In the early hours of 21 October the army occupied key points throughout the capital, members of the government and other leading politicians and personalities were placed in detention (or, as in the case of General Muhammad Abshir, under house arrest). The Constitution was suspended, the Supreme Court abolished, the National Assembly closed, political parties declared illegal, and rule by a Supreme Revolutionary Council established. The new regime’s aims stressed the elimination of corruption and tribal nepotism and the re-establishment of a just and honourable society in which proper attention would be given to real economic and social betterment for all. In external affairs, existing treaties would be honoured and the Somali unification struggle continued, while further support would be given to liberation movements generally and to the fight against colonialism. In earnest of these intentions and hopes the state was renamed the ‘Somali Democratic Republic’.

I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Som…, loc. 509