A senior member of the Supreme Revolutionary Council,[1] He also served as Vice President of Somalia in the era of Siad Barre between 1971 and 1982.

In 1962, he served as the head of the Somali National Army Barue, and in 1963 was named as a deputy commander of a battalion stationed in Kismayo.

In the rank of lieutenant colonel participated in the coup d'état of October 21, 1969, which led to the rule of General Mohammed Siad Barre, and became a member of the Supreme Revolutionary Council of the Somali Democratic Republic.

He was one of the key figures of the regime of Siad Barre, he held the rank of brigadier general and in 1971 he was appointed one of the Vice President of Somalia.

After falling out with Barre, he was imprisoned in 1982 and subsequently released in 1988, after which he defected to the Somali National Movement based in what was then northern Somalia.