Mohamed Farrah Aidid

Who was Mohamed Farrah Aidid?

General Mohamed Farrah Hassan Aidid was a controversial Somali military leader, often described as a warlord. A former general and diplomat, he was the chairman of the United Somali Congress and later led the Somali National Alliance. Along with other armed opposition groups, they drove out President Mohamed Siad Barre's regime from Somalia's capital Mogadishu during the Somali Civil War that broke out in the early 1990s.

In 1992, Aidid challenged the presence of United Nations and United States troops in the nation. He was one of the main targets of Operation Restore Hope, the UN and US joint humanitarian operation that sought to break the military siege. After eventually forcing UN forces to abandon the country in 1995, Aidid declared himself President of Somalia for a few months until his death the following year.