SUMMARY
The Forces of General Morgan was a non-state militia employed by the warlord by the same name to advance his goals in Somalia. General Morgan, aka Mohamed Said Hersi, was one of the key figures in Somalia during the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s. He is the son-in-law of former President Siad Barre. Under Barre’s ruling, General Morgan advanced fast within the hierarchy, was appointed to the rank of General in 1988 and became Minister of Defence and substitute Head of State in 1990.
After the ousting of President Barre in 1991, General Morgan fled into south-west Somalia and became the chairman of SNF (Somali National Front). At the same time, General Morgan joined SPM (Somali Patriotic Movement), which he shortly after dominated. In taking control of SPM together with Gabiyow, General Morgan forced Colonel Omar Jess to leave SPM and to create SPM/SNA (Somali Patriotic Movement/Somali National Alliance). This event constituted the origin of the hatred relations between Morgan and Jess, a relation which would by large determine the future for both.
In March 1993, General Morgan created an alliance between SNF, SPM and SSDF (Somali Salvation and Defence Force), and was with this alliance able to capture the port city of Kismayo in south Somalia. It is unclear how this alliance started to fade but it seems fairly clear that it was not long until the occupying force in Kismayo had developed from a SPM, SNF, and SSDF alliance into forces of General Morgan, who had grown stronger in the leadership. References from the period refer interchangeably to the alliance, to the forces of Morgan, SPM, or to Majerteen clan militias as being in charge of the city. This is, however, not surprising given the fluid allegiances that were a reality in Somalia during the early 1990s.
Throughout most of the 1990s, General Morgan kept control of Kismayo, even when occasionally Omar Jess succeeded in taking over, either alone or as part of JVA (Juba Valley Alliance). In 1998, General Morgan declared “Jubaland”, the region around Kismayo, as independent from Somalia, yet while declaring simultaneously that the independence is not directed against Somalia and that he wants to lead Jubaland back into Somalia as an autonomous region. Shortly after, he lost Kismayo town to the Omar Jess-led JVA, and was, with the exception of two days in 2001, unable to ever win it back.
As of 2002, General Morgan was part of the Somali peace talks in Kenya, which in 2004 resulted in the creation of TFG (Transitional Federal Government). However, he interrupted his participation in the talks several times, and continued in 2003 and 2004 to launch – unsuccessfully – attacks against JVA in an attempt to recapture Kismayo.
General Morgan is considered to be one of the, perhaps the, most violent and most feared of all the Somali warlords, a reputation owned among others to his involvement in the suppression of the Majerteen revolution in 1982, and the brutality and ruthlessness of his forces, mainly also against civilians, in the time after the ousting of President Barre.
The forces of General Morgan have been involved in the non-state category of UCDP organised violence.
