Mohamed Farrah Aidid

Major General
Mohamed Farrah Aidid
Major General Mohamed Farrah Aidid
محمد فرح عيديد
	Aidid in 1995
President of Somalia
	In office; 15 June 1995 – 1 August 1996; Disputed with Ali Mahdi Muhammad
Preceded by	Ali Mahdi Muhammad
Succeeded by	Ali Mahdi Muhammad
Personal details
Born	15 December 1934; Beledweyne, Italian Somaliland
Died	1 August 1996 (aged 61); Mogadishu, Somalia
Political party	United Somali Congress/Somali National Alliance (USC/SNA)
Spouse	Khadiga Gurhan
Alma mater	Frunze Military Academy
Military service
Allegiance	Trust Territory of Somaliland; (1954–1960); Somali Republic; (1960–1969); Somali Democratic Republic; (1969–1984); United Somali Congress; (1989–1992); Somali National Alliance; (1992–1996)
Years of service	1954–1996
Rank	; Major General
Battles/wars	Ogaden War Somali invasion of Ogaden; ; Border War of 1982; Somali Civil War Operation Gothic Serpent Battle of Mogadishu; ; ;

Mohamed Farrah Hasan Garad (Somali: Maxamed Faarax Xasan Garaad, 'Caydiid Garaad' ; Arabic: محمد فرح حسن عيديد; 15 December 1934 – 1 August 1996), popularly known as General Aidid or Aideed, was a Somali military officer and warlord.

Educated in both Rome and Moscow, he first served as a chief in the Italian colonial police force and later as a brigadier general in the Somali National Army. He would eventually become chairman of the United Somali Congress (USC), and soon after the Somali National Alliance (SNA). Along with other armed opposition groups, he succeeded in toppling President Siad Barre's 22 year old regime following the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991.^[2]

Aidid possessed aspirations for presidency of the new Somali government, and would begin to seek alliances and unions with other politico-military organizations in order to form a national government.^[3]

Following the 5 June 1993 attack on the Pakistanis, the SNA—and by extension, Aidid—were blamed for the death of 25 UNOSOM II peacekeepers, causing him to become one of the first "Wanted Men" of the United Nations. After the US-led 12 July 1993 Abdi House raid, which resulted in the death of many eminent members of his Habr Gidr clan, Aidid began deliberately targeting American troops for the first time. President Bill Clinton responded by implementing Operation Gothic Serpent, and deploying Delta Force and Task Force Ranger to capture him. The high American casualty rate of the ensuing Battle of Mogadishu on 3–4 October 1993, led UNOSOM to cease its four month long mission.^[4]

Warlord General Farah Aidid died on 1 August 1996, during tribal war between his militias and the tribal militias of Warlord Osman Aato.

^ Mukhtar, Mohamed Haji (25 February 2003). Historical Dictionary of Somalia. Scarecrow Press. pp. 155–156. ISBN 9780810866041.
^ Mukhtar, Mohamed Haji (2003). Historical Dictionary of Somalia. Margaret Castagno. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press. pp. 155–156. ISBN 978-0-8108-6604-1. OCLC 268778107.
^ Cite error: The named reference :3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Lewis, Paul (17 November 1993). "SEARCH FOR AIDID OFFICIALLY ENDED". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 12 September 2022. Retrieved 12 September 2022.

[Historical_Dictionary_of_Somalia-1] Mukhtar, Mohamed Haji (25 February 2003). Historical Dictionary of Somalia. Scarecrow Press. pp. 155–156. ISBN 9780810866041.

[:4-2] Mukhtar, Mohamed Haji (2003). Historical Dictionary of Somalia. Margaret Castagno. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press. pp. 155–156. ISBN 978-0-8108-6604-1. OCLC 268778107.

[:3-3] Cite error: The named reference :3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[4] Lewis, Paul (17 November 1993). "SEARCH FOR AIDID OFFICIALLY ENDED". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 12 September 2022. Retrieved 12 September 2022.

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