[1] Muhammad rose to power after a coalition of armed opposition groups, including his own United Somali Congress, deposed longtime dictator Siad Barre.

However, Muhammad was not able to exert his authority beyond parts of the capital, and instead vied for power with other faction leaders in the southern half of the country and with autonomous subnational entities in the north.

[5] After fallout from the unsuccessful Ogaden campaign of the late 1970s, the Siad Barre administration began arresting government and military officials under suspicion of participation in the abortive 1978 coup d'état.

[10] General Mohamed Farah Aidid was chosen to lead the military campaign for the United Somali Congress against the regime, and he was soon persuaded to leave New Delhi and return to Somalia.

[12] From base camps near the Somali-Ethiopian border, Aidid began directing the final military offensive of the newly formed United Somali Congress to seize Mogadishu and topple the regime.

[17] However, Mahdi was not able to exert his authority beyond parts of the capital, and instead vied for power with other faction leaders in the southern half of the country and with autonomous subnational entities in the north.

During the 1992 famine, law enforcement services across Somalia collapsed, looters—some of who were linked to both Ali Mahdi and Aidid’s now demobilized rebel forces—raided supply routes and storage sites.

Following the rout of former President Barres forces, Mahdi and Aidid, lacking funds and a unifying military threat, struggled to control their younger fighters, some of whom turned to food theft for survival.