Marxist dictator Mohammed Siad Barre's firm grip on power began to falter in the late 1980s. In 1988, determined to wipe out all traces of opposition, the aging president hired white mercenary pilots to carry out indiscriminate bombing raids on Hargeisa from the small airstrip on the outskirts of town. The attacks killed tens of thousands of civilians, laid waste to the town and virtually emptied it of its inhabitants for three years.