Rebels overrun the Somalian capital of Mogadishu

In 1969 Somalian president Abd-i-rashid Ali Shermarke was assassinated in a military Coup. Major General Mohammad Siyad Barre took control of the country's government and established strong ties with the USSR and other Soviet-bloc nations. In 1978 the Barre government lost Soviet support when it launched an attack on Ethiopia in an attempt to regain Somali territory lost prior to the colonial period. Although the attack was suppressed the guerrilla warfare in the area continued into the 1980s. In the late 1980s Somalia experienced economic depression that contributed to the outbreak of civil war. The civil war pitted two rebel groups, the Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM) and the United Somali Congress (USC), against government forces. The SPM had set up its base in the Southern region of Lower Giuba, while the USC was operating from central regions and in Mogadishu. These clashes resulted in many civilian deaths. In 1990 the USC mounted its military operations in the central region of the country and extended to the outskirts of the Mogadishu. On 26 January 1991 USC rebels entered Mogadishu and toppled Mohammad Siyad Barre's government through full-scale popular uprising. Barre fled and sought refuge in Gedo, his native region in the southwest of Somalia.