Afmadow () is a city in southern

Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...

, located in the middle of the

Juba Juba is the capital and largest city of South Sudan. The city is situated on the White Nile and also serves as the capital of the Central Equatoria, Central Equatoria State. It is the most recently declared national capital and had a populatio ...

region and bordered by

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

, Badhadhe,

Kismayo Kismayo (, , ; ) is a port city in the southern Lower Juba (Jubbada Hoose) province of Somalia. It is the commercial capital of the autonomous Jubaland region. The city is situated southwest of the capital Mogadishu, near the mouth of the Jub ...

Jamame Jamame (, , , formerly ''Villaggio Regina Margherita''), also spelled Giamame, is a town in the southern Lower Juba (Jubbada Hoose) region of Somalia. There are many farms located near Jamame. The equator passes over the town. Overview Jamame i ...

Jilib Jilib is a city in the Middle Juba region of Somalia. It currently serves as the ''de facto'' capital of the Islamic Emirate of Somalia controlled by al-Shabaab. Jilib has an estimated population of around 100,000 inhabitants and covers an area ...

Hagar According to the Book of Genesis, Hagar is an Egyptian slave, a handmaiden of Sarah (then known as ''Sarai''), whom Sarah gave to her own husband Abram (later renamed Abraham) as a wife to bear him a child. Abraham's firstborn son, through Haga ...

Bardhere Bardere (, , ) also known as Bardera, is a city in Jubaland State of Somalia. It is the second most populous city in Jubaland with Kismayo being the largest and most densely populated city in the region. Bardere sits on the Jubba River around 250& ...

and

Elwaq El Wak () is a border city on the Somalia-Kenya border. 9 km away from El Wak, Kenya and 4 km from Somalia -Kenya border.The Somali portion is located in the southwestern Gedo region of Jubaland state, where it is the seat of one of the region's s ...

in Somalia, it's 401 km southwest of the capital

Mogadishu Mogadishu, locally known as Xamar or Hamar, is the capital and List of cities in Somalia by population, most populous city of Somalia. The city has served as an important port connecting traders across the Indian Ocean for millennia and has ...

. It is home to a wide variety of wild animals, including the Big Five game animals. The

vegetation Vegetation is an assemblage of plants and the ground cover they provide. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular Taxon, taxa, life forms, structure, Spatial ecology, spatial extent, or any other specific Botany, botanic ...

in Afmadow consists of rich

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominance (ecology), dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes such as clover, and other Herbaceo ...

, bounded by

semi-desert A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of sem ...

. It is located northwest of

. The distance between Afmadow and

is 110 kilometers or 68 miles.

Divisions

# Waamo # Faanoole # Danwadaag

Sub-Divisions

# Bulowein # Bulo-Dano # Abaq-Baanboow # Adablaha # Hodan # Afarsaha # Cameroon # Barxada # Baldoos # Adoole # Bulo-Gumar

History

Afmadow was captured in 2006 by the Islamic Court Union as were the other districts in the region during the

Somali Civil War The Somali Civil War (; ) is an List of ongoing armed conflicts, ongoing civil war that is taking place in Somalia. It grew out of resistance to the military junta which was led by Siad Barre during the 1980s. From 1988 to 1990, the Somali Armed ...

. On 21 November 2009, the Islamist Al-Shabab militia took control of Afmadow, causing hundreds of families as well as western aid workers to flee in fear of violence. Another Islamist group,

Hizbul Islam Hizbul Islam ("Islamic Party"), also known as Hizbul Islaami, Hisbi Islam, or Hezb-ul Islam, was a Somali Islamist group formed after four Islamist groups merged to oppose the new Transitional Federal Government administration of President S ...

, left a day earlier, allowing Al-Shabab to move in without much resistance. Tensions 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 Kenyan Army as part of the Kenyan intervention in Somalia. 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 Jubaland security forces backed KDF captured the city, as al-Shabab abandoned the town without fighting.

References

{{coord, 0, 30, 56, N, 42, 4, 24, E, region:SO_type:city, display=title Populated places in Lower Juba