Brigadier General Rage Returns to SNA Helm, to Re-Energise War on Al-Shabaab

GOOBJOOG NEWS|MOGADISHU: Brigadier General Odowaa Yusuf Rage has returned to head the military following his approval by the cabinet Sunday in a move sources said is aimed at reinvigorating the sluggish pace in the war against Al-Shabaab.

The Council of Ministers endorsed the re-appointment of Rage Sunday as the Somali National Army Chief of Staff and subsequently dropped Major General Ibrahim Muhyiddin who has been in the helm since June 2023.

Brigadier General Rage was appointed as SNA chief in 2019 until June 2023 when President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud relieved him of his duties.

Rage led the military during one of the politically charged seasons in Somalia ahead of the elections in May 2022 that saw President Mohamud return to power. In April 2022, a major stand-off ensued in Mogadishu when a faction of the military based in the Middle Shabelle region deserted their bases and headed to Mogadishu where they pitched camp for a couple of days amid a gridlock following a vote by the Lower House to extend President Farmaajo’s term by two more years.

The move was later rescinded following the military tensions and pressure both locally and internationally.

Rage is expected to re-energise the military operations against Al-Shabaab which have in recent months taken a slow pace. He will also be instrumental in the transitional phase as the new AU force is set to take over from ATMIS in January 2026. Defence Minister Abdulkadir Nur announced this past week that the Federal Government has formally decided not to include Ethiopia in the African Union Stabilisation Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) following the dispute over the controversial MoU with Somaliland.