Brigadier General (Rtd) Abdul Latif Ahmad (born March 8, 1942) is a prominent retired soldier from Malaysia.
He was the commander of the Malaysian Battalion (Malbatt 1 ), which served under the United Nations (UN) peacekeeping force in Somalia in 1993. He led Malaysian troops at the Battle of Mogadishu, also known as the Black Hawk Down Incident.
The operation on Oct 3 and 4, 1993, involved a rescue mission carried out by 113 Malbatt members to save United States Rangers pinned down by Somali militants in Bakaara, Mogadishu.
Aside from this, he saw action in the Confrontation between Indonesia and Malaysia (1964âÂÂ1966); the May 13, 1969 racial rioting and its aftermath; the 1971 Kuala Lumpur floods and the fight against the Communist Party of Malaya in the 1970s.
In 2015, he authored Aku Masih Ingat⦠Memoir Seorang Komander (I still remember... Memoirs of a Commander) detailing the critical engagements he took part in.
Abdul Latif was born in Kampung Baru, Kuala Lumpur, as theÃÂ second son of medical assistant Ahmad and telephonist Zainon, but he lost his father when he was just two. He did his secondary schooling in Victoria Institution before moving onÃÂ toÃÂ the Royal Military College.
Inspired by the exploits of Malayan soldiers in the UN Peacekeeping Force in the Congo, he joined the army inÃÂ JanuaryÃÂ 1964 and was posted to the 4thÃÂ BattalionÃÂ Royal Malay Regiment.
He led a platoon in armed combat against Indonesian forces at the village of Pelaman Mapu in Sarawak'sÃÂ FirstÃÂ Division, and was alsoÃÂ involved in the pursuit of enemy combatants after a school was burned down in aÃÂ village called Tepoi. Later in Johor, he led the capture of three Indonesian infiltrators inÃÂ the Pontian/Pekan Nenas area. The Confrontation ended after a power shift in Indonesia whenÃÂ its presidentÃÂ Sukarno was supplanted byÃÂ GeneralÃÂ Suharto.
In October 1966, as a peace overture, Malaysia was invited to send a delegation forÃÂ theÃÂ Indonesian Armed ForcesÃÂ Day and Abdul Latif was in the group headed by Mindef secretary-general,ÃÂ the lateÃÂ Tan SriÃÂ Abdul Kadir Shamsuddin andÃÂ the lateÃÂ GeneralÃÂ TunÃÂ Ibrahim Ismail.
Following the general elections in May 1969, racial riots broke out at a time when Abdul Latif was serving as adjutant of the 5thÃÂ battalion of Royal Malay Regiment, based at Sungai Besi.
HisÃÂ battalion was responsible for public order duties in the greater KL area for situations when the police were unable to cope.ÃÂ Following the outbreak of violence on MayÃÂ 13, he set off to the police CCC (ContingentÃÂ Control Centre) High Street, based on Jalan Bandar.
He encountered crowds of people standing with sharpened iron rods on the side of the road, but was not attacked due to being in a militaryÃÂ jeep convoy. A Public Order Prevention OrdinanceÃÂ (POPO) was called under which police powers were handed to the military.
Abdul Latif recalled manyÃÂ cars burning, and he had to send units to Chow Kit, Kampung Baru and Dato Keramat where the violence was at its peak. The military played a key role in containing the outbreak of violence and ensuring that it did not spread nationwide.
His unitsÃÂ had to operate patrols and roadblocks, restore water and electricity and deliver food rations, and it tookÃÂ two weeks for the situation to calm down. Abdul Latif's superior General Ibrahim was appointed CEO of the National Operations Council, the emergency administrative body which attempted to restore law and order and govern the country in place of the elected government. On Feb 20, 1971, the NOC was dissolved with the restoration of Parliament.
Around the end of the NOC's term, the great flood of Kuala Lumpur struck afterÃÂ rain fell from Christmas Day 1970 to New Year's Day 1971. Abdul Latif was in charge of operations at Kampung Baru, coordinating relief efforts between the Air Force and the military.
In the late 1970s he wasÃÂ called into action due to theÃÂ re-emergence of Communist Party of Malaya terrorist activity in the northern areas of Kedah and Perak.ÃÂ In 1978, he took command of the First Ranger Battalion, a multi-racial group thatÃÂ had the highest number of kills of Communist terrorists. He conducted operations in Semanggang (now Sri Aman), Lubok Antu and Sibu, Sarawak and also in Raub, Pahang in 1979.
After the Communist engagements, Abdul Latif saw action as the Commander of Malbatt 1 battalion, which served under the United Nations (UN) peace-keeping force in Somalia.
During this time, a celebrated rescue mission of US rangers was carried out by 113 members of the Malaysian battalion in Mogadishu, Somalia on Oct 3 and 4, 1993.
Abdul Latif has twice been vocal about his objections to cinematic portrayals of the events.
On the first occasion, he spoke up after a Hollywood film called Black Hawk Down was made by Ridley Scott in 2001. ButÃÂ did not tell about the participation of Malaysian soldiers in the rescue mission.ÃÂ
More recently thereÃÂ was , a Malaysian-produced movie whichÃÂ purported to be 90 percent factual, but Abdul Latif and his deputy Major General (Rtd) Mohd Rozi Baharom objected to a number of erroneous and embarrassingÃÂ scenes.
âÂÂYou might think IâÂÂm being unnecessarily fussy, but you see, this is the story of our men. Their sacrifice, their professionalism. The elite of Malaysian military personnel. I have taken it very seriously my whole life,â said Abdul Latif.