Jubaland

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jubaland shown on a map of Somalia in yellow: regions 7 (Gedo), 9 (Middle Juba), and 10 (Lower Juba)

Jubaland (Somali: Jubbaland) or Juba Valley (Somali: Dooxada Jubba), formerly Trans-Juba (Italian: Oltre Giuba), is the southwesternmost part of Somalia, on the far side of the Juba River (thus "Trans"-Juba), bordering on Kenya.

It has a total area of 87,000 km² (33,000 sq mi), and in 1926 a population of 120,000. The main city is Kismayo, on the coast near the mouth of the Juba. The area was mainly inhabited by the Darod clan nomads, particularly the Ogadeni subclan and the Harti subgroups (Majeerteen, Dhulbahante, Warsangali), Mareehan and other sub clans within the Dir and Hawiye clans.

In late August 2006, the Islamic Courts Union seized control of all of Lower and Middle Juba, including the key city of Kismayo, and established its own administration. The JVA ruled only in Gedo and suffered a number of defections and surrenders of their commanders and militias. However, in late December 2006 the JVA, now incorporated into the Transitional Federal Government, with the military support of Ethiopia, retook the Juba Valley. On January 1, 2007, Kismayo was taken by the TFG and Ethiopian forces.

1 History
- 1.1 Somali Civil War
- 1.2 War in Somalia
2 Stamps and postal history of Trans-Juba
3 Potential territorial dispute with Southwestern Somalia
4 Sources and References

[edit] History

Jubaland was ruled by the Arabian Sultanate of Muscat (now in Oman) from 1836 until 1861 when the new Sultanate of Zanzibar was split from Muscat and Oman and given control of its African territories .

The area was mainly inhabited by the Somali Ogaden nomad sub clan with other Dir and Hawiye clans.

On 7 November 1890, Zanzibar became a British protectorate and, on 1 July 1895, ceded all its coastal possessions in continental East Africa to its protector. Together with Zanzibar's other former possessions in the area, Jubaland became part of the British colony of British East Africa (present day Kenya)

Jubaland was ceded to Italy 29 June 1925, purportedly as a reward for joining the Allies in World War I and had a brief existence as the Italian colony of Oltre Giuba, under governor (16 July 1924 - 31 December 1926) Corrado Zoli (b. 1877 - d. 1951). It was incorporated into the neighboring colony of Italian Somaliland on 30 June 1926.

On 1 July 1960, Jubaland, along with the rest of Italian Somaliland and British Somaliland, became part of the independent republic Somalia.

[edit] Somali Civil War

Main articles: Somali Civil War, Somali Patriotic Movement, Juba Valley Alliance, and Somali Reconciliation and Restoration Council

Following the breakdown of central authority in the Somali Civil War, General Mohammed Said Hersi Morgan, leader of the Harti branch of the Somali Patriotic Movement, declared Jubaland independent on September 3, 1998.^[1]

A separate administration under the Juba Valley Alliance (Isbahaysiga Dooxada Jubba or JVA) fought against General Mohammed Said Hersi Morgan. The leader of the JVA is Colonel Barre Adan Shire Hiiraale, who later became Defense Minister for the TFG. The militia commander of the JVA is Col. Abdulahi Sheik Ismael Fara-Tag.

On June 18, 2001, an 11-member interclan council decided to ally the JVA with the newly establishing Transitional National Government (TNG).^[2]^[3]

On August 6, 2001, after 10 days of heavy fighting in a battle involving 40 technicals and 1,000 militiamen, the JVA moved north from Kismayo and took the town of Jilib from the Somali Reconciliation and Restoration Council (SRRC).^[4] Through 2002, the JVA battled with the SRRC, which opposed the TFG, resulting in 6,000 refugees fleeing Bulo Hawa. In 2003, there were 15,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) accommodated in Kismayo. Fighting throughout southern and central Somalia resulted in 86,000 IDPs by 2004.^[5] Landmines were cited as a problem affecting the area due to the fighting between the JVA and SRRC.^[6]

Eventually the leader of the SRRC, Hussein Mohammed Farah Aidid, son of the late warlord Mohammed Farah Aidid, settled his differences with the JVA and the TNG, and in 2004 became the Interior Minister in the new Transitional Federal Government, which succeeded the TNG.

[edit] War in Somalia

Main articles: Juba Valley Alliance, Rise of the Islamic Courts Union (2006), and War in Somalia (2006-present)

The JVA suffered the loss of Kismayo in September 2006 to an array of ICU forces with 130 technicals^[7]^[8], and further defeat during Islamic Court Union's takeover of the Juba Valley in October 2006.^[9]

After the Battle of Baidoa (December 20–26), the JVA began to reassert control over the Juba Valley. On December 27, the ICU abandoned its positions at Salagle and Sakow, north of Bu'aale.^[10]

After their defeat at the Battle of Jilib north of the city, the ICU forces withdrew, and on January 1, 2007, Kismayo fell to the TFG and Ethiopian forces without armed conflict.

[edit] Stamps and postal history of Trans-Juba

Trans-Juba postage stamps of 1926.

Italy issued its first postage stamps for Jubaland on July 29, 1925, consisting of contemporary Italian stamps overprinted "OLTRE GIUBA" (Trans-Juba). The same process was followed for the Italian commemorative issues of the time - the "Victor Emmanuel" issue, the "St Francis" issue. On April 21, 1926, Italy issued a set of seven stamps printed specifically for the colony, depicting a map of the territory and inscribed "COMMISSARIATO GENLE / DELL' OLTRE GIUBA", then on June 1 the omnibus Colonial Institute issue included a set inscribed "OLTRE GIUBA".

Only a couple of the higher values have more than a minimal price for collectors, although as usual for remote colonies of brief existence, genuine usages on cover are seldom seen.

[edit] Potential territorial dispute with Southwestern Somalia

Southwestern Somalia, the autonomous state formed by the former leaders of the Rahanweyn Resistance Army (RRA), a rival civil war faction, claims all six provinces of southwestern Somalia, including those areas of Jubaland, as part of its territory. While both JVA and RRA leaders are now part of the TFG, the actual partition of autonomous or semi-autonomous super-regional states (similar to Puntland) in southern Somalia has not been resolved.