After the assassination of President Abdirashid Shermarke in Las Anod, the Somali National Army under Barre's command stormed Mogadishu, seized key government buildings, and demanded the resignation of the country's leaders.

The coup deposed acting President Sheikh Mukhtar Hussein and Prime Minister Mohammad Egal, ushering in a 21-year military rule under Barre and the establishment of an authoritarian government that lasted until 1991.

The first leaders of the new republic were President Aden Abdullah Osman Daar who served as head of state and Prime Minister Abdirashid Sharmarke of the Somali Youth League.

[1] Because Somalia was composed of two recently unified territories, the country was divided in many aspects such as taxation, policing, legal systems, and administration, however these differences were largely resolved in a 1961 referendum on a new constitution which saw more than 90% of voters approve the document.

In 1967, Abdirashid Ali Shermarke, the Italian educated prime minister and member of the Somali Youth League (SYL), was elected as president of Somalia.

[5] Major General Siad Barre, a former Italian colonial police officer and member of the Darod clan, was the commander of the Somali army, and an ardent Marxist and nationalist.

He emerged as the leader of the Supreme Revolutionary Council, a group of Somali military and police officers ranging in rank from major general to captain.

[citation needed] After military forces seized Radio Mogadishu, the station began broadcasting martial music as a way of conveying the motives of the coup leaders, including the song "Either doomsday death or victory of life," which invoked images of several wild animals such as lions and horses.

Nomads were resettled into agricultural communes, a large literacy campaign was undertaken, women were granted more rights, and the Latin script was officially adopted for use in the Somali language.

[16] At the time, postcolonial Somalia had been receiving large volumes of military support from the Soviet Union including vehicles, small arms, and technical assistance in the form of advisers.

[18] Salaad Gabeyre Kediye, one of the coup's main architects who was executed in 1972, was a KGB informant codenamed "OPERATOR", according to documents from the Mitrokhin Archive and the writings of Cambridge historian Christopher Andrew.