President Dahir Rayale Kahin

Hargeysa, Somaliland, June 3, 2006 – Somaliland president Dahir Rayale Kahin has sent a congratulatory message to the war veterans of the Somali National Movement, the organization that liberated Somaliland from Somalia, on the occasion of the 18 anniversary of the May 1988 offensive.

On May 1988, the SNM Mujahideen attacked Buroa and Hargeysa. The military government of Siyad Barre, Somalia’s former dictator, retaliated with an indiscriminate aerial and artillery bombardment of the two cities and other urban and rural centers in Somaliland.

At least 100,000 innocent civilians were killed while around 800,000 were forced to flee their homes to seek refuge in eastern Ethiopia.

Marking the historic May offensive, president Rayale said his government was committed to the welfare of the children, spouses and dependents of the SNM’s fallen heroes.

Mr. Rayale also disclosed that his administration intends to document the historical archives of the liberation war.

His statement coincided with 31 st May, the day that the SNM fighters stormed Hargeysa in 1988. Three days earlier the SNM attacked Buroa, Somaliland’s second largest city.

By the end of 1988, 2/3 of Somaliland fell into the hands of the SNM.

In January 1991 the SNM took control of the whole of Somaliland as ruminants of Siyad Barre’s army fled south.