The war to control Las Anod is in its eighth day and despite public outcry and international condemnation over the atrocities committed, is not about to end. Somaliland’s stubbornness to subdue the Sool, Sanaag and Cayn region despite the locals’ rejection of secession is hard to understand given the lessons from our history.
The Somali National Movement (SNM) rebel militia that stormed the SSC region in 2007 in search of historical appropriation to justify their secession has downplayed the fierce and genuine “Somalinimo” – Somali national unity – that runs through the SSC region.
Somalia’s most famous anti-colonial leader, Sayyid Mahamed Abdulle Hassan, discovered that the Dhulbahante clan of the region were equally committed to Somali independence and unity and were willing to die for these ideals.
Before any other Somali clan, they embraced the Sayyid struggle despite belonging to another clan. Under his leadership they formed an extraordinary fighting force called “darawish” which defeated the British, Italian and Ethiopian invaders on the battlefields and halted their expansion for some twenty years.
Indeed, from 1899 to 1920, the European invaders attempt to suppress their revolt. With their many victories, discipline and tenacity, the Sayyid was able to show to other Somali clans that anything was possible when united.
The British empire found out about the SSC regions’ staunch nationalism, their hatred of being colonized and their readiness to sacrifice for their freedom and their kind.
The colonizers had to wait until the end of the World War 1 to divert all their new advanced weaponry and other genocidal tactics they perfected over the centuries, to put an end to the great anti-colonial war.
When the tide turned against the Sayyid, victim of the British superior firepower, deceptive tactics sowing discord among Somali clans and their unrestrained use of terror, the “darawish” fighters remained loyal to him until the end.
In attempting to recreate the British colonial map, the Hargeisa-based Somaliland secessionists made a grave mistake in trying not only to emulate British colonial tactics, but also to pick a fight with the Dhulbahante and other clans attached to the Somali unity in the SSC region.
Despite countless British and American efforts to maintain the self-governing status of an Isaaq-dominated Somaliland, it nevertheless remains without any legitimacy to administer not only Las Anod and the SSC region but also Awdal.
Going down the British bloody path and try to reproduce the 1920 genocide would only hasten the end of a dreamed “Republic of Somaliland”, autonomous from the Mogadishu-based central government.
Ultimately, Hargeisa would have no choice but to reach a peaceful settlement over the status of the SSC regions or roll back the autonomy they have achieved over the past three decades.
At the heart of the current conflict is the struggle for Somali unity in one free state. While the SNM-led separatism of the northern regions has not been seriously challenged since 1991, its current meltdown shows that the project was doomed to failure.
The main idea that the secession was based on a colonial design that repressed the SSC inhabitants shows its deep flaws and the SNM’s poor understanding of Somali history.
