The Rhamu Incident, also known as Battle of Rhamu on the 29 June 1977, was a brief armed conflict between

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

and

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

, in which the latter invaded the

Northern Frontier District The North Eastern Province ( so, Gobolka Woqooyi Bari, 𐒌𐒙𐒁𐒙𐒐𐒏𐒖 𐒓𐒙𐒎𐒝𐒕𐒘 𐒁𐒖𐒇𐒘) is one of the former provinces in Kenya. It has a land area of 127,358.5 km2, with its capital at Garissa. Previ ...

on the eve of the

Ogaden War The Ogaden War, or the Ethio-Somali War (, am, የኢትዮጵያ ሶማሊያ ጦርነት, ye’ītiyop’iya somalīya t’orineti), was a military conflict fought between Somalia and Ethiopia from July 1977 to March 1978 over the Ethiopi ...

. A force of 1500 Somali soldiers attacked a

border post A border checkpoint is a location on an international border where travelers or goods are inspected and allowed (or denied) passage through. Authorization often is required to enter a country through its borders. Access-controlled borders ofte ...

, and killed 30 Kenyan police officers and

soldiers A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an officer. Etymology The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word , from Old French ...

.Pg 86 - Husein Dualleh - From Barre to Aideed: Somalia : the agony of a nation The Somali army did not stay as the objective of their mission was to invade Ethiopian troops from a different side inside

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

through

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

, for an easy offensive rear attacks to backstab the

Ethiopian army The Ethiopian Ground Forces () is the land service branch of the Ethiopian National Defense Force. It is senior of the two uniformed military branches. It engages in land warfare and combined arms operations, including armored and mechanized o ...

Rhamu Rhamu ( so, Raamo Raaxa) is a town in the Mandera County of Kenya and is the second largest town of the district. It sits across the Dawa River from the town of Sathe in Ethiopia. It is largely populated by the Garre Somali clan co-existing with ...

, situated on the Ethiopian-Kenyan border, lay on the road to the Sidamo region, and was considered a strategic point of entrance. The

Somali government The Government of Somalia (GS) ( so, Dowladda Soomaaliya, ar, حكومة الصومال الاتحادية) is the internationally recognised government of Somalia, and the first attempt to create a central government in Somalia since the colla ...

denied the invasion, and claimed to have no knowledge of the incident.

References

{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 1977 in Ethiopia 1977 in Somalia 1977 in Kenya Cold War conflicts Conflicts in 1977 Wars involving Somalia Military history of Somalia Kenya–Somalia border