Mohamed Farah Dalmar Yusuf
Mohamed Farah Dalmar Yusuf | |
|---|---|
| Military leader of Western Somali Liberation Front | |
| In office 1975–1981 | |
| Military leader of Somali National Movement | |
| In office 1981–1988 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Haji Salah, Togdheer, Somali Republic (now Somaliland) |
| Died | 28 July 1988 Haqaya Malaas, Togdheer, Somali Republic |
| Nationality | Somali |
| Children | 1 |
| Occupation | Military commander |
Mohamed Farah Dalmar Yusuf "Mohamed Ali" (Somali: Maxamed Faarax Dalmar Yuusuf "Maxamed Cali", Arabic: محمد فارح دلمر يوسف "محمد علي"; died 28 July 1988) was a Somalilander military general, nationalist, and revolutionary.[1] He is known for his leadership within Western Somali Liberation Front, Afraad and later the Somaliland National Movement. Mohamed belonged to the Habr Yunis sub-division of the Garhajis Isaaq clan.[1]
Background
Early military career
Yusuf acquired his first military experience in the ranks of the Palestine Liberation Organization. He also had taken part in the Lebanese Civil War.[2]
Zeila uprising
In 1970, Mohamed Farah Dalmar traveled to Aden in the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, then a communist state, accompanied by an Adari associate known only as Ramadan. There, they opened a political office with vague subversive intentions.[2] At the time, the newly formed Supreme Revolutionary Council had taken power in Somalia, and its long-term objectives were unclear amid the complexities of the Cold War. The SRC requested the closure of Mohamed Ali’s office, but the PDRY declined, citing that the office had been established at the request of the Iraqi government, was staffed by individuals with Syrian passports, and was ostensibly linked to Eritrean causes.[3] In reality, it appeared to be an Arab revolutionary collaboration involving the Baath parties of Iraq and Syria, facilitated by the PDRY, and hosting a mix of loosely aligned actors with various agendas.[4] Mohamed Ali, driven more by 'Isaaq nationalist' sentiment and a desire to reinstate the 1960 State of Somaliland,[5] than Marxist ideology, viewed the SRC's rise as akin to the return of Muḥammad ibn 'Abdallāh Hassan, claiming that their mission was to prevent this new perceived threat from consolidating power. Ali and his colleague began recruiting Somalis in Yemen, eventually gathering 36 men, and obtained six guerrilla warfare trainers from the Yemeni government.[6] However, their attempted infiltration into Somalia, by boat to a coastal point between Zeyla and Lughaya, ended in failure. Betrayed by a double agent, they were ambushed by Somali National Army forces; a brief firefight ensued in which Ramadan and four other commandos were killed, and the rest—including Mohamed Ali—were captured.[7] Ali was released in 1975 and later played a key role in preparations for the Somali invasion of Ogaden.
Role in the Ogaden war and WSLF
Upon his release from prison in 1975, he became the military leader of the Western Somali Liberation Front and was at the forefront of the 1977 invasion of Ethiopia by Somali forces. In 1979 Mohamed Ali became the head of the Fourth Brigade of the Western Somali Liberation Front known as Afraad.[1][1]
Role in the Somali National Movement and the Somaliland War of Independence
Yusuf's is considered the first military commanders of SNM, and one of the first Generals to cross the Ethiopia–Somalia border to establish permanent base for the rebels in Ethiopia.[8]
Death
Muhammad Farah Dalmar was killed during the 1988 Battle of Burao, when he was leading one of the invading divisions of the 1988 Hargeisa-Burao offensive. He was hit by an Airstrike while commanding troops around Burao, in Haqaya Malaas.
References
- ^ a b c d Prunier, Gerard (2021). The Country That Does Not Exist: A History of Somaliland.
- ^ a b Prunier, Gérard (2021). The Country That Does Not Exist: A History of Somaliland. Hurst Publishers. ISBN 9781787382039.
The year was 1970, the place was the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY), then a communist state, and the man who made it all happen was the confused idealist and revolutionary soldier of fortune Mohamed Farah Dalmar aka Mohamed Ali. He went to Aden with an Adari friend only known as Ramadan and opened 'an office'. It was an office of subversion but with imprecise subversive views.
- ^ Prunier, Gérard (2021). The Country That Does Not Exist: A History of Somaliland. Hurst Publishers. ISBN 9781787382039.
The SRC asked the Aden authorities for the closure of Mohamed Ali's office but the PDRY refused, saying 'it could not close it because it had been opened at the request of the Iraqi government, the people who were running the office had Syrian passports, and they were known to be Eritreans'. This was an odd answer. But in fact the whole construct was a kind of common Arab revolutionary venture in which two national branches of the Baath party seem to have collaborated in creating a common 'Eritrean' structure with the complicity of the PDRY.
- ^ Prunier, Gérard (2021). The Country That Does Not Exist: A History of Somaliland. Hurst Publishers. ISBN 9781787382039.
The SRC asked the Aden authorities for the closure of Mohamed Ali's office but the PDRY refused, saying 'it could not close it because it had been opened at the request of the Iraqi government, the people who were running the office had Syrian passports, and they were known to be Eritreans'. This was an odd answer. But in fact the whole construct was a kind of common Arab revolutionary venture in which two national branches of the Baath party seem to have collaborated in creating a common 'Eritrean' structure with the complicity of the PDRY.
- ^ Prunier, Gérard (2021). The Country That Does Not Exist: A History of Somaliland. Hurst Publishers. ISBN 9781787382039.
'When I discussed with Mohamed Ali,' said Mohamed Dacar, 'he told me that Somalia had just been taken over by a new Mohamed Abdulle Hassan, and that our mission was to stop him before he became too strong.' This was a typically 'Issaq nationalist' argument and had nothing to do with either Eritrea or revolutionary Marxism.
- ^ Prunier, Gérard (2021). The Country That Does Not Exist: A History of Somaliland. Hurst Publishers. ISBN 9781787382039.
Mohamed Ali and his colleague started recruiting Somalis in Yemen, 36 of them. Then they requested the Yemeni government to provide them with expert trainers to train these recruits in the arts of guerrilla warfare, and the Yemeni government provided them with six trainers … After some time the Ambassador, who had good relations with Mohamed Ali, was replaced with Abdi Osman 'al-Habashi', who had been a leader of the failed coup of Hassan Kayd in December 1961.
- ^ Prunier, Gérard (2021). The Country That Does Not Exist: A History of Somaliland. Hurst Publishers. ISBN 9781787382039.
True to his personality, Mohamed Ali and his 36 men crossed by boat from Aden to a point equidistant from Zeyla and Lughaya, on a quixotic 'national liberation' mission of uncertain ideological character. They had been betrayed by a double agent and Somali National Army soldiers were waiting. There was a short exchange of fire. Ramadan and four of the men in the commando were killed and the rest were arrested.
- ^ Yuusuf, Boobe. Dharaaraa Ina Soo Maray.