General Mohamed Farah Aideed

General Mohamed Farah Aideed (d. 1996) was an Italian-trained military leader, often described as a warlord, who played a leading role in the coup against President Siad Barre in 1990. He was a member of the Habr Gidr subclan of the Hawiye, and leader of the United Somali Congress and later Somali National Alliance. Aideed’s clan-based militias comprised one of the major forces in control of parts of Mogadishu and southern Somalia during the civil war, fighting against U.N. and American troops. Aideed’s soldiers made up the opposing force during the notorious Black Hawk Down incident, which precipitated the American withdrawal from Somalia.