Somali Patriotic Movement

The group was formed in 1989 to resist Siad Barre’s regime. The Somali Patriotic Movement, SPM, consisted of people from the Ogadeni sub-clan who had previously aimed to take the Ogaden region from Ethiopia. While the group’s origins are largely based in Ethiopia, it should be noted that they operated in Somalia against Siad Barre’s regime. Although some reports argue that he did not establish the group, Ahmed Omar Jess certainly played a key role in leading the group in the fight against Siad Barre and then again in leading a faction following the regime’s collapse. The SPM split into two factions following the downfall of the regime. One was led by Jess, and the other was led by an alliance between General Adan Abdullahi Gebiyu and General Mohamed Sa’id Hirsi Morgan (Barre’s son-in-law). The faction led by Jess controlled territory around the port city of Kismayo in the southwest of Somalia, while the alliance-led faction controlled territory in southern Somalia. However, the Jess-led faction of the SPM had largely ceased operations by 1994, and the Morgan-led faction had ceased operations by 1995.