[2][5] Emperor Haile Selassie's response to the rebellion involved repressive measures and collective punishment against the Somali population, leading to severe deterioration in Ethio–Somali relations and laying the groundwork for the 1964 Ethiopian-Somali Border War.

[3] The 1950s saw Somali leaders begin covertly recruiting followers for an anticipated rebellion under the umbrella of two organizations: Nasrallah, an Arabic term meaning "sacrifice for Allah's cause," and the Ogaden Company for Trade and Industry (OCTI).

Mukhtal Dahir, one of these leaders, was a founder of the Somali Youth League's (SYL) branch in Harar in 1946 and played a key role in the 1949 Jijiga revolt.

[1] On 16 June 1963, the Ethiopian government began its first attempts to collect taxes in the Ogaden region, greatly incensing the already discontent Somali population, as they had lived without taxation for centuries.

At Hodayo, a watering place north of Werder, 300 men of Nasrallah picked Mukhtal Dahir to lead an insurgency against the Ethiopians under the banner of the al-Jaysh ( الجيش in Arabic) or Jabhada (the front).

Some of the guerrillas were equipped by the Somali government, though Dahir would later allege that the only substantial support that they had received from Somalia had been related to treating wounded and taking in refugees.

[6] In a bid to control the largely nomadic population of the region during 1963, an Ethiopian Imperial Army division based out of Harar torched Somali villages and carried out mass killings of livestock.

[16] The insurgencies surprising early success is attributed to the terrain advantage the Ogaden offered, ideal for traditional guerrilla hit-and-run tactics, placing the mechanized troops at a large disadvantage.

[5] According to the Central Intelligence Agency, Ethiopian Defense Minister General Merid Mengesha would come under fire for the poor showing of the military against the Ogaden rebels.

[12][15][19] A CIA report submitted to U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson would conclude, "Somali authorities show no ability to control the tribesmen whose depredations so infuriate the Ethiopians.

"[20] In August 1963 Ethiopian forces regrouped and the 3rd Division of the Imperial Army swept back through the Ogaden with relative ease, aided an eight-week-long air campaign against Somali targets on both sides of the border and the inexperience of the guerrillas.

That fall insurgents were noted to be active in Degehabur, Wardheer, Qabridahare, Fiq, Godey, and Kelafo, where they overran police stations and ambushed army convoys.

[12] These concerns were confirmed following signing of the peace accord between Somalia and Ethiopia, when leader of the Ogaden insurgency Muktal Dalhir declared he would ignore the truce, stating:"My people are under no one's jurisdiction and take orders from no one but me.

The Ethiopian government also introduced a new policy of land registration to encourage Amhara farmers to resettle in the valuable pastureland's in and around the Ogaden that were used by Somali nomads' herds as grazing areas.