# Qandala (Candala)

> Qandala (Candala): old Gulf of Aden port in Bari, Puntland, 75 km east of Bosaso; held by an IS-linked group in late 2016.

Source page: https://calankii.com/en/regions/qandala/
Last checked: 2026-11-12
Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com)

## Where it is

Qandala is the main town of Qandala district in the [Bari](/en/regions/bari/) region of [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/), 75 km east of Bosaso on the [Gulf of Aden](/en/relations/yemen/) ([Wikipedia: Qandala](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qandala)), at about 11.47°N, 49.87°E ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1668870)). It sits at the mouth of a dry river bed (wadi), which forms a natural sheltered harbour ([Wikipedia: Qandala](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qandala)). Wikipedia gives its population as about 19,300 ([Wikipedia: Qandala](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qandala)).

## Ancient port and frankincense

Sources identify Qandala with Tabae, a port named in the 1st-century *Periplus of the Erythraean Sea* ([Wikipedia: Qandala](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qandala)). The ports of the far north-east traded incense, gums and aromatic woods to Roman Egypt, Arabia, Persia and India ([Wikipedia: Qandala](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qandala)). Its nickname, Gacanka Hodonka ("the gulf of plenty"), is linked to the frankincense and myrrh of the nearby Cal Miskat mountains, which local people still harvest ([Wikipedia: Qandala](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qandala)). See also [frankincense and myrrh](/en/economy/frankincense-and-myrrh/).

## The Majeerteen Sultanate

In the early modern period Qandala was a port of the [Majeerteen Sultanate](/en/history/majeerteen-and-hobyo-sultanates/), trading with southern Arabia, Egypt and India alongside [Hafun](/en/history/ancient-port-of-opone-ras-hafun/), Bargaal, Habo, Caluula and Bosaso. A castle from this period still stands ([Wikipedia: Qandala](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qandala)). In the late 1920s Italian bombardment in the campaign against the northern sultanates badly damaged Qandala, [Caluula](/en/regions/caluula/), [Bargaal](/en/regions/bargaal/), Hafun and Habo ([Wikipedia: Alula, Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alula,_Somalia)).

## 2016: Islamic State-linked group takes the town

On 26 October 2016 a group linked to the Islamic State took Qandala with about 50 armed fighters after a short gunfight with local security forces. It was the first town in Somalia held by an Islamic State-linked group ([Reuters, Oct 2016](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-somalia-security-idUSKCN12Q0VW)). Reports then differed on whether the fighters had withdrawn ([Long War Journal, Oct 2016](https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2016/10/islamic-state-fighters-withdraw-from-captured-somali-port-town.php)).

On 7 December 2016 a Somali official said Puntland forces had retaken the port, killing 30 militants; four soldiers were also killed ([Washington Post / AP, Dec 2016](https://web.archive.org/web/20161208150812/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/somalia-recaptures-town-from-is-linked-fighters-34-dead/2016/12/07/69404608-bc95-11e6-ae79-bec72d34f8c9_story.html)). Reports in 2017 said the Islamic State group in Somalia worked closely with pirate networks, one of them based in Qandala ([Wikipedia: Piracy off the coast of Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piracy_off_the_coast_of_Somalia)).

## Schools and transport

Puntland's education ministry lists 15 primary schools in Qandala district, among them Xamure, Dhadar, Turmasale and Gurur ([Puntland Ministry of Education](http://www.moepuntland.com/primary/)). The town has a small sea port and an airstrip, Candala airport ([Wikipedia: Qandala](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qandala); [Great Circle Mapper: HCMC](http://www.gcmap.com/airport/HCMC)). OCHA publishes a reference map of the district ([OCHA, Qandala district map](https://reliefweb.int/map/somalia/somalia-reference-map-qandala-district-22-feb-2012)).

## Sources

- [Wikipedia: Qandala](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qandala)
- [Wikidata Q1668870](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1668870)
- [Reuters, Islamic State-linked fighters seize Qandala, Oct 2016](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-somalia-security-idUSKCN12Q0VW)
- [Washington Post / AP, Somalia retakes town, Dec 2016](https://web.archive.org/web/20161208150812/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/somalia-recaptures-town-from-is-linked-fighters-34-dead/2016/12/07/69404608-bc95-11e6-ae79-bec72d34f8c9_story.html)
- [Puntland Ministry of Education, primary schools](http://www.moepuntland.com/primary/)

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