5 - The Insurgency: Fighters and Fragmentation

Summary

The chapter analyzes the insurgency’s organizational structure, pointing to how internal fragmentation played an important role for its eventual defeat. It discusses the key leading figures whose authority was based on clan affiliations and traditional structures. The chapter points to how the lowlands – familiar to the pastoralists – were conducive for guerrilla warfare, arguing, at the same time, that the vastness of these areas, the lack of communication equipment, and the distance between the different fronts made coordination of activities highly complicated. Even more so, it demonstrates how the decentered clan system, important in structuring the movement, played a vital role in the continuous fragmentation of the movement. Addressing the assumption that the insurgency was merely a tool of the nascent Somali government, the chapter analyzes the role of Somalia and unveils a far more complex picture. The latter part of the chapter discusses the role of the so-called highland activists, demonstrating the support the movement had across the region. While these activists were not directly involved in the military operations, they remained crucial in sustaining the movement through material and moral support. These highland activists were also instrumental in shaping and articulating the ideological underpinnings of the insurgency.