Abdilahi Husein Iman Darawal

Abdillahi Hussein Iman Darawal is a Somaliland politician and former senior SNM senior commander. The nickname "Darawal" means "driver" in Somali. Darawal belongs to the Arap clan of the wider Isaaq clan family.

Early life and education Darawal was born in Hargeisa in 1948. He attended the Axmed Gurey primary and intermediate school in Hargeisa, spending grades three and four in Berbera, and later completed secondary education at Faarax Oomaar High School in Hargeisa.

Career In 1970 he was sent by the Somali government to the Soviet Union, where he studied artillery at Odessa. He returned in 1973 with the rank of xidigle (lieutenant).

Somali national movement In 1988, amid the government’s wider crackdown following the SNM offensive in the north, he was detained in Mogadishu for around seven months. Local accounts state that he had been suspected of clandestine contacts with the Somali National Movement, and more broadly many Isaaq officers were targeted at this time. After his release he crossed into Ethiopia and formally joined the SNM as a senior commander.

Within the SNM he rose quickly to a senior command position, overseeing military units on the northern front. He was credited with organizing supply line interdiction between Hargeisa and Berbera, coordinating cross-border logistics from Ethiopia, and training new SNM recruits. Darawal also worked closely with the Sheikh San'ani Brigade, one of the most prominent SNM units, which played a decisive role in cutting government supply lines and mounting offensives around Hargeisa and Berbera.

In 2022 he became chairman of the newly formed Horseed Political Association, positioning it as an opposition platform. Under his leadership, Horseed advocated for governance reform, military veterans’ welfare, and the return of displaced persons. He served as chairman until 2024, when the political association dissolved after placing outside the top three in the national political party election.