The end of the 1988 SNM war in Burao
In Burao too where they staged fiercely fought battles, SNM fighters were
eventually dislodged from the city. On 15th August 1988 in a concerted effort the
fighters who attacked Burao and Hargeisa left the cities and the northern territory
altogether. They went back to Ethiopia to fight another day.4
In subsequent
installments we shall visit in detail other dimensions of the events which took
place in both the 1988 war and the second SNM war in 1991 which saw the
declaration of the secession of the north from the rest of Somalia.5
The end of the war in Hargeisa
In Hargeisa, in mid June 1988 when the SNM bombardment and shelling
intensified it forced the hand of the military authorities headed by General
Mohamed Ali Samater. The authorities had to abandon any hope it had to isolate 7 The night SNM fighters came to Hargeisa
By Abdulkadir Mohamoud,
Oct 01, 2010
Copyright © 2010 WardheerNews.com
and cut off the SNM fighters. The war continued for few more weeks. However, in
its fifth week, the fighters were eventually dislodged from the city. They did not go
far. They moved to the outskirts where they began to regroup around Geed
Deeble, an area known for its source of the water supply of Hargeisa.3
Undaunted SNM fighters dug in around Geed Deeble where they conducted
fiercely fought battles which continued for over a month after which they got out
from their positions and retreated back to Ethiopia to fight another day.

there goes the wild dream of yusuf that snm irhaabis captured hargeisa in 1988
88 offensive was big failure sxb.