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. 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. A secondary school in Burao, called the Sheikh Bashir Secondary School, is named in his honour. Somaliland War of Independence In May 1988 by the Somali National Movement launched an offensive on the cities of Hargeisa and Burao, then the second and third largest cities of Somalia. The SNM captured Burao on 27 May within two hours, while the SNM entered Hargeisa on 29 May, overrunning most of the city apart from its airport by 1 June. During the offensive the Somali National Army committed gross human rights violations, including attacking the civilian population using heavy artillery and tanks. Almost immediately SNM fighters took over the military compound at Burao airport where the majority of Somali army soldiers were stationed, the military compound at Goon Ad () in the outskirts of the city, as well as two police stations (including the central police station of Burao), Burao prison and a variety of government offices in the city. The SNM executed a number of Somali military officers and officials. After capturing Burao's central prison the SNM freed political prisoners (including schoolchildren). Somali troops subsequently retreated to their base in Goon Ad. After Somali troops retreated to Goon Ad, in the late afternoon, off-duty soldiers regrouped and entered the center of the city. According to reports by Human Rights Watch's Africa Watch, the soldiers, upon entering the city, went on a rampage on 27 and 28 May. This included "dragging men out of their houses and shooting them at point blank range" and summary killing of civilians, the report also noted that "civilians of all ages who had gathered in the