The United Somali Congress was one of the major rebel organizations in Somalia. Formed in 1987, it played a key role in the ouster of the government of Siad Barre in 1991, and became a target of the Unified Task Force campaign in 1993. Following infighting, the USC later splintered into smaller groups. By 2004, with the establishment of a Transitional National Government, a process of disarmament was put in motion and some moderate ex-USC leaders were incorporated into the new interim administration.
History
With its base centered on the Hawiye clan, the United Somali Congress was founded in Rome in January, 1987. Its military wing was formed in late 1987 in Ethiopia, and led by General Mohamed Farrah Aidid until his demise in 1996. He was succeeded by his son Hussein Mohamed Farrah, by which time the Aidid faction of the organization was also known as the Somali National Alliance, often the USC/SNA. The USC was formed in response to severe acts against the Hawiye tribe by the government of Mohamed Siaad Barre. During the period of 1987 to 1991, president Barre launched massive crack downs and use of force against the Hawiye in their homeland in Southern and Central Somalia. The most notable incidents were in Central Somalia in the area near Galkacyo in November 1989 which resulted in the deaths of many civilians at the hands of the Somali National Army. These mass deaths resulted in the future USC Chairman, GeneralMohammed Farah Aidid quitting his post as Somali Ambassador to India and joined the USC training camps in Mustahiil, Ethiopia. Military successes by the USC would be instrumental in bringing about the ouster of the Barre government on January 26, 1991, but the USC failed to manage a political settlement with its rivals, the SNM, SPM and the SSDF, and also fragmented within its own leadership after Ali Mahdi Muhammad was declared interim President. Upon the naming of Ali Mahdi Muhammed as President, the USC split into two. The USC/SNA emerged under Mohammed Aidid and the United Somali Congress/Somali Salvation Alliance of Ali Mahdi Muhammed. The USC/SNA came under the control of Mohamed Aidid's son, Hussein Mohamed Farah Aidid after the father's death in 1996. The USC/SSA eventually came under control of the Deputy Chairman, Musa Sudi Yalahow. Both USC factions made peace with each other in August 1998, though this caused a violent split between Yalahow and Ali Mahdi Muhammed, and fighting continued in Mogadishu. Eventually both Hussein Aidid and Yalahow reconciled and joined the Somali Reconciliation and Restoration Council in 2002, in opposition to the Transitional National Government. This caused a rift between the USC/SSA supporters of Yalahow and Omar Muhamoud Finnish, who continued to support the TNG. Fighting between the two caused many deaths in Mogadishu. In 2001, Hussein Aidid founded the Somalia Reconciliation and Restoration Council, a new armed opposition group. Growing out of the Somali National Alliance, it was originally formed to oppose the nascent Transitional National Government and the Juba Valley Alliance in the 2001–2004 period. However, it eventually settled its differences with the government in 2004, with some moderate leaders incorporated into the new interim administration.
