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Podcast: Witness History
Episode: The Somali pilot ordered to bomb his own country
Description: At the end of May 1988, rebels from the Somali National Movement launched a series of lightning attacks on cities in northern Somalia - the area that today is the self-declared republic of Somaliland.
The rebels were fighting against the military dictatorship of President Siad Barre. By the start of June, they had taken control of most of Hargeisa, the biggest city in the north.
Government forces fell back to Hargeisa airport and other areas on the outskirts and were ordered to begin the indiscriminate bombardment of the city.
At the time Ahmed Mohamed Hassan was a fighter...