Ismail Ali Abokor returned to Somalia in 1960 as one of the first officers to train for British Somaliland. In 1961, Abokor became deputy commander of the officers training school.
In 1962, he served as the head of the Somali National Army Barue, and in 1963 was named as a deputy commander of a battalion stationed in Kismayo.
In 1965, he trained in Mogadishu, and after that he was appointed a commander of a battalion in Kismayo, and was promoted to a rank of lieutenant.
In 1967 he became Chief of trainers at Halane training school, known as "Bootiko".
He held the post of one of the vice-presidents of the Somali Democratic Republic, received the rank of colonel. In November 1971 he visited the USSR. He was one of the key figures of the regime of Siad Barre, he held the rank of brigadier general and in 1971 he was appointed one of the Vice President of Somalia. He also held the post of minister of information and national guidance from 1971 to 1973.[2] Since July 1976 (from the date of founding the party) he became a member of the Central Committee and a member of the Politburo of the Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party.
Defection
After falling out with Barre, he was imprisoned in 1982 and subsequently released in 1988, after which he defected to the Somali National Movement based in what was then northern Somalia.[3] He later moved to United Arab Emirates.[2]
