# Aynaba

Aynaba, also spelt Ainabo, Ainaba or Aynabo (Somali: Caynaba, Arabic: عينبة) is a major town in western Sool region of Somaliland as well as the administrative seat of the Aynaba District.

## Overview

Aynaba is situated on a busy tarmac road connecting Somaliland's major cities to Somalia and is the second largest town in the Sool region of Somaliland after Las Anod. The town is almost at the exact center between Burao and Las Anod, with the town being 127 km and 124 km away from both cities respectively. The name "Aynaba" or "Aynabo" translates to "black" in the Somali language.
Aynaba is home to the famous Aynaba Well, well known throughout Somaliland and among Somalis in general for its depth and abundant water, which attracts nomads from neighbouring Togdheer, Sanaag and Sool regions and has been the subject of many poems.
Ancient edifices have been found in Aynaba. Somaliland in general, is home to numerous such archaeological sites and megalithic structures, with similar rock art found at Haadh, Gudmo Biyo Cas, Dhambalin, Dhagah Maroodi and numerous other sites, while ancient edifices are, among others, found at Sheikh, Aw-Barkhadle, Ancient Amud, Heis, Maydh, Haylan, Qa’ableh, Qombo'ul and El Ayo. However, many of these old structures have yet to be properly explored, a process which would help shed further light on local history and facilitate their preservation for posterity.

## History
### 19th century

During the early to mid-19th century, Aynaba was the headquarters of the Soocane military faction led by the famous poet and military leader Kite Fiqi.

#### Dervish movement

The town was one of many temporary local centers that the Dervish movement operated from, led by the Mad Mullah's second in command Haji Sudi of the Adan Madoba subclan of the Habr Je'lo. The town was also the sight of clashes between the movement's Sufi tariqa, the Salihiyya and its rival, the Qadiriyya in 1955.

### Guba series

Following a string of Habr Je'lo victories over the Dhulbahante after the collapse of the Dervish movement, in which they had captured many wells and reduced their opponents to a pitiful state, including expelling them from Aynaba and the wider Aynaba district, Salaan Carrabey composed a boastful poem dedicated to Aynaba called Haadaaqsi.

### Conquest of Aynaba

The Isaaq clan expanded into traditional Dhulbahante territory to the east. This expansion was led primarily by the Habr Je’lo subclan. The clan boundary between the Habr Je'lo and the Dhulbahante during the 19th century was traditionally in Laba Garday, a pass in the Buurdhaab mountain chain situated between War Idaad and Wadamago. The Dhulbahante had previously inhabited just east of Burao. The Habr Je'lo took advantage of the Dhulbahante's weakness after the defeat of the Dervish movement to conquer much of their important wells and grazing grounds. The Habr Je'lo subsequently expanded into and beyond the Saraar plain and the Ain Valley (which includes Aynaba), pushing the Dhulbahante southwards towards the Haud:
   Thus under pressure from the Habar Tol Ja'lo expanding to their north, the Dulbahante claim that formerly their north-western boundary was the Sarar Plain now grazed mainly by Habar Tol Ja'lo. And there is good evidence that they have in fact been forced to move south. Those Dulbahante lineages which formerly grazed in the Ain region and which were accordingly called Reer ‘Aymeed today pasture their stock mainly in the scrub-lands of the northern Hand where they are known as ‘people of the bush’ (Reer Oodeed).
One of the most significant military and territorial gains was the Habr Je'lo conquest of the strategic town of Aynaba during a tribal war between the Habr Je'lo and the Dhulbahante in 1954-55. At the start of the 20th century Aynaba and its surroundings were inhabited by the Dhulbahante, who controlled the important wells there, which was seized by the Habr Je'lo alongside the town itself.
The immediate cause of the war was camel rustling in Erigavo District (today Sanaag region) perpetrated by the famous Dhulbahante warrior, Ali Guun. The camel rustling perpetrated by Ali Guun was however a bloody affair, which precipitated an all-out tribal conflict between the two clans. The death of Ali Guun in Ban 'Ade, a plain between Garadag and Hudun turned the tide against the Dhulbahante, with the actual war later on being fought in an area further south of Las Anod. A Habr Je'lo poet stated:
The most famous poem about the war was composed by Mohamed Adan Aws (Yawleh) of the Habr Yunis Isaaq. Intending to salt the wounds of the Dhulbahante, he said:
The Dhulbahante loss of Caynabo constituted a form of collective trauma for the Dhulbahante, and touched a nerve among them, especially the subclans inhabiting the Buuhoodle area. The current clan border between the Isaaq and the Dhulbahante is roughly between the towns of Oog and Guumays in Sool region.

### Drought

Between 1974 and 1975, a major drought referred to as the Abaartii Dabadheer ("The Lingering Drought") occurred in modern-day Somaliland and the neighbouring northern Puntland region of Somalia. The Soviet Union, which at the time maintained strategic relations with the Siad Barre government, airlifted some 90,000 people from the devastated regions of Aynaba and the towns of Beer and Hobyo. New small settlements referred to as Danwadaagaha ("Collective Settlements") were then created in Jubbada Hoose (Lower Jubba) and Jubbada Dhexe (Middle Jubba) regions. The transplanted families were also introduced to farming and fishing techniques, a change from their traditional pastoralist lifestyle of livestock herding.

## Oil exploration

The area Aynaba is located in is home to Block SL10B/13. In November 2019, Genel energy present estimation of block potential. It conclude the existence of active petroleum system and several stacked oil reserves within the block adding up to 1.3 billion barrels of oil. Full field development will have daily output of 50.000 barrels of oil. In December 2021, Genel Energy signed a farm-out deal with OPIC Somaliland Corporation, backed by Taiwan’s CPC Corporation, on the SL10B/13 block. According to Genel, the block could contain more than 5 billion barrels of prospective resources.

## Demographics

As of 2018 Aynaba has an estimated population of 50,000. In 2005, the wider district of Aynaba had a population of 75,702 residents.
According to a book published in England in 1951, Aynabo was inhabited by the Habr Yunis, Habr Je'lo, and Dhulbahante clans.
According to a 2016 document from EASO, and 2018 document by Markus Virgil Hoehne, a lecturer at the Leipzig University, Aynabo is primarily inhabited by the reeryoonis Habr Je'lo subclan of Isaaq.

## Notable residents

* Haji Abdi Awad Ali (Indhadeero) — Somali entrepreneur and the founder and former CEO of Indhadeero Group of Companies.
* Sheikh Ali Warsame – prominent Somali Islamic cleric and preacher, founder of AIAI (1939–2022)
* Jama Mohamed Aden — Somali former middle-distance runner
* Hurre Walanwal — Somali poet and songwriter