When the civil war erupted, the USC (Hawiye rebel group) went on a quest of onslaught against innocenent Daarood civilians located in Xamar (Mogadishu). After the Daaroods returned to their ancestral homelands, the USC attempted to pursue them by forcefully entering their terroritories. They succesfully first entered Gaalkaacyo and occupied the city for an unknown time until some Daaroods living in the city fled to CaabudWaaq (A Mareexaan Daarood city) in search for appeal for help. A certain Somali Hero, the legendary Gen. CabdiCasiis Cali Barre headed the call by quickly raising a joint Mareexaan - Leelkaase army and unlocked Gaalkaacyo from USC's grip.
WashingtonPost covered this event in 1993 in a special report. The only mistake in this excerpt is that it says Morgan whilst in reality it was Gen. CabdiCasiis Cali Barre:
"The main front line in the ongoing, low-level war in central Somalia is the town of Gaalkacyo. The home town of Somalia's premier warlord, Mohamed Farah Aideed, it is in the hands of a rival warlord, who is the military leader of the Marehan faction recently loyal to ousted dictator Mohamed Siad Barre. The Marehan militia calls itself the Somali National Front and is commanded by Mohamed Said Hersi Morgan, Siad Barre's son-in-law and a former defense minister under him. Aideed's United Somali Congress militia and Morgan's force engage in periodic skirmishes around Gaalkacyo - facing off with tanks and artillery in hit-and-run grabs for territory.
For Aideed, this battle is personal. The central region is the traditional area of his Habr Gedir faction, and he is fighting to reclaim territory he sees as rightfully his. For the Marehan, the battle is over survival. Members of the faction fear a victorious Aideed would continue to sweep north into their traditional territory, and they are trying to hold the line at Gaalkacyo.
According to Canadian military intelligence officers, who have made several reconnaissance missions into the area and who maintain contact with the local warlords, Morgan's Somali National Front is believed to have about 1,000 regulars and can draw on an additional 5,000 fighters from the Marehan. The standing force is equipped with more than a dozen tanks, six armored personnel carriers, 32 technicals and several antitank guns and artillery pieces, the Canadian sources said." [1]
Gen. CabdiCasiis Cali Barre
