Somali Salvation Democratic Front

Somali Salvation Democratic Front
Participant in Somali Civil War
Active	1978–2001
Groups	Majeerteen
Leaders	Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed (1981–1984, 1991?–2001), Musse Islam (1984–1986), Hassan Ali Mire (1986–1988), Mohamed Abshir Musa (1991?–1998), Mohamed Warsame Hoori Chief of SSDF army commander (1986–1988)
Area of operations	Puntland
Originated as	Somali Salvation Front, Somali Workers Party, Democratic Front for the Liberation of Somalia
Became	Puntland
Allies	United Somali Congress (USC), United Somali Party, Somali National Democratic Union.
Opponents	Siad Barre

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 in the Majeerteen clan, SSDF representatives, along with local elders, intellectuals and businesspeople, were instrumental in the establishment in 1998 of the autonomous Puntland region in northeastern Somalia.

On October 15, 1969, while paying a visit to the northern town of Las Anod, Somalia's then President Abdirashid Ali Shermarke was shot dead by one of his own bodyguards. His assassination was quickly followed by a military coup d'état on October 21, 1969 (the day after his funeral), in which the Somali Army seized power without encountering armed opposition — essentially a bloodless takeover. The putsch was spearheaded by Major General Mohamed Siad Barre, who at the time commanded the army. For refusing to support Barre's seizure of power, numerous political figures were imprisoned. Among these was Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, Somalia's former military attaché to Moscow, who was imprisoned for several years by the new military regime.

In 1978, together with a group of officials mainly from his own Majeerteen (Darod) clan, Ahmed participated in a failed attempt to overthrow Barre's dictatorial administration. Most of the people who had helped plot the coup were summarily executed, but Ahmed and several colonels managed to escape abroad. Later that year, in neighboring Ethiopia, Ahmed formed a guerrilla movement called the Somali Salvation Front, which was subsequently renamed the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF) in 1979. The SSDF was the first of several opposition groups dedicated to ousting Barre's regime by force.

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