Afwayne Repressive Measures

Faced with shrinking popularity and an armed and organized domestic resistance, Siad Barre unleashed a reign of terror against the Majeerteen, the Hawiye, and the Isaaq, carried out by the Red Berets (Duub Cas), a dreaded elite unit recruited from among the president's Mareehaan clansmen. Thus, by the beginning of 1986 Siad
Barre's grip on power seemed secure, despite the host of problems facing the regime. The president received a severe blow from an unexpected quarter, however. On the evening of May 23, he was severely injured in an automobile accident. Astonishingly, although at the time he was in his early seventies and suffered from chronic diabetes, Siad Barre recovered sufficiently to resume the reins of
government following a month's recuperation. But the accident unleashed a power struggle among senior army commandants, elements of the president's Mareehaan clan, and related factions, whose infighting practically brought the country to a standstill. Broadly, two groups contended for power: a constitutional faction and a clan
faction. The constitutional faction was led by the senior vice
president, Brigadier General Mahammad Ali Samantar; the second vice
president, Major General Husseen Kulmiye; and generals Ahmad
Sulaymaan Abdullah and Ahmad Mahamuud Faarah. The four, together
with president Siad Barre, constituted the politburo of the SRSP.
Opposed to the constitutional group were elements from the
president's Mareehaan clan, especially members of his immediate
family, including his brother, Abdirahmaan Jaama Barre; the
president's son, Colonel Masleh Siad, and the formidable Mama
Khadiija, Siad Barre's senior wife. By some accounts, Mama Khadiija
ran her own intelligence network, had well-placed political
contacts, and oversaw a large group who had prospered under her
patronage.

In November 1986, the dreaded Red Berets unleashed a campaign of
terror and intimidation on a frightened citizenry. Meanwhile, the
ministries atrophied and the army's officer corps was purged of
competent career officers on suspicion of insufficient loyalty to
the president. In addition, ministers and bureaucrats plundered what
was left of the national treasury after it had been repeatedly
skimmed by the top family.
The same month, the SRSP held its third congress. The Central
Committee was reshuffled and the president was nominated as the only
candidate for another seven-year term. Thus, with a weak opposition
divided along clan lines, which he skillfully exploited, Siad Barre
seemed invulnerable well into 1988. The regime might have lingered
indefinitely but for the wholesale disaffection engendered by the
genocidal policies carried out against important lineages of Somali
kinship groupings. These actions were waged first against the
Majeerteen clan (of the Daarood clan-family), then against the Isaaq
clans of the north, and finally against the Hawiye, who occupied the
strategic central area of the country, which included the capital.
The disaffection of the Hawiye and their subsequent organized armed
resistance eventually caused the regime's downfall.
 

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