Yusuf Mohammed Siad

Who is Yusuf Mohammed Siad?

Yusuf Mohammed Siad, aka "Inda'ade" is a Somali warlord, islamist and former minister and currently a General in SNA.

He hails from the Ayr sub-clan, part of the Habar Gidir, which is a branch of the Hawiye clan.

For a short period he was Minister of Defense in Somalia. Before he became a minister he was an islamist member of the Islamic Courts Union in Somalia.

He has also served as deputy and financier for Hassan Dahir Aweys, and served as the security chief.

Nicknamed "white-eyed", he was a former warlord who occupied Lower Shabelle in 2002. He later allied himself with the Islamic Courts. The Islamic Courts advanced to central and south Somalia regions, including the Kismayo area, before Inda'ade pledged his support, giving them control of Lower Shabelle region in September 2006. In December 2006, he appealed to foreign Muslim fighters to join his movement's Holy War against Ethiopia. He had been friends with Barre Aden Shirre Hiiraale, who was leader of the Juba Valley Alliance which controlled Kismayo, and later became Defense Minister for the Transitional Federal Government, but the two parted ways over which side to support in the Somali Civil War. Recently he became part of the Islamist restance group, formed in January 2008 known as Hizbul Islam. He however soon started an internal conflict in the group as he claimed to have removed the group's chairman Sheikh Omar Iman abubakr and replaced him with another Islamic cleric. Hassan Dahir Aweys however expressed support for Omar Iman and criticized Inda'ade saying he "has made it normal to destroy every group he is part of." On May 17, 2009, he defected to the Transitional Federal Government and was later appointed Minister of Defense. He resigned from the position as minister on 17 June 2010 and started his own faction after claiming the government didn't keep to its agreements.