Xarardheere (Harardhere)

Where it is

Xarardheere is the capital of Xarardheere district in the Mudug region, in Galmudug state (Wikipedia: Harardhere). It lies at about 4.65°N, 47.86°E, roughly 210 m above sea level, inland from the Indian Ocean coast between Hobyo and the Middle Shabelle coast (Wikidata). The Italian spelling was Harardera (Wikidata).

People

A 2005 UNDP estimate put the population at about 65,500 (UNDP 2005, via Wikipedia; UNDP 2005 table). As in most of Galmudug, most people are from the Hiraab branch of the Hawiye (Wikipedia: Harardhere). Historian Lee Cassanelli lists Xarardheere with El Dher as farming centres of the Hiraab Imamate that grew sorghum and beans alongside herds of camels, cattle, goats and sheep (Wikipedia: Hobyo, quoting Cassanelli).

People recorded as coming from Xarardheere include Abdirashid Ali Shermarke, Somalia's second president; Daud Abdulle Hirsi, the first commander of the Somali Armed Forces; Mohamed Abshir Muse, the first Somali Police Force commander; and General Salaad Gabeyre Kediye (Wikipedia: Harardhere).

Piracy years

From about 2008 Xarardheere was one of the main bases of piracy off Somalia. Reports from that time describe a share market in the town where investors bought and sold stakes in planned hijackings (Wikipedia: Piracy off the coast of Somalia). Some residents told reporters in 2008 that pirate spending had brought jobs and trade to the town (Wikipedia: Piracy off the coast of Somalia).

When Puntland forces pushed pirate groups out of Eyl and Garacad, the groups were reported to operate mainly from Hobyo, El Danaan and Xarardheere (Wikipedia: Piracy off the coast of Somalia). In May 2010 the Hizbul Islam militia briefly took the town and a commander said it would end piracy there. Al-Shabaab was later reported to demand 20% of future ransoms from pirate leaders in Xarardheere (Wikipedia: Piracy off the coast of Somalia). A 2017 report named a "Hobyo-Haradhere piracy network" (Wikipedia: Piracy off the coast of Somalia).

Al-Shabaab control and recapture

Al-Shabaab controlled the town from at least 2012 to 2023 (Wikipedia: Harardhere). In 2018 a US airstrike on a camp outside the town was reported to have killed about 60 fighters (Military Times, Oct 2018). On 16 January 2023 the Somali Armed Forces retook Xarardheere during the offensive in central Somalia (Wikipedia: Harardhere).

Sources

• Wikipedia: Harardhere
• Wikipedia: Piracy off the coast of Somalia
• Wikidata Q598676
• UNDP 2005 rural and urban population estimates
• Military Times, Oct 2018