Beledweyne
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Beledweyne (Somali: Beledweyne) is a city in central Somalia. It is the capital of the Hiraan province, and is located in the central valley of the Shebelle River near the border with Ethiopia, some 206 miles (332 km) north of the capital Mogadishu. Straddling a meander of the river, it consists of four main districts called: Oktoobar (Buundoweyn), Howlwadaag, Kooshin and Xaawotaako. The Shabelle river divides the town into east and west.
Beledweyne is one of the oldest cities in Somalia, and the city where the first generation of modern Somali politicians have their roots, from Aden Abdullah Osman Daar to Mohamed Farah Aidid. Following the relocation of his capital to Taleex in 1909, Mohammed Abdullah Hassan .[1]
After the death of Hasan Qalaad, Mr. Abdullahi Abdi Aaden (Koofi) was in charge of the town until the transitional Somali president Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed nominated Yusuf Ahmed Hagar (also known as Yusuf Mohamud Hagar ("Dabageed")[2]) as the new governor of the region. He had been forced to flee by the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) whose forces, under the command of Yusuf Makaraan took the town in August 2006 and established a sharia court under Sheik Farah Moalim.[3][4] Though "Dabageed" returned to the town following the Battle of Beledweyne, on January 1, 2007, Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed declared Hussein Mohamud Moalim as new administrator for Hiiran region, replacing Dabageed, and Saleyman Ahmed Hilowle was nominated as assistant administrator.[5]
[edit] Clan strife
The Hawiye Hawadle clan controls the east part of the town. The western part of the town is controlled by Gaaljecel and the Gugundhabe also Hawiye subclans. Other clans such as Jajeele and Makane (a Bantu people) reside the town and are powerful in terms of social and political presence of Hiran region even though they are peaceful communities.
In June 2005, fighting between the Galje'el and Jajele clans in the western end of town lasted for four days, resulting in 30 dead, 70 wounded and hundreds more displaced. This left the town on an uneasy footing.[6]
There were also reprisal killings of suspected Islamists following the December 2006 Battle of Beledweyne.[7]
[edit] Military history
Beledweyne is considered a strategic town due to its location.
During the 1970s, Beledweyne was a staging area for the Western Somali Liberation Front (WSLF) which sought to liberate the Ogaden area of Ethiopia and make it part of Somalia (see Greater Somalia). When the Ethiopians drove the Somali army and the WSLF out of the Ogaden during the Ogaden War, Beledweyne became the center of a refugee crisis that brought tens of thousands of Ogadeni refugees from Ethiopia into Somalia. The Ogadenis, part of the Somali Darood clan–the clan of Somali dictator Mohamed Siyaad Barre–clashed with local Hawadle of the Hawiye clan and set off the events that eventually led to Somalia's civil war.
During the War in Somalia (2006-present), the internationally-backed Transitional Federal Government (TFG), supported by Ethiopian troops, took the town from the Islamic Courts Union (ICU).
[edit] Notes
- ^ Said S. Samatar, Oral Poetry and Somali Nationalism (Cambridge: University Press, 1982), pp. 133
- ^ "Anti ICU lost key towns in Somalia", SomaliNet, December 25, 2006. Retrieved on 2006-12-25.
- ^ Somalia's Conflict Enters a Phase of Duress PINR
- ^ Islamic leader in key Somali town says 'the world better learn who we are' Associated Press
- ^ Somali president nominates a new administrator for Hiran region Shabelle Media Network
- ^ SOMALIA: Death toll rises as fighting continues in Beletweyne IRIN
- ^ Yusuf, Aweys Osman. "Somalis in Hiran urged not hunt down former Islamist fighters", shabelle.net, 2006-12-31. Retrieved on 2007-01-05.
