[8] During the offensive the Somali National Army committed gross human rights violations, including attacking the civilian population using heavy artillery and tanks.

In 1982, the Somali National Movement (shortened SNM) moved its headquarters from London to Dire Dawa, Ethiopia where 3 key military bases were established.

[14] A growing number of northern civilian recruits and defectors from the Somali army, drawn almost exclusively from the Isaaq clan, were shaped into a guerrilla force and trained to produce a hard-core of disciplined fighters.

[13] Although the Ethiopians were said to have initially only supplied ammunition, Isaaq recruits came with their own arms in addition the equipment seized from the Somalian army.

[13]The first military offensive of the SNM took place near Baligubadle where a small force attacked a fuel tanker supplying the Somalian regime's base in the town.

[15][14] In response, the SNM carried out the assassination of the regional National Security Service Chief in 1986 which led to the newly appointed Northern military commander Mohammed Said Hersi Morgan in unleashing a new wave of terror against the Isaaq population as set out by his "Letter of Death".

[15][14] In 1987, Siad Barre, the president of Somalia, frustrated by lack of success of the army against insurgents from the Somali National Movement in the north of country, offered the Ethiopian government a deal in which they stop sheltering and giving support to the SNM in return for Somalia giving up its territorial claim over Ethiopia's Somali Region.

[20] The SNM felt the pressure to cease their activities on the Ethiopia-Somalia border, and had no option but to attack the northern territories of Somalia to take control of the major cities in the north.

[21] The brutal nature of the Siad Barre government response was unprecedented, and led to what Robin Cohen described as one of the "worst civil wars in Africa".

Despite light attacks conducted by the SNM, Berbera remained under Somali government control, and the port city served as a beachhead for receiving troops and supplies from southern Somalia and overseas, unloading them, and redistributing them across the region.

[24][25] They arrived in the town of Dhoqoshay at sunset and by early morning the next day, the SNM advanced to Badhka, an execution site outside of Burao used by Barre's government.

In Adadley, the Hussein Dheere fighters and those of the Sayid Ali and Barkhad units had attacked the government garrison from several sides.

As we entered the compound we found the dead body of the commander of the Adadley base, who had committed suicide by shooting himself through the head when he realised that his big military base had fallen into the hands of SNM.Wounded Somali troops who claimed to be from the Hawiye clan in southern Somalia were to their surprise spared and left unharmed, being sent back to their villages of origin upon their recovery and told to not join government forces ever again.

[23] Occasionally captured Somali soldiers would, upon realizing SNM forces would not harm them, reveal hidden guns and hand them over.

All vehicles (including taxis) were confiscated to control the movement of civilian population, this also ensured sufficient transport was available for the use of military and government officials.

[30] Artillery shelling of Hargeisa started on the third day of the fighting[31] and was accompanied by large-scale aerial bombing of the city carried out by aircraft of the Somali Air Force.

Reports from eye witnesses speak of the town of Hargeisa as mere rubble, devastated to the point that it is barely recognizable even to its inhabitants.

[39]The Guardian reported the scale of destruction as follows:The civil war left Hargeisa in ruins: 80 percent of the building in the town were destroyed, many of them by the aerial bombardment of General Siad Barre's Zimbabwean mercenary pilots.

The exposed pale green and blue plaster walls reflect the sunlight.Many of the houses are boarded up because of the small anti-personnel mines scattered by Gen Siad Barre's forces when tens of thousands of Hargeisa residents fled.

[40]Other descriptions of what took place in Hargeisa include:Siad Barre focused his wrath (and American-supported military might) against his Northern opposition.

[42] The Congressional General Accounting Office team noted the extent to which residential districts were especially targeted by the army:Hargeisa, the second largest city in Somalia, has suffered extensive damage from artillery and aerial shelling.

Our rough visual inspection confirms this estimate.Much of Hargeisa appears to be a "ghost town," and many homes and building are virtually empty.

The looting has resulted in the opening of what are called "Hargeisa markets" throughout the region, including Mogadishu and Ethiopia, were former residents have spotted their possessions.

After Somali troops retreated to Goon Ad, in the late afternoon, off-duty soldiers regrouped and entered the center of the city.

Bazookas, machine guns, hand grenades and other weapons of mass destruction were also directed against civilian targets in Hargeisa which had also been attacked as well as in Burao.

[47] Burao, then the third largest city in Somalia[11][48] was "razed to the ground",[49] and most of its inhabitants fled the country to seek refuge in Ethiopia.

[52] Moreover, external assistance to the Somalian regime including mercenary pilots from South Africa and Libya in addition to economic and military aid from the UAE and Italy played a large role in recapturing the cities.

[53] By June 1989, the SNM was actively mounting attacks on major hubs across the North-West, blockading transport routes and interfering with regime supplies to military garrisons.

[54] As a result, the Barre regime gradually lost control of the area by December 1989 with exception to major towns which were under active siege by the SNM.