Wednesday, 28 May 2025 {CBB} – General Mohamed Said Hirsi Morgan has passed away in Nairobi, Kenya, where he had reportedly been ill for some time, according to officials from the Puntland administration.
The general had a long-standing history with the Somali National Army. He most recently served as a security advisor for the Puntland administration, where he played a major role in the fight against ISIS, as confirmed by Puntland’s Minister of Interior, Abdi Farah Juha, in a statement on his Facebook page.
In an interview he gave two years ago, General Morgan stated that he was born in 1949. He received his primary and middle school education at Haji Mire School in Bosaso, located in the Bari region.
He mentioned in the same interview that his father later sent him to Mogadishu, where he completed his education at a school then known as “Allaahida.”
The general later joined the military. In 1967, he was among the officers Somalia sent for military training in the Soviet Union, and he returned to the country in 1970.
He began his career at the presidential palace, serving in the presidential guard for about seven years.
He also received further training in the United States. Afterwards, he held senior positions in the government of then-President Mohamed Siad Barre, including Minister of Defense and Minister of Public Works.
General Morgan was the last serving Minister of Defense before the government was overthrown in 1991.
Mohamed Haji Ingiriis, a historian and researcher, told the BBC that General Morgan held several important roles in Somalia.
He noted that in the early 1970s, the general married one of President Siad Barre’s daughters, which he said contributed to Morgan’s rapid rise through the ranks.
Haji Ingiriis added that in recent years, General Morgan spent most of his time in Nairobi, Oman, and most recently in Garowe, the capital of Puntland.
“He will be remembered for what happened in the northern regions,” said Ingiriis.
Morgan was once the commander of the 26th Division, which operated in what were then known as the Northern Regions—now the self-declared independent Republic of Somaliland.
He was among the Somali military officials accused by many of committing human rights violations in those regions during the civil conflict.
The general was also involved in the power struggles in the city of Kismayo. In 2004, the Somali Reconciliation Facilitation Committee of IGAD, which was hosting peace talks in Kenya, imposed sanctions on him, citing alleged involvement in actions that disrupted the peace process.
In his final years, General Morgan lived in Garowe, serving as a security advisor to the Puntland administration.
