Ahmed was born in the town of Gaalkacyo, in the Mudug Region. He was elected as President of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), by a session of the Transitional Federal Parliament (TFP) held in neighbouring Kenya's capital, Nairobi, on October 10, 2004, and sworn in on October 14, 2004.
He was among the first cadet officials sent to Italy in 1957, together with Mohamed Farrah Aidid and others.[citation needed] Since then he remained in the Army and participated in the war of 1964 and the Ogaden War of 1977, and was decorated for bravery in both wars.[citation needed] In 1978 Ahmed, together with a group of officials mostly from his own Majeerteen (Darod) clan, participated in a failed coup attempt against the regime of Siad Barre. He escaped to Kenya, then to Ethiopia where he started a rebel movement called SODAF which later became the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF).[citation needed]
Later he became President of Puntland state. In the 2004 election he defeated all the notable leaders of Somalia including Abdiqasim Salad Hassan, Cadow and all the warlords of Mogadishu. His government, backed by considerable Ethiopian forces, successfully defeated the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) led by Hassan Dahir Aweys. The Somali and Ethiopian forces marched into Mogadishu on the last day of 2006
