Abdullahi Ahmed Irro (Cabdullaahi Axmed Cirro)

Who was he?

Abdullahi Ahmed Irro was an officer of the Somali National Army from its first years and one of its main planners and teachers of strategy. This page records his public career from the sources.

Early life and training

Wikipedia records that he was born on 7 June 1937 in Kismayo, of the Majeerteen (Harti, Darod), grew up mainly in Mogadishu, and trained as a teacher before independence. In 1961 he studied at the Egyptian Military College in Cairo and later at the Frunze Military Academy in Moscow, where he specialised in strategic planning and later earned a Soviet military doctorate (Wikipedia, Abdullahi Ahmed Irro).

In the army, 1960s–1977

He joined the army after independence in 1960 and worked in its planning and operations directorates under commanders including Daud Abdulle Hirsi and Mohamed Ali Samatar. By the 1970s he was a colonel and commanded the 60th Division (Wikipedia, citing Abdul Ahmed III's history of Somali military officers).

Godey, July 1977

In the Ogaden war, Colonel Irro led the 60th Division's assault on Godey (Gode), with Lieutenant Colonel Abdulkadir Koosaar as deputy. The town fell on 24–25 July 1977. Of about 2,350 men in the Ethiopian 5th Brigade, only about 500 withdrew (Wikipedia, Battle of Godey, citing Fantahun Ayele, The Ethiopian Army, 2014, p. 104, and Tom Cooper, Wings over Ogaden, 2015, p. 25). Associated Press film of foreign journalists' visit to Godey on 27 July 1977 includes an interview with him (same source, citing the AP Archive). Siad Barre awarded him the Medal of Valor.

Ethiopia retook Godey in November 1980 (Wikipedia, Abdullahi Ahmed Irro).

The 1978 coup attempt

After the defeat in the Ogaden, officers tried to overthrow Siad Barre in April 1978. Wikipedia, citing the memoir of Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, records that Irro sent a coded message reporting that the attempt had not succeeded and was arrested hours later. He was tried by court martial and released a few years later; the court found no concrete evidence against him (Wikipedia). Several of those involved went on to form armed opposition movements; see Armed movements, 1978 to 1991.

Teaching strategy, 1980s

In the 1980s he taught strategy at Somali military institutes, helped set up the National Academy for Strategy, and designed courses for senior officers, presidential advisers and legislators. Wikipedia records that he declined invitations to join the armed opposition, including the SSDF (same source).

Later life and death

After the civil war he lived in Virginia, USA. In 2009 he was among former senior Somali officers invited by the UN political office for Somalia to advise on rebuilding the security sector (Wikipedia, citing a UNPOS press release of 31 July 2009). He died on 24 January 2022 at his home in Falls Church, Virginia, aged 84 (Wikipedia, citing The Washington Post, 9 March 2022).

Sources differ

• Forces at Godey. The Battle of Godey article's summary box gives 3,000–5,000 Somali troops and speaks of "two Ethiopian divisions destroyed", while its text describes one Ethiopian brigade.
• Where he lived. Wikipedia places him in Vienna, Virginia, in one section and Falls Church in another.
• Accounts of his career. Most details come from Somali officers' accounts and the memoir of Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, as cited by Wikipedia.

Read the primary sources yourself

• Wikipedia, "Battle of Godey", with its references to Ayele and Cooper: article.
• Wikipedia, "Abdullahi Ahmed Irro", with its references: article.