed Osman Irro, in the aftermath of the disastrousOgaden War againstEthiopia (then ruled by theMengistu-ledDerg). The war was initiated by President Siad Barre, who had himself come into power a decade earlier in the1969 Somali coup d'état.[3]
A United StatesCentral Intelligence Agency (CIA) memorandum written the following month speculated that the coup was in response to Barre ordering the arrest and execution of officers that participated in the Ogaden War. The officers believed that Barre had intentionally used troops from otherclans as "cannon fodder" while officers from his ownMarehan clan were given safer orders. The report concluded that the officers involved in the coup "were motivated at least as much by long-standing ethnic animosities toward Barre as by disenchantment with his regime in the aftermath of the Ogaden debacle".[1]
The coup was launched on 9 April 1978.[3] The bulk of the fighting concluded within the day.[1]
Gunfire broke out at the village of Afgoy, south of the capitalMogadishu, and small-arms fire and explosions were heard on the outskirts of the capital.[3] The coup was originally planned to start inHargeisa, but Barre likely knew of the attempt in advance and was able to disrupt the coup before it launched, as well as position forces loyal to himself in the capital.[1]
The CIA estimated that the coup involved around 24 officers, 2,000 soldiers, and 65 tanks.[1]
Following the failed coup, 17 alleged ringleaders, including Osman, weresummarily executed byfiring squad.[4] Barre used the coup as justification topurge members of the clans involved in the coup from government and military positions.[1]
One of the plotters, Lieutenant ColonelAbdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, escaped to Ethiopia[5] and founded an anti-Siad Barre organization initially called the Somali Salvation Front (SSF; later theSomali Salvation Democratic Front, SSDF),[6] initiating theSomali Rebellion and eventually theSomali Civil War.
Barre blamed the coup attempt on theEastern Bloc, namelySoviet Union andCuba, countries that supported Ethiopia in the Ogaden War, calling them "new imperialists".[3] The CIA determined that the Soviet Union was not behind the coup attempt, but were seeking to remove Barre.[1] Immediately following the coup, Somalia began receivingforeign aid from thePeople's Republic of China.[7]
