The Somali invasion of Ogaden took place in July 1977 when the Somali Army attacked in two formations. The main force had the aim of seizing

Jijiga Jijiga (, am, ጅጅጋ, ''Jijiga'') is the capital city of Somali Region, Ethiopia. It became the capital of the Somali Region in 1995 after it was moved from Gode. Located in the Fafan Zone with 70 km (37 mi) west of the border ...

Harar Harar ( amh, ሐረር; Harari: ሀረር; om, Adare Biyyo; so, Herer; ar, هرر) known historically by the indigenous as Gey (Harari: ጌይ ''Gēy'', ) is a walled city in eastern Ethiopia. It is also known in Arabic as the City of Saint ...

and

Dire Dawa Dire Dawa ( am, ድሬዳዋ, om, Dirree Dhawaa, 3=Place of Remedy; so, Diridhaba, meaning "where Dir hit his spear into the ground" or "The true Dir", ar, ديري داوا,) is a city in eastern Ethiopia near the Oromia and Somali Re ...

while a secondary force assaulted

Dolo Dolo is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Venice, Veneto, Italy. It is connected by the SP26 provincial road and is one of the towns of the Riviera del Brenta. The growth of the town of Dolo is due to the gradual downsizing of th ...

Gode Gode ( so, Godey, am, ጎዴ) is a city in the Somali Region of Ethiopia. Located in the Shabelle Zone, the city was the capital of the Somali Region until 1995 when Jijiga became the capital Gode Airport, also known as the Ugas Mirad Air ...

and

Imi IMI may refer to: Companies and organizations * IMI plc, a British engineering company * IMI Systems, an Israeli weapons manufacturer * Indian Music Industry, a trust that represents the recording industry distributors in India * Indonesian Motor ...

. The

Somali National Army The Somali National Army ( Somali: ''Xooga Dalka Soomaaliyeed,'' lit. ''"Somali Ground Forces"'') is the ground forces component of the Somali Armed Forces, and is the largest out of the three service branches that make up the majority of the A ...

(SNA) committed to invade the

Ogaden Ogaden (pronounced and often spelled ''Ogadēn''; so, Ogaadeen, am, ውጋዴ/ውጋዴን) is one of the historical names given to the modern Somali Region, the territory comprising the eastern portion of Ethiopia formerly part of the Harargh ...

on 12 July 1977, according to Ethiopian

Ministry of National Defense {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

documents (some other sources state 13 July or 23 July)...

Forces

According to Ethiopian sources, the invaders numbered 70,000 troops, 40 fighter planes, 250 tanks, 350 APCs, and 600 artillery, which was almost the whole Somali Army. Soviet officials put the number of attacking Somali forces at 23,000 servicemen, 150

T-34 The T-34 is a Soviet medium tank introduced in 1940. When introduced its 76.2 mm (3 in) tank gun was less powerful than its contemporaries while its 60-degree sloped armour provided good protection against Anti-tank warfare, anti-tan ...

and 50

T-54/55 The T-54 and T-55 tanks are a series of Soviet main battle tanks introduced in the years following the Second World War. The first T-54 prototype was completed at Nizhny Tagil by the end of 1945.Steven Zaloga, T-54 and T-55 Main Battle Tanks ...

tanks, as well as 250 armoured personnel carriers such as the BTR-50PK,

BTR-152 The BTR-152 is a six-wheeled Soviet armored personnel carrier (БТР, from Бронетранспортер/'' Bronetransporter'', literally "armored transporter"), built on the chassis and drive train of a ZIS-151 utility truck. It entered servi ...

and

BTR-60PB The BTR-60 is the first vehicle in a series of Soviet eight-wheeled armoured personnel carriers (APCs). It was developed in the late 1950s as a replacement for the BTR-152 and was seen in public for the first time in 1961. BTR stands for ''Bronet ...

. In addition to the Somali regular troops, another 15,000 fighters of the

Western Somali Liberation Front The Western Somali Liberation Front ( so, Jabhadda Xoreynta Somali Galbeed; abbreviated WSLF) was a separatist rebel group fighting in eastern Ethiopia to create an independent state. It played a major role in the Ogaden War of 1977-78 assisting ...

(WSLF) were also present in the Ogaden. Ethiopian forces present in the Ogaden were largely composed of the Ethiopian Army's 3rd Mechanised Division, backed by an ad hoc 9th Fighter Squadron equipped with F-5E jet fighters.

Battle

By the end of July 1977, 60% of the Ogaden had been taken by the SNA-WSLF force, including Gode, on the

Shabelle River The Shebelle River ( so, Webi Shabeelle, ar, نهر شبيلي, am, እደላ) begins in the highlands of Ethiopia, and then flows southeast into Somalia towards Mogadishu. Near Mogadishu, it turns sharply southwest, where it follows the coast. ...

. The attacking forces did suffer some early setbacks; Ethiopian defenders at Dire Dawa and Jijiga inflicted heavy casualties on assaulting forces. The

Ethiopian Air Force The Ethiopian Air Force (ETAF) () is the air service branch of the Ethiopian National Defence Force. The ETAF is tasked with protecting the national air space, providing support to ground forces, as well as assisting civil operations during natio ...

(EAF) also began to establish

air superiority Aerial supremacy (also air superiority) is the degree to which a side in a conflict holds control of air power over opposing forces. There are levels of control of the air in aerial warfare. Control of the air is the aerial equivalent of c ...

using its

Northrop F-5 The Northrop F-5 is a family of supersonic light fighter aircraft initially designed as a privately funded project in the late 1950s by Northrop Corporation. There are two main models, the original F-5A and F-5B Freedom Fighter variants and t ...

s, despite being initially outnumbered by Somali MiG-21s. However, Somalia was easily overpowering Ethiopian military hardware and technology. Soviet General Vasily Petrov had to report back to Moscow the "sorry state" of the Ethiopian Army. The

3rd Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (d ...

and 4th Ethiopian Infantry Divisions that suffered the brunt of the Somali invasion practically ceased to exist.. By 17 August 1977, elements of the Somali Army had reached the outskirts of the strategic city of Dire Dawa. Not only was the country's second largest military airbase located here, as well as Ethiopia's crossroads into the Ogaden, but Ethiopia's rail lifeline to the Red Sea ran through this city, and if the Somalis held Dire Dawa, Ethiopia would be unable to export its crops or bring in equipment needed to continue the fight. Gebre Tareke estimates the Somalis advanced with two motorized brigades, one tank battalion and one ballistic missile battery upon the city; against them were the Ethiopian Second Militia Division, the 201 Nebelbal battalion, 781 battalion of the 78th Brigade, the 4th Mechanized Company, and a tank platoon possessing two tanks.. The fighting was vicious as both sides knew what the stakes were but after two days, despite the Somalis gaining possession of the airport at one point, the Ethiopians had repulsed the assault and forced the Somalis to withdraw. Henceforth this became known as the

Battle of Dire Dawa The Battle of Dire Dawa were a series of battles that took place since 17 July to 17 August 1977 between Ethiopian Armed Forces and Somali Armed Forces near the town of Dire Dawa, Ethiopia and adjacent to the airfield of the same name during th ...

and the city was never again at risk of attack.. By October 1977, Somali Army and

WSLF The Western Somali Liberation Front ( so, Jabhadda Xoreynta Somali Galbeed; abbreviated WSLF) was a separatist rebel group fighting in eastern Ethiopia to create an independent state. It played a major role in the Ogaden War of 1977-78 assistin ...

forces controlled up to 90% of Ogaden's territory, about .

Notes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ogaden Battles involving Ethiopia Battles involving Somalia Somali invation on Ogaden Conflicts in 1977 1977 in Ethiopia 1977 in Somalia