Since their assumption of power in 1969, the military had, of course, frequently acknowledged their abiding commitment to the liberation of those parts of the Somali nation which still languished under foreign rule – the French Territory of the 'Afars and Issas (Jibuti); the Ogaden (Ethiopia); and the northeastern region of Kenya. But they had hitherto shown a moderation all the more remarkable in a military government in pursuing this aim.

I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Som…, loc. 555