Editing Somaliland (section)

==== 1945 Sheikh Bashir Rebellion ====
{{main|1945 Sheikh Bashir Rebellion}}
[[File:Sheikh Bashir praying.jpg|thumb|300px|Sheikh Bashir praying [[Sunnah prayer]], 1920]]
The 1945 Sheikh Bashir Rebellion was a rebellion waged by tribesmen of the [[Habr Je'lo]] clan in the former [[British Somaliland]] protectorate against British authorities in July 1945 led by [[Sheikh Bashir]], a [[Somalis|Somali]] religious leader.<ref name=":0">{{Cite thesis|title=Constructing colonial hegemony in the Somaliland protectorate, 1941–1960|url=https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/handle/1807/14169|date=1996|degree=Thesis|language=en-US|first=Jama|last=Mohamed}}</ref>

On 2 July, Sheikh Bashir collected 25 of his followers in the town of [[Wadamago]] and transported them on a lorry to the vicinity of [[Burao]], where he distributed arms to half of his followers. On the evening of 3 July, the group entered Burao and opened fire on the police guard of the central prison in the city, which was filled with prisoners arrested for previous demonstrations. The group also attacked the house of the district commissioner of [[Burao District]], Major Chambers, resulting in the death of Major Chamber's police guard before escaping to Bur Dhab, a strategic mountain south-east of Burao, where Sheikh Bashir's small unit occupied a fort and took up a defensive position in anticipation of a British counterattack.<ref>{{Cite book|last=of Rodd|first=Lord Rennell|title=British Military Administration in Africa 1941–1947|publisher=HMSO|year=1948|page=481}}</ref>

The British campaign against Sheikh Bashir's troops proved abortive after several defeats as his forces kept moving from place to place and avoiding any permanent location. No sooner had the expedition left the area, than the news travelled fast among the Somali nomads across the plain. The war had exposed the British administration to humiliation. The government came to a conclusion that another expedition against him would be useless; that they must build a railway, make roads and effectively occupy the whole of the protectorate, or else abandon the interior completely. The latter course was decided upon, and during the first months of 1945, the advance posts were withdrawn, and the British administration confined to the coast town of [[Berbera]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Taariikhdii Halgamaa: Sheekh Bashiir Sh. Yuusuf. W/Q: Prof Yaxye Sheekh Caamir {{!}} Laashin iyo Hal-abuur|date=11 January 2018 |url=https://laashin.com/taariikhdii-halgamaa-sheekh-bashiir-sh-yuusuf-wq-prof-yaxye-sheekh-caamir/|access-date=31 May 2021|language=en-US}}</ref>

Sheikh Bashir settled many disputes among the tribes in the vicinity, which kept them from raiding each other. He was generally thought to settle disputes through the use of Islamic [[Sharia]] and gathered around him a strong following.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Sheekh Caamir|first=Yaxye|date=11 January 2018|title=Taariikhdii Halgamaa: Sheekh Bashiir Sh. Yuusuf|journal=Laashin}}</ref>

The British administration recruited Indian and South African troops, led by police general James David, to fight against Sheikh Bashir and had intelligence plans to capture him alive. The British authorities mobilised a police force, and eventually on 7 July found Sheikh Bashir and his unit in defensive positions behind their fortifications in the mountains of Bur Dhab. After clashes Sheikh Bashir and his second-in-command, Alin Yusuf Ali, nicknamed Qaybdiid, were killed. A third rebel was wounded and was captured along with two other rebels. The rest fled the fortifications and dispersed. On the British side the police general leading the British troops as well as a number of Indian and South African troops perished in the clashes, and a policeman was injured.<ref name=":1" />

After his death, Sheikh Bashir was widely hailed by locals as a martyr and was held in great reverence. His family took quick action to remove his body from the place of his death at Geela-eeg mountain, about 20 miles from [[Burao]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Akyeampong|first1=Emmanuel. K|title=Dictionary of African Biography, Volumes 1–6|date=2012|publisher=OUP US|page=107|language=english}}</ref>