Abdulkadir Sheikh Dini

General Abdulkadir Sheikh Dini (Cabdulkaadir Sheekh Diini, عبد القادر الشيخ ضئنئ) is a Somali military official. He served as Chief of Army from March 2011 to March 2013, under both the Transitional Federal Government and the succeeding Federal Government of Somalia.

Career
Dini began his military career in 1971, when he enlisted as a military cadet in the Somali Army. He continued his military education in the former Soviet Union. After completion of his studies abroad, Dini returned to Somalia. He subsequently attended Ahmed Gurey Military Staff College under his mentor and Frunze Military Academy graduate Abdullahi Ahmed Irro, with whom he would develop a friendship. In 1979, General Dini was promoted to Major Commander of Military Police Forces, Battalion level. He joined the Commando Brigade of Beledogle the following year, and in 1982 rose to the position of Commander. In 1986, as part of an international fellows program, Dini went to study at the United States Army Command and General Staff College at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas. He returned to Somalia one year later as a Deputy Sector Commander. In 1989, Dini continued his military studies in the United States, where he attended the U.S. Army War College at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, whose alumni include Dwight D. Eisenhower, Alexander Haig and Tommy Franks.

In 2010, Dini was called to assist in developing a security policy for the Transitional Federal Government. Dini was appointed Chief of Army on 29 March 2011 by former Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo. Under Dini's command, the Somali Armed Forces and allied AMISOM troops managed to flush out the Al-Shabaab insurgents from most urban centers in south and central Somalia. Dini and his deputy army chief General Abdikarin Yusuf Dhega Badan were later relieved of their duties on 13 March 2013 at a transfer ceremony in Mogadishu attended by government and AU officials, with General Dahir Adan Elmi appointed as the new Chief of Army and General Abdirisaq Khalif Hussein as his deputy.

On 15 March 2013, a luncheon was held in the capital in honour of General Dini and his deputy General Dhega Badan. Attended by Somali Minister of Defence Abdihakim Mohamoud Haji-Faqi, Ugandan Ambassador to Somalia Nathan Mugisha and various AU officials, AMISOM Force Commander Lt Gen Andrew Gutti thanked Dini and Dhega Badan for their services, stating that "we in AMISOM have been proud to serve alongside such great Somali patriots[...] under Gen Dini's leadership, the Somali National Security Forces have become better organized and more effective as evidenced by the successes they have achieved against the Al Qaeda-affiliated al Shabaab terror group across the country."