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I always wondered if Siad Barre himself was involved in the assassination of Shermarke, as an excuse to stage a coup, anything about that

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Jan 22·edited Jan 22Author

I've spoken to a few people including a police officer who was partly responsible for the late prime minister's security. He told me that it was more likely to have been related to a power feud within the PM's clan which led to his assassination. Both attempts on his life were by his own clansmen.

There has been speculation about Soviet involvement but thus far I've not seen testimony or clear proof - though there are trinkets which indicate possible culpability. I'll write a post on this soon. With regards to Siad I've become convinced that though he was a leading figure in the coup, he managed to out manoeuvre others - it wasn't certain that he would emerge as leader.

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Thanks for the clarification, but it will be interesting to know, what what type of power struggle it was to cause two assassination attempts

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Thanks for sharing those valuable historical notes

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