1982 Ethiopian–Somali Border War in the context of Galkayo

Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF) (Somali: Jabhadda Diimuqraadiga Badbaadinta Soomaaliyeed), initially known as the Democratic Front for Salvation of Somalia, was a political and paramilitary umbrella organization in Somalia. Founded in 1978 by several army officers, it was the first of several opposition groups dedicated to ousting the authoritarian regime of Mohamed Siad Barre. With its power base mainly within the Majeerteen clan, SSDF played a significant role in the country's complex political landscape under the leadership of Abdullahi Yusuf during the late 1970s and 2000s.

In 1982, it participated in attempted invasion of Somalia aimed at regime change with the support of Ethiopia. The joint 1982 offensive backfired as it ultimately consolidated Barre’s control. Amnesty and financial incentives prompted the majority of SSDF fighters to surrender and rejoin the regime in 1983. The organization fragmented under government pressure.

The Somali Rebellion encompassed a series of armed uprisings against President Siad Barre’s government between 1978 and 1991, ultimately bringing down the Somali Democratic Republic and triggering the full-scale Somali Civil War. It took shape in April 1978, when several army officers attempted a coup after the Ogaden War and then founded the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF). The SSDF and newly formed Somali National Movement (SNM) began mounting guerrilla operations from bases in Ethiopia.

During the early 1980s the SSDF and SNM escalated their campaigns, at one point culminating in a joint Ethiopian/SSDF invasion in 1982 aimed at toppling Barre, which evolved into a protracted border conflict that severely weakened the SSDF. The SNM pressed on with hit-and-run assaults against government outposts across northwest Somalia, while Barre deployed his elite Red Berets to brutally suppress any clan-based dissidence proliferating through the country.

Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed (Somali: Cabdulaahi Yuusuf Axmed, Arabic: عبدالله يوسف أحمد‎; 15 December 1934 – 23 March 2012), was a Somali politician and former military official who served as the first President of Puntland from 1998 to 2004. He also played a key role in establishing the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), which he led as President of Somalia from 2004 to 2008. Additionally, he was one of the founders of the rebel Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF).

Yusuf was a career soldier in the Somali National Army, participating in the 1964 Border War and Ogaden War against Ethiopia. After Somalia's defeat in the Ogaden War in 1978, he led a failed coup against President Siad Barre, marking the start of the Somali rebellion. Following the coup's failure, Yusuf established the Somali Salvation Democratic Front in Ethiopia and began fighting alongside Ethiopian forces against the Somali army. During the 1982 Ethiopian-Somali War, he led SSDF forces. Frustrated by the operation's failure and the SSDF's surrender to the Somali government, the Ethiopians jailed Yusuf until the Derg regime collapsed in 1991.