Draft:Operation Birjeex

Operation Birjeex
Part of Somaliland War of Independence
Abdillahi Askar, Ibrahim Ismail Koodbur, Abdisalam Turki (Sitting) and the rescue crew after the Mission
Date 11 April 1983 Location Hargeisa, Somaliland Result SNM victory Succesful rescue of Colonel Abdillahi Askar
Belligerents
Somali National Movement	Somalia
Commanders and leaders
Ibrahim Ismail Koodbur Abdisalam Turki	Mohammed Hashi Gani
Strength
11 commandos	44 guards
Casualties and losses
1 killed 2 wounded	2 killed

Operation Birjeex (Somali: Hawlgalkii Birjeex), Also known as Operation Badjeex (Somali: Hawlgalkii Badjeex),^[1] was a daring and high-risk rescue mission carried out on April 11, 1983, by a small, elite unit of the Somali National Movement (SNM) during the early years of the Somaliland War of Independence. The operation was launched to extract Abdullahi Askar, an SNM operative who had been captured by the Somali government’s National Security Service just three days earlier and was being held at the Birjeex military headquarters one of the most secure and heavily guarded installations in Hargeisa, then under the control of Siad Barre's authoritarian regime. ^{[2][1][3][4][5][6]}

Widely described as one of the most stunning and audacious victories in SNM’s military history, the mission has often been likened to a scene "straight out of a Hollywood movie" due to its cinematic intensity, strategic boldness, and seemingly impossible odds. It was a dramatic assault carried out in the heart of enemy territory deep inside one of the regime’s major garrisons and executed by a small group of SNM fighters led by Colonel Ibrahim Ismail Koodbur, himself a defector from the Somali army who used his insider knowledge to help plan the assault.^[3][2]

Background

Upon the formation of the Somali National Movement in April 1981, it immediately took up military action against the authoritarian government led by General Mohamed Siad Barre, and they led successful military operations such as the 1982 Mandera Assault. The SNM had strong networks of cells operating inside the country. The principal goal was to facilitate operations and support networks for the movement. Those networks consisted of a diverse people of different backgrounds including business people, traders, petty street workers, students, teachers, women, employees and professionals etc. of the various departments and institutions of the government and armed forces of different ranks. The latter also included high ranking military officials within the army who acted as a linchpin in the internal operations of the SNM. Colonel Ibrahim Ismail Koodbur was a ranking military officer embedded within the 26th sector of the army in Hargeisa. Koodbur was one of the extraordinarily brave men in the history and struggle of the SNM. He was the main architect together with other SNM officers such as Colonel Abdisalam Mohamoud Jama (Turki) and others. ^[2][7]

Prior to the operation, many within the SNM were suspicious of Ibrahim Ismail Koodbur, because he still hadn’t fully defected from the Somali National Army, and he was a respected colonel within the military, rumours spread that he was a government spy. Mohamed Hashi Lihle in particular, who was one of the greatest military commander of the SNM, and leader of the 1982 Mandera Assault, was very angry with Koodbur, and wanted him killed. In April 1983, Abdillahi Askar and Abdisalam Turki called to Hargeisa, and met in a house with Ibrahim Ismail Koodbur and a man sent by Lihle, They were told that Lihle asked them to kill koodbur because he was a traitor, Abdisalam Turki immediately got up to defend Koodbur saying he was a good man, and we should discuss this with Lihle first.^[3] Prior to this, The main objective behind the covert mission was the assassination of several prominent somali military officers including the commander of the 26th sector of the army, the head of the Hangash division, and many others.^[2] On the 8th of April, after the 4 had a meeting at the house owned by Ismail Sheikh Ibrahim, they dispersed to spend the night elsewhere, leaving Abdillahi Askar behind, Askar then left the house alone and was captured that night near the Hargeisa National Cinema by a group of soldiers who were apart of the victory pioneers or Guul Wadayaal in Somali. Askar was brought to the center of the Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party, and was moved to the center of the 26th Division (Somalia) the next day, He was brought before the commander of the 26th sector Mohammed Hashi Gani, where he suffered severe torture, he was burnt with candles and cigarettes, and beaten to the point where he was completely immobilized.^[2][1][3] Askar was set to be Publicly executed, and was planned to be presented half naked and badly beaten on the Hargeisa Theatre on the 12th of April, which was the 21st anniversary of the Somali National Army, prior to his execution. The motive behind this was to kill the moral of the people of Somaliland, who saw the SNM as liberators, aswell as the moral of the SNM, with Mohammed Hashi Gani saying to the people "We have your most prominent one, and we will bring him before you."^[1][4][5][6]

Operation

Ibrahim Koodbur and Abdisalan Turki immediately found out Abdillahi Askar has been captured due to the number of intelligence agents they had across the city, And on the 11th of April, they planned and launched an Operations to rescue Abdilahi Askar. Ibrahim koodbur assembled an SNM rescue team, composed of 11 men.^[2][1]

They met at a house near Hargeisa Central Prison, and they planned to carry out the mission on 4:00 that afternoon, How ever, due to some members running late to the meeting, the operation had to be postponed to 5pm, the operation was then again delayed an hour due to the fact that the guards would switch shifts at this time, Raising the number of guards from 22 to 44.^[1]

On 5:25 pm, They moved from the house which was behind the central prison and they divided themselves into 2 groups each with a car, one car had 4 men and the other had 8 men. When they started moving, one of the cars broke down, and they had to go back and check on it. After a while the car finally worked but one of the 4 men escaped, After that they finally reached the center of the 26th sector. There they again divided themselves into two, The three men on the broken car were told to head to the western gate, and secure it by killing the guard stationed there, while the other eight were supposed to enter from the other side and rescue Abdillahi Askar.^[1]

Since Ibrahim Koodbur was technically still apart of the Somali National Army, and the government still didn’t know that he secretly defected, he decided to go in with a military uniform, and then tell the guards that he is Colonel Ibrahim Ismail Koodbur, If that didn’t work the unit planned to kill the guard. The plan worked and they entered the building safely, when they reached the outside compound, they found multiple guards with 2 cars next to them. They immediately opened fire at them and a battle ensued, the 3 men that were told to protect the back gate were Bihi Haji Hassan, Said Abdi Yasin and Aden Mal Aqli, and they joined in the fight. While they were fighting, Ibrahim Koodbur and Abdisalam Turki began to search for Abdillahi Askar, after several cells were broken, they finally found him in one of the cells, in only an underwear, barely able to move and his body full of scars.^[1]

Soon after Bihi and Said were both injured, But Bihi was mortally wounded, and there was 0 chance to save him, He told the crew to leave him and they should escape, They then sped off without him, Where he was left to die. The crew took the broken car in a hurry, and sped off south. But their car broke down again while in the outskirts of the Masallaha section of the city. After a short prayer, their car immediately restarted, and they safely sped off to their bases in the Hawd.^[2][1]

Aftermath

After the successful mission, the government of Siad Barre immediately began a crackdown against the civilians of the city, everyone was suspected to be involved, hundreds of civilians were arrested and many were executed. The government blamed the civilian population for harboring civilians, and the mass arrests also led to some curfews being imposed on the city. The SNM would not be in a major battle until a year later in the 1984 Burco-Duuray offensive.^[2] Askar suffered severe injuries, including burns, beatings and both physical and mental injur ies. He was said to be in a horrible state, partially immobilized, and suffering from mental trauma.^[2] Despite all of that, he would return to fighting next day, where he would join to lead the central front of the 1984 Gollis Offensive.

Legacy

The Birjeex Operation is one of the significant early successes of the Somali National Movement, along with the Mandera Assault, they restored the morale of the SNM, and proved their capability to launch operations deep into the country itself. The Operation cleared Ibrahim Ismail Koodbur of his alleged rumors of being a spy, with Aden Mal who was apart of the operation saying “The man who had been ordered to kill koodbur was saved by his intended victim from the hands of Hashi Gani”.^[3] It also cemented his reputation as one of the most formidable SNM military leaders, along with the likes of Mohamed Hashi Lihle and Mohamed Farah Dalmar Yusuf. A New African Magazine report from 1989 listed Koodbur with Mohamed Hashi Lihle and Mohamed Ali as the greatest military heroes of the Somali National Movement:

The SNM is very popular among the Somalis especially in the Northern Regions. Within the six-year period that they were operating from Ethiopia, they carried out many successful military operations and created military heroes like Mohamed Ali, Colonel Lihle, and Captain Ibrahim Kodbur.^[8]

During the Mission, Abdillahi Askar was seen the literal embodiment of the Armed Struggle itself, and was said that if he is lost, than the Somaliland War of Independence itself will be completely lost, and that the success of the struggle and the morale of the people depended on Abdilahi Askar and his rescue.^[1] The intensity and the dramatic scene of the mission is also so impressive that it has been often compared to be like a scene out of a movie, with Gérard Prunier comparing it to a hollywood action movie:

Then there was the Birjeex Operation (April 1983), a very strange and daring operation carried out in unusual circumstances which seemed right out of a Hollywood action movie; it had a large impact, even though it was carried out by a group of less than twenty men.^[3]

See also

• Abdillahi Askar
• Ibrahim Ismail Koodbur
• Somali National Movement
• Mohammed Hashi Gani

References

1. https://books.google.so/books?id=alzIDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA115&dq=badjeex&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&ovdme=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjNhpOllq6PAxUbTqQEHSzWIxgQ6AF6BAgIEAM#v=onepage&q&f=false Boobe Yusuf Duale, Dharaaraa Ina Soo Maray: Sooyaalkii iyo Sugantidii SNM (1981–1993), Sagaljet (self‑published), 2020. Accessed August 28, 2025. Cite error: The named reference "Boobe2020" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
2. https://somalilandstandard.com/the-rebirth-of-somaliland-7-operation-birjeex-snm-rescue-unit/ "The Rebirth of Somaliland (7): Operation Birjeex (SNM Rescue Unit)"], Somaliland Standard. Published January 17, 2018. Accessed August 28, 2025. Cite error: The named reference "SomalilandStandard" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
3. https://books.google.so/books?id=ynEhEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA65&dq=operation+birjeex&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&ovdme=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiRvdPula6PAxVDNvsDHQwiIXMQ6AF6BAgKEAM Gérard Prunier, The Country That Does Not Exist: A History of Somaliland, Hurst Publishers, January 2021. Accessed August 28, 2025. Cite error: The named reference "Prunier2021" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
4. Mukhtar, Mohamed Haji (25 February 2003). Historical Dictionary of Somalia. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-6604-1.
5. "C/aahi Askar Xidig Ka Mid Ah Xidigihii Gadhwadeenka Ka Ahaa Halgankii Dib U Xoraynta S/land Oo Inaga Baxay". Wargeyska Haatuf. 30 August 2010.
6. Cite error: The named reference :34 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
7. "The Country That Does Not Exist: A History of Somaliland", Gérard Prunier, 2021. Oxford University Press, p. 115. Accessed via Google Books on August 28, 2025.
8. New African, Issues 257–259; Issues 262–266. p. 31