Banadir resistance

Banadir resistance
European artists depiction of the 1896 'Lafoole Massacre' of Italian troops by Somali rebels
Date 1888–1924[2] Location Horn of Africa, southern Italian Somalia Result Italian victory Insurgency suppressed
Belligerents
Kingdom of Italy	Bimali rebel forces Wa'dan rebel forces[1]
Commanders and leaders
Giacomo Trevis Lieutenant Gustavo Pesenti	Sheikh Abdi Abikar Gaafle Ma’alin Mursal Abdi Yusuf

The Banadir resistance, also known as the Bimaal revolt, Merca revolt, or simply the Bimaal resistance, was a guerrilla war that lasted from the 1890s to 1924, opposing Italian colonial expansion in southern Somalia.The Biyamaal resistance and their sieges of Marka, and the Italian authority's retribution, continued unabated for many years. It was heightened when, in November 1896, while on a pleasure trip, Console Antonio Cecchi, the Societá del Benadir administrator and also the de facto governor of Southern Somaliland, and his lieutenants, were ambushed at Lafoole, a small village a few kilometres from Afgooye, south of Muqdisho, by Wa'daan and Biyamaal fighters, who killed 14 of them, including Cecchi.

Originating primarily from the Bimaal clan,^[3] the resistance was most active in the Lower Shebelle, Banadir and Middle Shebelle regions. Its intensity and significance have drawn comparisons to the Somali Dervish Movement.^[3]