# Musa Sudi Yalahow (Muuse Suudi Yalaxow)

> Musa Sudi Yalahow: Mogadishu faction leader, trade minister in the Transitional Federal Government, a founder of the 2006 counter-terrorism alliance, and later senator.

Source page: https://calankii.com/en/people/musa-sudi-yalahow/
Last checked: 2026-11-12
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## In short

Musa Sudi Yalahow led one of the armed factions that held parts of Mogadishu after 1991, then moved into the transitional institutions and later the federal Senate. This page records his public role from the sources, without taking sides.

## Mogadishu factions, 1990s–2002

Wikipedia records that he was born in Mogadishu. In December 2001 his forces lost the Jazira airstrip after he split with his deputy, Mahmud Muhammad Finish; fighting between the two on 26 February 2002 killed at least 12 people ([Wikipedia, Musa Sudi Yalahow](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musa_Sudi_Yalahow), citing IRIN). See [the UN intervention and after](/en/history/un-intervention-1992-1995/) for the wider fighting in the capital.

## Transitional Federal Government

On 29 August 2004 he became one of the 275 members of the [Transitional Federal Parliament](/en/history/transitional-federal-parliament-2004-2012/), and he served as trade minister under Prime Minister [Ali Mohamed Gedi](/en/people/ali-mohammed-ghedi/). In October 2005, after the government moved to close privately run airstrips, he threatened to shoot down aircraft flying over Mogadishu (Wikipedia, citing BBC News).

## The 2006 alliance

In February 2006 he and other Mogadishu commanders, among them [Mohamed Qanyare Afrah](/en/people/mohamed-qanyare-afrah/), Omar Mohamoud Finish and Botan Issa, set up the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism, based in Daynile, with the stated aim of fighting terrorism. Al Jazeera reported that fighting between its forces and Islamic courts militias that week killed at least 18 people ([Al Jazeera, 21 February 2006](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2006/2/21/somali-leaders-take-on-extremists)). Wikipedia describes the alliance as US-backed and records that the Red Cross condemned his militia's occupation of the Keysaney hospital (Wikipedia, citing the *New York Times*, 31 May 2006).

In June 2006 the [Islamic Courts Union](/en/history/islamic-courts-union-2006/) took Mogadishu. He withdrew to [Balad](/en/regions/middle-shabelle/), which the courts took days later, and the prime minister removed him from the cabinet (Wikipedia, citing Middle East Online).

## Return and later roles

He returned to Mogadishu on 6 January 2007, after Ethiopian and government forces entered the city. That month he and [Osman Ali Atto](/en/people/osman-ali-atto/) were reported as the first Mogadishu faction leaders to hand their militias to the government (Wikipedia, citing SomaliNet). In September 2021 he was elected to the Upper House of the [Federal Parliament](/en/institutions/federal-parliament/) (Wikipedia, citing [BBC Somali](/en/society/media-in-somalia/) and [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) Media).

## Sources differ

- **Name.** Spelled Musa or Muse Sudi Yalahow.
- **Upper House.** Wikipedia's summary box dates his Senate service from 2016; its text records his election in 2021.
- **Who backed the 2006 alliance.** Reports said it had US support; the alliance described itself as a counter-terrorism body.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Al Jazeera, "Somali leaders take on extremists" (2006): [article](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2006/2/21/somali-leaders-take-on-extremists).

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