page_title: Afgooye
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Afgooye / History
caption_attribution_description: English: An old aerial image of the farming town of Afgooye
context_page_description: Afgooye is a town in the southwestern Somalia Lower Shebelle region of Somalia. It is the center of the Afgooye District. Afgooye is the third largest city of Southwest State.
context_section_description: During the Middle Ages, Afgooye and much of the surrounding area in southern Somalia was governed by the Ajuran Empire. The town later came under the administration of the Silcis Sultanate and Geledi Sultanate in the 1800s. The Istunka martial arts festival that is held annually in the town during the Somali new year dates from this period.
  At the turn of the 20th century, Afgooye was incorporated into Italian Somaliland. The Italians occupied the town in 1908 and in the process abolished the local slave market. There was also a station in Afgooye on the Mogadishu-Villabruzzi Railway, which connected the town to the capital Mogadishu.
  In the 1980s, Afgooye was a common destination for investors from the Gulf states. The Emir of Kuwait also reportedly used to visit the town during the holy month of Ramadan.
  After the outbreak of the civil war in 1991, parts of the town became a place of refuge for many of southern Somalia's internally displaced people.
  On May 25, 2012, Somali government forces backed by AMISOM tanks re-captured Afgooye from Al-Shabaab, which had established a base in the area.
caption: An old aerial image of the farming town of Afgooye
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