[7] Initially, Ali Yusuf Kenadid's goal was to seize control of the neighbouring Majeerteen Sultanate, which was then ruled by his cousin Boqor Osman Mahamud.

A decade later, in the 1870s, Kenadid returned from the Arabian Peninsula with a band of Hadhrami and Mehri fighters led by Husni bin Neymer and a group of devoted lieutenant, among them a close strategist Ali Bos, and Ahmed Sayah, a prominent arms dealer; both from Arab Salah of Mahri Origin), with their assistance, he managed to overpower the local Habar Gidir clans and establish the Sultanate of Hobyo in 1878.

In signing the agreements, the rulers also hoped to exploit the rival objectives of the European imperial powers so as to more effectively assure the continued independence of their territories.

[13] Viewed as too much of a threat by the Italians, Sultan Kenadid was eventually exiled to Aden in Yemen and then to Eritrea, as was his son Ali Yusuf, the heir apparent to his throne.

[14] However, unlike the southern territories, the northern sultanates were not subject to direct rule due to the earlier treaties they had signed with the Italians.

Considering the eons-old clan rivalries which have been the bane of Somali states from time immemorial, it is a wonder this strategy hadn't been attempted sooner, and turned out to be far more successful than the Eritrean regiments in reversing the rebellion.

With the steam taken out of the rebellion, and the military forces heavily reinforced with the battalions from Eritrea, the Italians retook El-Buur on 26 December 1925, and compelled Omar Samatar to retreat into Western Somaliland.

[citation needed] The Cumar-Samatar Secondary School in central Galkacyo is named after Omar Samatar in remembrance of his struggles and sacrifices.