Qoryooley (Qoryoley)

Where it is

Qoryooley (Maay: Qornyooley; Italian: Coriolei) is in the Lower Shabelle region of South West State, 123 km south-west of Mogadishu and 23 km west of the coastal town of Marka (Wikipedia: Qoryoley). It lies at about 1.78°N, 44.53°E and 62 m above sea level (Wikidata), in the irrigated farmland of the lower Shabelle River.

The town is said to be named after Ahmed Qoryoley, who founded it before independence (Wikipedia: Qoryoley).

People

Population estimates vary by year and source:

• 2000: about 62,700 (Wikipedia: Qoryoley)
• 2005: the UNDP rural and urban estimate (UNDP 2005)
• 2006: about 51,720 (Wikipedia: Qoryoley)
• 2022: about 120,000, of whom 75% were Garre and 25% from other groups (Wikipedia: Qoryoley)
• 2024: 134,205 in Qoryooley district (Wikipedia: Qoryoley)

The Garre are the largest group in the town (Wikipedia: Qoryoley). IOM has published a location report for Qoryooley as part of its community stabilisation work in Lower Shabelle (IOM Somalia, Qoryooley location report).

Climate

Qoryooley is hot and dry, with about 296 mm of rain a year. May is the wettest month (65 mm) and February the driest (1 mm). The average temperature is 26°C; March is the hottest month and July the coolest (Wikipedia: Qoryoley, from NASA Earth Observations).

Since 2014

• March 2014: fighting outside the town killed four soldiers and a civilian. On 22 March Ugandan AMISOM troops took Qoryooley from al-Shabaab in Operation Eagle (Garowe Online, 2014; UN photo archive).
• July 2015: after al-Shabaab overran a base at Leego in June, AMISOM left several towns, and al-Shabaab retook Qoryooley on 4 July (Somalia Newsroom, 2015).
• May 2017: al-Shabaab attacked Somali National Army bases near the town (AllAfrica, 2017).
• 2018 to 2020: attacks on army positions and on the El-Salini base outside the town; an assault with suicide bombers on El-Salini on 19 February 2020 killed between about 20 and 31 people by different counts (VOA; Garowe Online).
• 2023: an attack on a base and the district office on 4 July, and an attempt to take the town on 1 September that the army stopped after about two hours (The Somali Digest).
• 12 June 2024: Garre and Jiiddo clan militias fought for more than four hours in the town (Somali Guardian).

People from Qoryooley

The middle-distance runner Mukhtar Mohammed and the footballer Abdi Sharif are listed as coming from the town (Wikipedia: Qoryoley).

Sources

• Wikipedia: Qoryoley
• Wikidata Q2054709
• IOM Somalia, Qoryooley location report
• Somalia Newsroom, AMISOM leaves 10 towns, 2015
• Somali Guardian, clan militia fighting, 2024