Afmadow


Afmadow is a city in southern Somalia, located in the middle of the Juba region and bordered by Kenya, Badhadhe, Kismayo, Jamame, Jilib, Hagar, Bardhere and Elwaq in Somalia, 401 km southwest of the capital Mogadishu. It is home to a wide variety of wild animals, including the Big Five game. The vegetation in Afmadow consists of rich grassland, bounded by semi-desert. Afmadow is mainly inhabited by the Ogaden Mohamed Subeir. It is located northwest of Kismayo. Distance between Afmadow and Kismayo is 110 kilometers or 68 miles.

Divisions

  1. Waamo
  2. Faanoole
  3. Danwadaag

    Sub-Divisions

  4. Bulowein
  5. Bulo-Dano
  6. Abaq-Baanboow
  7. Adablaha
  8. Hodan
  9. Afarsaha
  10. Cameroon
  11. Barxada
  12. Baldoos
  13. Adoole
  14. Bulo-Gumar

    History

The town was captured in 2006 by the Islamic Court Union as were the other districts in the region during the civil war.
On 21 November 2009, the Islamist Al-Shabab militia took control of Afmadow, causing hundreds of families and also western aid workers to flee in fear of violence, after another Islamist group, Hizbul Islam, left a day earlier, allowing Al-Shabab to move in without much resistance.
Tension had been building between both militia since the former allies fell out in October in Kismayo, leading to fighting and Al-Shabab taking Kismayo in October 2009.
On 18 October 2011, eyewitnesses reported that Kenyan jets were flying low over the city and al-Shabab was preparing entrenchment systems to defend against an expected attack by the Kenya Army as part of the Kenyan intervention in Somalia. But at the time, the government in Mogadishu was denying the presence of Kenyan troops in Somalia.
On 31 May 2012, it was reported that the Kenyan forces captured the city, as al-Shabab abandoned the town without fighting.