The Somali Armed Forces are the military forces of the Federal Republic of Somalia. Headed by the president as commander-in-chief, they are constitutionally mandated to ensure the nation's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity.
Mohamed Farrah Hassan Aidid was a Somali general and diplomat.
Mohamed Siad Barre was a Somali head of state and general who served as the 3rd president of the Somali Democratic Republic from 1969 to 1991. He was given the childhood nickname Barre roughly referring to extraversion. Barre, a major general of the gendarmerie by profession, became President of Somalia after the 1969 coup d'état that overthrew the Somali Republic following the assassination of President Abdirashid Ali Shermarke. The Supreme Revolutionary Council military junta under Barre reconstituted Somalia as a one-party Marxist–Leninist communist state, renamed the country the Somali Democratic Republic and adopted scientific socialism.
Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed was a Somali politician and former colonel in the Somali National Army. He was one of the founders of the Somali Salvation Democratic Front, as well as the Puntland State of Somalia, the latter of which he served as the first president. In 2004, Ahmed also helped establish the Transitional Federal Government, which he led as President of Somalia from 2004 until 2008.
The Hawiye is the largest Somali clan family. Members of this clan traditionally inhabit central and southern Somalia, Somaliland, Ethiopia and the North Eastern Province in Kenya. They are also the majority in the capital city, Mogadishu.
The Darod is a Somali clan. The forefather of this clan was Sheikh Abdirahman bin Isma'il al-Jabarti, more commonly known as Darood. The clan primarily settles the apex of the Horn of Africa and its peripheries, the Somali hinterlands up to Oromia, and both sides of the Kenya-Somalia border.
The Marehan is a Somali clan, which is part of one of the largest Somali clan families, the Darod. The clan is one of the largest constituent sub-clans of the Darod. The majority of the Marehan live in the Jubaland in southern Somalia, as well as the Galguduud and Mudug regions in central Somalia, the Somali region of Ethiopia and the North Eastern Province of Kenya.
The Rahanweyn, also known as the Digil and Mirifle are a major Somali clan. It is one of the major Somali clans in the Horn of Africa, with a large territory and densely populated fertile valleys of the Jubba and Shebelle rivers and the area between are mainly inhabited by settlers from the Digil and Mirifle lineages.
Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys (English: Hassan Dahir Aweys (Somali: Xasan Daahir Aweys, is a Somali political figure from the Habargidir/Ayr subclan within the Hawiye clan. During the regime of Siad Barre, Aweys was a colonel in the Somali National Army during the 1977 Ogaden War against Ethiopia. He was decorated for bravery for his part in 1977 the war. At an early stage in the fighting, Sheikh Aweys captured Abdullahi Yusuf and put him in jail. Sheikh Aweys later became a leader of Al-Itihaad al-Islamiya, which was destroyed in the late 1990s by a force led by Abdullahi Yusuf and funded by Ethiopia.
Abgaal is a sub-clan of the Hawiye and the even larger Samaale clan. It is one of the major Somali clans and has produced many prominent historical Somali figures including 3 presidents, and the father of the Somali military.
The Somali Rebellion was the beginning of the civil war in Somalia that occurred in the 1980s and early 1990s. The rebellion started in 1978 when President Siad Barre began using his special forces, the "Red Berets", to attack clan-based dissident groups opposed to his regime. The dissidents had been becoming more powerful for nearly a decade following his abrupt switch of allegiance from the Soviet Union to the United States and the disastrous 1977-78 Ogaden War.
Major General Mohammed Said Hersi Morgan, also known as General Morgan or Colonel Morgan, is a Somali military and faction leader. He was the son-in-law of Siad Barre and Minister of Defence of Somalia. He hails from the Mejerteen Darood clan.
Over the course of the Somali Civil War, there have been many revolutionary movements and militia groups run by competing rebel leaders which have held de facto control over vast areas within Somalia.
General Ismail Qasim Naji was the chief of staff of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia and currently the Somali ambassador in Oman. He has served as a senior officer of the Somali army since the administration of Siad Barre, who was removed from power in 1991. Before the formation of the TFG, he also commanded the army of the predecessor Transitional National Government (TNG) of Somalia between 2002–2004.
Osman Mahmoud is a Somali sub-clan. Is one of the larger sub-clans within the major Majeerteen Harti confederation of Darod clans. The sub-clan is most notorious for its rich history within Somalia, That of which include sultanates such as the Majeerteen Sultanate
An indirect presidential election was held in Somalia on 30 January 2009. Due to the security situation in Baidoa, it was held in Djibouti. President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed won the election.
Aden Abdullahi Nur, also known as Aadan Gabyow was Somali politician and a military general in the Somali National Army. He served as Minister of Defence under President Siad Barre from 1986 to 1988.
The 1969 Somali coup d'état was the bloodless takeover of Somalia's government on 21 October 1969 by far-left military officers of the Supreme Revolutionary Council led by Siad Barre. Somali troops supported by tanks under the command of Barre stormed Mogadishu and seized key government buildings and ordered the resignation of the country's leaders. The coup deposed President Sheikh Mukhtar Mohamed Hussein and Prime Minister Mohammad Egal and led to the twenty-one year long military rule by Barre and the imposition of an authoritarian government in Somalia until 1991.
The Political history of Somalia covers the development of the Somali government and institutional systems following the collapse of the Siad Barre regime in 1991.
