Buur Dhaab
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Buur Dhaab, also known as Buurdhaab or Bur Dab (, ), is a mountain range situated in the
Togdheer Togdheer (, ) is an administrative region (''Administrative divisions of Somaliland, gobol'') in central Somaliland. Togdheer is bordered by Maroodi Jeex to the west, Sahil, Somaliland, Saaxil to the north, Sanaag to the northeast, Sool, Somalia ...
and
Sool Sool (, ) is a disputed administrative region (gobol). It borders Togdheer to the west, Sanaag to the north, Ethiopia to the south and Nugal, Bari to the east. Its capital city is Las Anod. The region is disputed by the self-declared Republic o ...
regions of
Somaliland Somaliland, officially the Republic of Somaliland, is an List of states with limited recognition, unrecognised country in the Horn of Africa. It is located in the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden and bordered by Djibouti to the northwest, E ...
. The mountain range stands at an elevation of 973 m, or 3,193 ft.


Description

The name "Buur Dhaab" translates to "rocky hill" in Somali. The range forms the northern rim of the Ain Valley, and separates it and the Nugal Valley from the
Haud The Haud (also Hawd) (, ), formerly known as the Hawd Reserve Area, is a plateau situated in the Horn of Africa consisting of thorn-bush and grasslands. The region includes the southern part of Somaliland as well as the northern and eastern part ...
. J Murray, who went on an expedition to Buur Dhaab, describes the range:


History

Buur Dhaab has also historically acted as a junction for trade caravans coming from the east on their way to
Berbera Berbera (; , ) is the capital of the Sahil, Somaliland, Sahil region of Somaliland and is the main sea port of the country, located approximately 160 km from the national capital, Hargeisa. Berbera is a coastal city and was the former capital of t ...
port, passing through the Laba Gardai or Bah Lardis pass located within the range. The powerful
Habr Je'lo The Habr Je'lo (), , Full Name: ''Mūsa ibn ash-Shaykh Isḥāq ibn Aḥmad,'' historically known as the Habr Toljaala () is a major Northern Somali clan of the wider Isaaq family. Its members form the Habr Habusheed () confederation along with t ...
clan has historically acted as the guardians of this pass, receiving dues in exchange for guaranteed safety through Buur Dhaab: The range is home to three Dervish stone forts located at Shimber Berris, constructed by Yemeni Arab masons on the orders of
Mohammed Abdullah Hassan Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monotheistic teachings of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, ...
after the
Battle of Dul Madoba The Battle of Dul Madoba was an engagement between British forces and the Dervish movement on 4 August 1913. During the battle, Ibraahin Xoorane killed Richard Corfield. A native Somali account of the battle is found in the poem . Battle Dul ...
.


Sheikh Bashir Rebellion

Buur Dhaab was the base of
Sheikh Bashir Sheikh Bashir Sheikh Yusuf Sheikh Hassan (, , born c. 1905) was a Somali religious leader famed for leading the 1945 Sheikh Bashir Rebellion against the British colonial authority in Somaliland. Biography Sheikh Bashir was born in 1905 in Tal ...
during his 1945
rebellion Rebellion is an uprising that resists and is organized against one's government. A rebel is a person who engages in a rebellion. A rebel group is a consciously coordinated group that seeks to gain political control over an entire state or a ...
against the British authorities in Somaliland. On the evening of 3 July Sheikh Bashir and his followers entered Burao and opened fire on the police guard of the central prison in the city, which was filled with prisoners arrested for previous demonstrations. The group also attacked the house of the district commissioner of
Burao District Burao District () is a district of the Togdheer region in central Somaliland. Its capital lies at Burao. Overview The district is home to some of the largest livestock markets, known in Somali as ''seylad'', in the Horn of Africa, with as many as ...
, Major Chambers, resulting in the death of Major Chamber's police guard before escaping to the range, where Sheikh Bashir's small unit occupied a fort and took up a defensive position in anticipation of a British counterattack. The British administration recruited Indian and South African troops, led by police general James David, to fight against Sheikh Bashir and had intelligence plans to capture him alive. The British authorities mobilized a police force, and eventually on 7 July found Sheikh Bashir and his unit in defensive positions behind their fortifications in the mountains of Bur Dhab. After clashes Sheikh Bashir and his second-in-command, Alin Yusuf Ali, nicknamed Qaybdiid, were killed. A third rebel was wounded and was captured along with two other rebels. The rest fled the fortifications and dispersed. On the British side the police general leading the British troops as well as a number of Indian and South African troops perished in the clashes, and a policeman was injured. After his death, Sheikh Bashir was widely hailed by locals as a martyr and was held in great reverence. His family took quick action to remove his body from the place of his death at Geela-eeg mountain, about 20 miles from
Burao Burao, also spelt Bur'o or Bur'ao (; , , ), is the capital of the Togdheer region and the second largest city in Somaliland. Burao was the site of the Somaliland Declaration of Independence, declaration of an independent Somaliland on 18 May 19 ...
.


War of Independence

The Bur Dab range served as a base for the
Somali National Movement The Somali National Movement (, ) was one of the first and most important Guerrilla warfare, organized guerilla groups and Mujahideen groups that opposed the Siad Barre regime in the 1980s to the 1990s, as well as being the main anti-government f ...
(SNM) during the
Somaliland War of Independence The Somaliland War of Independence () was a rebellion waged by the Somali National Movement (SNM) against the ruling military junta in Somali Democratic Republic, Somalia led by General Siad Barre lasting from its founding on 6 April 1981 and en ...
, and has been the site of hit-and-run attacks against the Somali National Army. A contingent led by now Somaliland Interior Minister Mohamed Kahin Ahmed consisting of 130 soldiers assaulted regime positions in the range, inflicting heavy casualties.


Flaura and fauna

The range mostly consists of trap-rock,
gypsum Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate Hydrate, dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, drywall and blackboard or sidewalk ...
, and stratified eocene limestone rock, and has been noted for its
myrrh Myrrh (; from an unidentified ancient Semitic language, see '' § Etymology'') is a gum-resin extracted from a few small, thorny tree species of the '' Commiphora'' genus, belonging to the Burseraceae family. Myrrh resin has been used ...
. The range was home to a rhinoceros population, which has since gone extinct.
Aloe ''Aloe'' (; also written ''Aloë'') is a genus containing over 650 species of flowering plant, flowering succulent plant, succulent plants.WFO (2022): Aloe L. Published on the Internet;http://www.worldfloraonline.org/taxon/wfo-4000001341. Acc ...
also grows abundantly in the range.


Oil explorations

In August 2012, the Somaliland government awarded
Genel Energy Genel Energy plc is publicly listed exploration and production oil company, listed on the London Stock Exchange. The company owns an interest in the Tawke production sharing contract in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, as well as licences in Somalila ...
license to explore oil within its territory. Results of a surface seep study completed early in 2015 confirmed the outstanding potential offered in SL-10B and SL-13 block and Oodweyne block with estimated oil reserves of 1 billion barrel each. Genel Energy is set to drill exploration well for SL-10B and SL-13 block in the Buur Dhaab range by the end of 2018. Somaliland Toosan Well 1 Drills in Place in 2024 after successful seismic data Toosan Oil estimates around 700 Million barrels of Crude.


Demographics

The Buur Dhaab range is mainly inhabited by the Habr Je'lo clan, part of the wider
Isaaq The Isaaq (, , ''Banu Ishaq'') is a major Somali clans, Somali clan. It is one of the largest Somali clan families in the Horn of Africa, with a large and densely populated traditional territory. The Isaaq people claim in a traditional legend ...
clan-family in Somaliland, with the Mohammed Abokor noted for grazing in the area.


References

{{Reflist Mountain ranges of Somaliland Mountains of Somaliland Mountains of Somalia Mountain ranges of Somalia Sool, Somaliland Togdheer