Sahra Halgan | |
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| Born | Sahra Ahmed Mohamoud Sahra Axmed Maxamuud 12 April 1972 |
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| Years active | 2009–present |
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Sahra Ahmed Mohamoud (Somali : Sahra Axmed Maxamuud) is a Somali singer and cultural activist. also known as professionally Sahra Halgan as her stage name . [1]
Halgan was born in 1972 in Hargeisa, Somalia, at the time led by Mohamed Siad Barre. [2] At 13 years old, she began to sing. [3] Performing on the stage and singing in public is frowned upon by her community, but she has persisted. [4] The Somali civil war broke out in the late 1970s against Barre. Resistance movements, supported by the Ethiopian government, began to develop. The Somali National Movement (SNM), in particular, seized Burao and Hargeisa. [5] In 1988, Barré decided to put an end to the rebellion by force and launched a heavy bombing campaign focusing on Hargeisa. [6] Halgan, who was only 16 years old and had no previous training, worked as a nurse for the SNM. [5] [7] [8]
She said, "At the front, I was finally free. The soldiers had other things to do than forbid me to sing." Barré was removed from power on 26 January 1991.
Halgan then left to take refuge in Europe and recuperate, and settled in Lyon. [9] She was granted political refugee status. She worked odd jobs in the city, getting involved in neighborhood life and returning to music. [10] In 2009, she released her first album, Somaliland, which did not get much response. [11] Then she worked on a second project, a trio with percussionist Aymeric Krol and guitarist Maël Salètes, who had met in Lyon. Her second album, Faransiskiyo Somaliland, was released in 2015. The music combined Tuareg rock and East African rhythms. [12]
In 2015, she returned to live in Somalia after going back and forth between her native region and France. She founded a cultural center devoted to music and poetry in Hargeisa, her hometown and second capital of Somalia. She released a third album, Waa Dardaaran, in 2019. [13] [14]
Somaliland, officially the Republic of Somaliland, is an unrecognised country in the Horn of Africa. It is located in the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden and bordered by Djibouti to the northwest, Ethiopia to the south and west, and Somalia to the east. Its claimed territory has an area of 176,120 square kilometres (68,000 sq mi), with approximately 6.2 million people as of 2024. The capital and largest city is Hargeisa.
Hargeisa is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Somaliland, a de facto sovereign state in the Horn of Africa, still considered internationally to be part of Somalia. It is also the regional capital of the Maroodi Jeex region of Somaliland.
Burao, also spelt Bur'o or Bur'ao, is the capital of the Togdheer region and the second largest city in Somaliland. Burao was the site of the declaration of an independent Somaliland on 18 May 1991.
The Isaaq is a major Somali clan. It is one of the largest Somali clan families in the Horn of Africa, with a large and densely populated traditional territory.
Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud "Silanyo" is a Somaliland politician who was President of Somaliland from 2010 to 2017. He is a long-time member of the government, having served as Minister of Commerce of the Somali Republic, and among other Cabinet positions. During the 1980s, he also served as the Chairman of the Somali National Movement.
The Somali National Movement was one of the first and most important organized guerilla groups and Mujahideen groups that opposed the Siad Barre regime in the 1980s to the 1990s, as well as being the main anti-government faction during the Somaliland War of Independence. The organisation was founded in London, England, on April 6, 1981 by Hassan Isse Jama, Hassan Adan Wadadid, and Ahmed Mohamed Gulaid and other former Somali diplomats, who stated that initially the group's purpose was to overthrow the Siad Barre regime.
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.
Abdirahman Ahmed Ali Tuur was a Somali politician who served as the first President of Somaliland from 1991 to 1993. Tuur previously served as the Chairman of the Somali National Movement from 1990 to 1991. He also served as the Vice President of Somaliland from 1993 to 1995.
Musa Bihi Abdi is a Somaliland politician and former military officer who has been President of Somaliland since December 2017. During the 1970s, he served as a pilot in the Somali Air Force under the Siad Barre administration. In 2010, Bihi was appointed the chairman of the ruling Kulmiye of Republic of Somaliland. In November 2015, Bihi was selected as the party's Presidential Candidate at the 5th annual central committee convention.
The Hargeisa War Memorial is a monument in Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland. The memorial was set up to commemorate the Somaliland War of Independence, and is a symbol of struggle for the people of Somaliland.
The Isaaq genocide, also known as the Hargeisa Holocaust, was the systematic, state-sponsored genocide of Isaaq civilians between 1987 and 1989 by the Somali Democratic Republic, under the dictatorship of Siad Barre, during the Somaliland War of Independence. The number of civilian deaths in this massacre is estimated to be between 50,000 and 100,000, according to various sources, whilst local reports estimate the total civilian deaths to be upwards of 200,000 Isaaq civilians. The genocide also included the levelling and complete destruction of the second and third largest cities in the Somali Republic, Hargeisa and Burao, respectively, and had caused up to 500,000 Somalis of the region, primarily of the Isaaq clan, to flee their land and cross the border to Hartasheikh in Ethiopia as refugees in what was described as "one of the fastest and largest forced movements of people recorded in Africa", which resulted in the creation of the world's largest refugee camp then (1988), with another 400,000 being displaced. The scale of destruction led to Hargeisa being known as the 'Dresden of Africa'. The killings happened during the Somali Civil War and have been referred to as a "forgotten genocide".
Events of 2018 in Somaliland.
The Somaliland Peace Process refers to the series of grassroot initiatives that brought peace to Somaliland after the collapse of central government of Somalia. In conjunction with the Somali National Movement, communities in Somaliland negotiated a series of truces to end hostilities and address the grievances between the communities who were often on opposing sides to the Barre regime.
The Somaliland Declaration of Independence was made on 18 May 1991 by Somali sultans from the Isaaq, Dhulbahante, Issa, Gadabursi, Warsangali clans, as well as the Somali National Movement.
The Somaliland War of Independence was a rebellion waged by the Somali National Movement (SNM) against the ruling military junta in Somalia led by General Siad Barre lasting from its founding on 6 April 1981 and ended on 18 May 1991 when the SNM declared what was then northern Somalia independent as the Republic of Somaliland. The conflict served as the main theater of the larger Somali Rebellion that started in 1978. The conflict was in response to the harsh policies enacted by the Barre regime against the main clan family in Somaliland, the Isaaq, including a declaration of economic warfare on the clan-family. These harsh policies were put into effect shortly after the conclusion of the disastrous Ogaden War in 1978.
Ethiopia–Somaliland relations refers to the relationship between the Republic of Somaliland and the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. The two countries have formal diplomatic relations. Ethiopia has a consulate in Hargeisa and Somaliland has a representative office in Addis Ababa.
The 1988 Hargeisa-Burao offensive was a major offensive conducted during the Somaliland War of Independence in May 1988 by the Somali National Movement on the cities of Hargeisa and Burao, then the second and third largest cities of Somalia. The SNM captured Burao on 27 May within two hours, while the SNM entered Hargeisa on 29 May, overrunning most of the city apart from its airport by 1 June. During the offensive the Somali National Army committed gross human rights violations, including attacking the civilian population using heavy artillery and tanks.
Hassan Yonis Habane was a chief of staff of the Somaliland Armed Forces. As one of the commanders of the SNM, the predecessor of Somaliland, he won many battles and was one of the initiators of Somaliland's independence.
Abdisamad Haji Abdilahi Diriye Warsame, also known as "Gamgam", was a chief of staff of the Somaliland Armed Forces.
Ibrahim Degaweyne is a Colonel of Somali National Movement (SNM). He is said to have never lost a battle.
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