Ethiopian – Somali conflict The Ethiopian – Somali conflict was a territorial and political dispute between the territories of present - day Ethiopia and Somalia . Lasting from the late 1940s until 2009 , the tensions culminated in three wars and numerous military clashes alongside the borders . Background . During the 16th century , Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al - Ghazi ( Ahmad Gurey or Gragn ) led a Conquest of Abyssinia ( " Futuh al - Habash " ) , which brought three - quarters of the Christian polity under the power of the Muslim Adal Sultanate . With an army mainly composed of Somalis , Al - Ghazi ' s forces and their Ottoman allies came close to extinguishing the ancient Ethiopian kingdom . However , the Abyssinians managed to secure the assistance of Cristóvão da Gama ' s Portuguese troops and maintain their domain ' s autonomy . Both polities in the process exhausted their resources and manpower , which resulted in the contraction of both powers and changed regional dynamics for centuries to come . Many historians trace the origins of hostility between Somalia and Ethiopia to this war . Some scholars also argue that this conflict proved , through their use on both sides , the value of firearms such as the matchlock musket , cannon s and the arquebus over traditional weapons . In the 19th century , the Ethiopian King Menelik II invaded the Somali - inhabited Ogaden region . The move directly contributed to the birth of a major Somali anti - colonial campaign led by Sayyid Mohammed Abdullah Hassan ' s Dervish State . Hassan ' s polity eventually collapsed a quarter of a century later in 1920 , following heavy British aerial bombardment . Modern conflict . 1948 - 1982 . In 1948 , under pressure from their World War II allies and to the dismay of the Somalis , the British " returned " the Haud ( an important Somali grazing area that was presumably ' protected ' by British treaties with the Somalis in 1884 and 1886 ) and the Ogaden to Ethiopia , based on a treaty they signed in 1897 in which the British ceded Somali territory to the Ethiopian Emperor Menelik in exchange for his help against raids by Somali clans . Britain included the proviso that the Somali residents would retain their autonomy , but Ethiopia immediately claimed sovereignty over the area . This prompted an unsuccessful bid by Britain in 1956 to buy back the Somali lands it had turned over . Disgruntlement with the 1948 decision led to repeated attempts by Somali parties to re - unite the ceded Ogaden region with the other Somali territories in Greater Somalia . Clashes over the disputed region include : History of Ethiopian intervention ( 1998 - 2003 ) . The first incursion by Ethiopian troops after the fall of the central Somali government took place in August 1996 . In March 1999 , Ethiopian troops reportedly raided the Somali border town of Balanballe in pursuit of members of the " Al - Ittihad Al - Islamiya " group which has been fighting to unite Ethiopia ’ s eastern Ogaden region with Somalia . Later , in April 1999 two Somali leaders , Ali Mahdi and Hussein Aideed , said in an official protest to the United Nations Security Council , that heavily armed Ethiopian troops entered the towns of Beledhawo and Doollow on Friday , April 9 , 1999 . They further alleged that the Ethiopian troops had taken over the local administration and detained officials in the towns . In May 1999 , Ethiopian soldiers , with the help of a pro - Ethiopian Somali faction occupied the town of Luuq in southwestern Somalia , close to the borders with Ethiopia and Kenya . In late June 1999 , Ethiopian soldiers , supported by armoured vehicle s launched an attack from Luuq that resulted in the capture of Garba Harre in the Gedo region , which was previously controlled by the Somali National Front led by Hussein Aideed . The attack was apparently aimed at flushing out Ethiopian rebels based in Somalia . After the formation of the Transitional National Government ( TNG ) of Somalia in August 2000 , Ethiopia at first did not recognize the interim government and reportedly continued its raids against Al - Ittihad and supporting various warlord factions , which led to very strained relations between the Ethiopian government and the interim Somali government , characterized by accusations , denials and counter - accusations on both sides . In January 2001 , Somalia ’ s TNG Prime Minister , Ali Khalif Galaydh , strongly accused Ethiopia of arming factions opposed to the government , occupying Somali districts and increasing its military presence in the country . He later claimed that Ethiopian soldiers had occupied towns in Somalia ’ s southwestern region , and had detained and intimidated its nationals ; the Ethiopian government denied these charges . Ethiopia has supported and is alleged to have supported a number of different Somali factions at one time or another . Among these are the Somali Reconstruction and Restoration Council ( SRRC ) , Muse Sudi Yalahow , General Mohammed Said Hirsi Morgan ( allied to the Somali Patriotic Movement or SPM ) , Hassan Mohamed Nur Shatigudud and his Rahanwein Resistance Army ( RRA ) and Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed ( former President of Puntland and current Somali TNG President ) . A number of Somali warlord factions have also held meetings and formed loose alliances in Ethiopia . Reports in early January , 2002 indicated that around 300 Ethiopian soldiers were deployed in Garowe ( capital of Puntland ) with other Ethiopian troops reportedly moving into the neighbouring Bay region and around Baidoa . The Ethiopian government denied these reports and accused the interim government of spreading " malicious lies " about Ethiopia ’ s policy towards Somalia . Ethiopian soldiers again attacked and temporarily captured the border town of Beledhawo on Wednesday , May 15 , 2002 with the help of the SRRC after the town had been captured by a rival militia . During the raid , the commander of the rival militia , Colonel Abdirizak Issak Bihi , was captured by the Ethiopian forces and taken across the border to Ethiopia . After the raid , control of the town was turned over to the SRRC . Earlier in May , Colonel Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed had retaken control of Puntland by ousting his rival Jama Ali Jama with the aid of the Ethiopian army . In February 2003 , Ethiopia ’ s Prime Minister , Meles Zenawi , admitted that Ethiopian troops were occasionally sent into Somalia to battle the militant Islamist group , Al - Ittihad and stated that the group was linked to Al - Qaeda . He also claimed that Ethiopia ’ s government had lists of Al - Ittihad members who were , at the time , in the Transitional National Government and parliament of Somalia ; a claim that TNG President Abdiqasim Salad Hassan has consistently denied . President Hassan has in turn , accused Ethiopia of destabilizing Somalia , interfering daily in Somali affairs and violating the arms embargo on Somalia by supplying weapons to warlords opposed to the Transitional Government at the time ; Ethiopia denied these charges . Although an attempt was made to improve relations between Ethiopia and the TNG in June 2001 , relations only really improved in 2004 when Abdullahi Yusuf became the TNG President . Then Ethiopia reversed its position and began to support the interim government , especially against various Islamist militias in Somalia , most recently the Islamic Courts Union . 2006 involvement . Ethiopian involvement in Somalia gained widespread public attention when Ethiopian troops moved into Somalian territory on July 20 , 2006 . Somalia ' s interim government was then resisting advances by the Islamic Courts Union forces north to the last unoccupied city of Baidoa . A Somali Islamist leader has ordered a " jihad " to drive out Ethiopian troops , after they entered the country to protect the weak interim government , however , Sharia courts in Ethiopia condemned the ICU ' s declaration of holy war . Meles Zenawi has agreed to withdraw Ethiopian forces at arrival of the African Union . Ethiopia has been a long - term ally of President Abdullahi Yusuf and in the 1990s helped him defeat an Islamist militia led by Mr Aweys . Later reports indicate that Ethiopian soldiers have occupied Bardaale , 60 kilometers 40 miles west of Baidoa , the day after the ICU seized control of Kismayo on September 21 . The Ethiopians withdrew their last troops on January 17 .