Afar-Somali border conflict - Ethiopia Peace Observatory

Last updated: 20/08/2024

The border areas around Afar and Somali regions experience frequent violent conflict due to long-running disputes over contested territory. Three kebeles inhabited by ethnic Somalis from the Issa clan are at the center of the conflict. These three kebeles are located in Afar’s zones 1 and 3 and Somali’s Siti zone (see map below). The contested areas include Adaytu kebele of Mille woreda, Undufo kebele in Gewane woreda, and Gedamaytu kebele in Amibara woreda.

Conflict background

Ethnic Somalis who inhabit the contested territory want to join the neighboring Somali region in Ethiopia, an action that the Afar regional authorities strongly oppose. The disputed areas have important resources, including the Awash River, and important transport lines, including the highway and railway connecting Addis Ababa and Djibouti. Violent conflict over these resources has increased since 2018, with major clashes occurring in the context of heightened political tensions during the run-up to the national elections in 2021, as well as afterward.

Both Afar and ethnic Somalis use the Awash River for their livestock, and trade routes between Addis Ababa and Djibouti are vital for the local economy. According to political historian John Markakis:

“Since the beginning of the colonial period the Afar have been pushed northwards by their Somali neighbors…the Issa pushed the Afar from Dire Dawa northwards to claim the eastern portion of the Alighedi plain and came within sight of the Awash river; which the Afar believe is the Issa’s ultimate goal.”¹

When ethno-federalism was introduced in the 1990s, both Somali and Afar became regional states with their own state councils and constitutions. The allocation of political power based on ethno-federalism divided communities further, and like other locations in Ethiopia, conflict has expanded beyond disputed locations and is fought between formal security forces and informal militias from both sides.

In December 2014, the two regional states signed an agreement granting Somalis residing in the disputed territory greater political autonomy as ‘special kebeles’ within the Afar regional state. These kebeles included Garba-Issa, Undufo, and Adeytu towns. However, the agreement failed to resolve the conflict, and thus, on 3 May 2019, the cabinet of the Somali regional state withdrew from the agreement. In its decision to withdraw, the cabinet stated the agreement “has no base under the federal constitution.”²

Current situation

In February 2021, ACLED records three incidents of armed clashes between Afar and Somali ethnic militias in Mille, Adaar, and Amibara woredas of Afar region. Intensified violence erupted again in April 2021.

Fighting between Afar and Somali regional forces and their associated militias reignited after the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) listed 30 polling stations in these three areas under the Somali regional state. When the Afar regional state disputed this decision,³ the NEBE decided to cancel the disputed polling stations and instead advised residents in the contested areas to register and vote in neighboring kebeles.⁴ The Somali regional government rejected NEBE’s decision and warned it would present “difficulties” for voters if these polling stations remained closed.⁵

Fighting triggered by this dispute from 2 to 6 April 2021 resulted in at least 100 reported fatalities.⁶ As the conflict intensified, so did the dispute between warring parties, with each accusing the other of instigating the violence. The Afar Regional State Communication Bureau claimed that soldiers from the Somali regional special forces attacked Hanruk, Gelano, and Gewane woredas from 2 to 6 April 2021. Meanwhile, the Somali Regional State Communication Bureau insisted that it was the Afar regional special forces, along with a militia – called Uguguma (ኡጉጉማ) – that attacked civilians in Deawdi, Kerefa, Deawdid, Gewrean, Kelale, and Denlehe kebeles.⁷

To resolve the conflict, the Ministry of Peace invited both parties to meet with participants from the country’s peace and security institutions for dialogue on 8 April 2021. Presidents of both regions attended the dialogue conference with their delegations. At the end of their discussion, both parties agreed to stop the violence, remove their respective forces from the disputed territory, and respect and abide by previous agreements. They also agreed to allow the federal government to investigate the latest round of conflict in order to identify the perpetrators of the recent violence.⁸ In May 2022, Afar and Somali regional states reached an agreement to remove their special forces from the disputed territory.⁹

Despite the peace agreement, violence has continued to erupt sporadically. Between May 2022 and April 2024, 31 armed clash events involving both parties were recorded in the disputed territory between the Somali and Afar regions. Most of the violence along the Afar-Somali regional borders has involved the participation of Afar and Somali regional special forces. In April 2023, the Ethiopian federal government announced the integration of all regional special forces into other security sectors in the country, a move which could lead to a reduction of conflict (for more, see the EPO weekly: 8-14 April 2023).

In March 2024, the Ethiopian Islamic Affairs Supreme Council initiated another round of peace talks, which led to a ceasefire agreement on 18 April 2024. The Council asked that the regional governments of both Somali and Afar regions fulfill their responsibilities in sustaining the ceasefire.¹⁰ (for more, see the EPO Weekly Update (30 April 2024).