April 1981, a group of emigrants Isaaq living in Jeddah, Saudi Aribi formed the Somali National Movement (SNM) and the end of 1981 was announced in London, which subsequently became the strongest of Somalia's various insurgent movements . According to their spokesmen, the rebels wanted to overthrow the dictatorship of Siad Barre.

In addition, the SNM advocated a mixed economy and a neutral foreign policy, rejecting alignment with the Soviet Union or the United States and calling for the dismantling of all foreign military bases in the region. In late 1980, the SNM adopted a pro-Western foreign policy and favored U.S. participation in a post-Siad Barre, Somalia. Other objectives included the establishment of SNM a representative democracy that guarantees human rights and freedom of expression. Finally, the SNM moved its headquarters from London to Addis Ababa to obtain military assistance from Ethiopia, which initially was limited to the former Soviet Union in small arms.

In October 1981, the SNM rebels elected Ahmad Mahammad Ahmad and Culaid Abdi Ismaaiil as president and general secretary respectively of the movement. Culaid had been involved in politics in northern Somalia until 1975, when exiled in Djibouti and then in Saudi Arabia. Abdi had been politically ctive in the city of Burao in the 1950s and from 1965 to 1967, he served as minister of the Somali Government planning. After the authorities jailed him in 1971 for antigovernment activities, Abdi left Somalia and lived in East Africa and Saudi Arabia. The rebels also elected an executive committee of eight men to oversee the military and political activities of SNM.

On 2 January 1982, the SNM launched its first military operation against the Somali government. Operating from Ethiopian bases, commando units attacked Mandera Prison near Berbera and freed a group of northern dissidents. According to the SNM, the assault liberated more than 700 political prisoners; subsequent independent estimates indicate that only about a dozen government opponents escaped. At the same time, other commando units raided the armory Cadaadle near Berbera and escaped with an undetermined amount of arms and ammunition. Mogadishu responded to the SNM attacks by declaring a state of emergency, imposing a curfew, closing of gas stations to civilian vehicles, banning movement in or out of northern Somalia, and launching a search for the Mandera prisoners (most of which were never found).

On 8 January 1982, the Somali government also closed its border with Djibouti to prevent the rebels fleeing Somalia. These actions do not stop the military activities of the SNM. In October 1982, NMS sought to increase pressure against the Siad Barre regime by forming a committee with the SSDF jointmilitary. Apart from issuing statements against the government, the two groups of insurgents began broadcasting from the former Kulmis Radio station, now known as Radio Halgan (fight).

Despite this political cooperation, the SNM and SSDF failed to agree on a common strategy against Mogadishu. As a result, the alliance languished. In February 1983, Siad Barre visited northern Somalia in a campaign to discredit the SNM. Among other things, ordered the release of numerous officials and businessmen who had been arrested for antigovernment activities, lifted the state of emergency and announced an amnesty for Somali exiles who wantedto go home. These tactics put the rebels on the political defensive for several months. In November 1983, the SNM Central Committee tried to regain the initiative by holding an emergency meeting to formulate a more aggressive strategy. One result was that the military wing - headed by Abdulqaadir Kosar Abdi, formerly of the SNA - assumed control of the Central Committee to expel the civilian members of all positions of power.

However, in July 1984, at the Fourth SNM Congress, held in Ethiopia, the civilians regained control of the address. The delegates also elected Ahmad Mahammad Mahamuud "Silanyo" Chairman of the SNM and reaffirmed its intention to revive the alliance with SSDF. After the Fourth SNM Congress adjourned, the military activity in northern Somalia increased. SNM commands on posts attacked a dozen government soldiers in the vicinity of Hargeisa, Burao, and Berbera. According to the SNM, the SNA responded by shooting 300 people at a demonstration in Burao, sentencing seven youths to death for sedition, and arresting an unknown number of rebel sympathizers. In January 1985, the government executed twenty-eight people in retaliation for antigovernment activity.

Between June 1985 and February 1986, the SNM claimed to have carried out thirty deals against government forces in northern Somalia. In addition, the SNM reported that it had killed 476 government soldiers and wounded 263, and had captured eleven vehicles and had destroyed another twenty-two, losing only 38 men and two vehicles. While many independent observers said these figures were exaggerated, SNM operations during the 1985-86 season forced Siad Barre to mount an international effort to cut foreign aid to the rebels.