Jazeera Beach Massacre | |
---|---|
Part of Isaaq genocide | |
Location | Jazeera Beach, 20 miles south of Mogadishu, Somalia |
Date | 15 July 1989 |
Target | Isaaq men |
Attack type | Mass execution |
Weapons | Firearms |
Deaths | 47 |
Perpetrators | Somalia |
The Jazeera Beach Massacre was a mass execution that occurred on 15 July 1989, the day after the Mogadishu riots of July 1989. Government forces known as the Red Berets rounded up 47 Isaaq men at random in Mogadishu and transported them to Jazeera Beach, 20 miles south of the city. Upon arrival, the men, handcuffed and defenseless, were ordered into a sandy gorge where the soldiers executed them by firing point blank. Only one young man survived by feigning death and later escaped to Djibouti, becoming the sole witness to the massacre. [1] [2]
The massacre was widely condemned internationally, with analysts highlighting its role in escalating the Isaaq genocide and further fueling the Somaliland War of Independence. [3]
During the conflict between the Somali National Movement (SNM) and the Somali government, President Siad Barre launched a brutal counterinsurgency campaign targeting the Isaaq clan. Beginning in May 1988, this campaign escalated into systematic atrocities against Isaaq civilians, with methods including aerial bombardment, mass executions, and the destruction of cities such as Hargeisa and Burco. [4] The campaign aimed to eliminate SNM insurgents but ultimately devolved into what many analysts describe as genocide against the Isaaq population. [5]
In 1987, Barre, frustrated by the SNM's effectiveness, struck a deal with Ethiopia, agreeing to stop supporting rebel movements in each other's territories. This pressured the SNM to shift its operations from the Ethiopia–Somalia border to northern Somalia. In response, Barre's government escalated its attacks, targeting Isaaq civilians indiscriminately. According to Bruce Jentleson, this campaign led to mass killings, widespread destruction, and hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing to Ethiopia. [6]
The Jazeera Beach Massacre occurred within this context of widespread violence and repression, serving as one of the most infamous examples of the Barre regime's atrocities. It epitomized the regime's willingness to target civilians as part of its broader strategy of annihilation against the Isaaq. [7]
The Jazeera Beach Massacre remains a significant event in the collective memory of Somalilanders and is commemorated annually to honor the victims. It is also frequently cited as evidence of the genocidal policies of Siad Barre's government and has been instrumental in Somaliland's push for recognition as an independent state. [8]
Mohammed Siad Barre was a Somali military officer, politician and revolutionary who served as the third president of Somalia from 21 October 1969 to 26 January 1991.
The Somali Democratic Republic was a socialist state in Somalia that existed from 1969 to 1991.
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The Somali Civil War is an ongoing civil war that is taking place in Somalia. It grew out of resistance to the military junta which was led by Siad Barre during the 1980s. From 1988 to 1990, the Somali Armed Forces began engaging in combat against various armed rebel groups, including the Somali Salvation Democratic Front in the northeast, the Somali National Movement in the Somaliland War of Independence in the northwest, and the United Somali Congress in the south. The clan-based armed opposition groups overthrew the Barre government in 1991.
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The Somali Rebellion was the start of the Somali Civil War that began in the 1970s and resulted in the collapse of the Somali Democratic Republic in 1991. The rebellion effectively began in 1978 following a failed coup d’état and President Siad Barre began using his special forces, the "Red Berets", to attack clan-based dissident groups opposed to his regime. Backed by Ethiopia, the two earliest rebel factions, the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF) and the Somali National Movement (SNM) began attacks during the against government forces during the early 1980s.
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