Somali Patriotic Movement

The organization was founded by a group of disaffected senior military officers, primarily from the Ogaden and Absame, led by Col. Bililiqo.

A key accomplishment was the seizure of the highly strategic Baledogle Airbase in the days prior to Barre's flight from Mogadishu.

[1] However, after Barre's flight, when Ali Mahdi's Manifesto Group announced the formation of an "interim government" without consulting SPM leadership, a crisis ensued.

The SPM fractured along tribal lines, and massacres and ethnic cleansing began between the two rival factions, as well as their external enemies.

The SPM and ASF/JVA contended over the control of south Somalia until the JVA proved victorious, driving General "Morgan" into exile.

Areas controlled by the Somali Patriotic Movement and other military groups during the beginning of the Somali Civil War