Kismayo

Kismayo كيسمايو Kismayo
Kismayo
Coordinates	0 ° 21 ′  S , 42 ° 33 ′  E Coordinates: 0 ° 21 ′  S , 42 ° 33 ′  E
Basic data
Country	Somalia
region	Jubbada Hoose
Residents	350,000 (2019)
founding	1868

Aerial view of Kismayo in October 2012

Kismaayo (Italian: Chisimaio ; also written Kismayo , Kismaju , Chisimaayo etc.) is a port city in southern Somalia with about 350,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Jubbada Hoose region (Lower Jubba ), is located near the mouth of the Jubba River and is connected to the capital Mogadishu by a road . The place name is said to be derived from kisima yuu - Swahili for "high well" - which is also the name of a nearby well.

The Bajuni Islands lie in front of Kismayo .

history

Street scene in Kismayo 2012.

Around 1868 members of the Somali clan of the Harti- Darod immigrated to the area from the north and founded Kismaayo. When war broke out with the Somali resident there around 1870, the Sultan of Zanzibar sent soldiers and placed the new settlement under his suzerainty. Egyptian troops occupied the city in October 1875, but withdrew under pressure from Great Britain in December of that year.

Germany claimed Kismayo as part of Witu in 1886/1890 (see German Somali Coast ). In 1896 the Jubaland region including Kismaayo became part of the British colony of Kenya . In 1925 the area was transferred to Italy, the following year it was incorporated into Italian Somaliland as the province of Oltre Giuba with Kismayo as the capital .

After Somalia gained independence, the old port facilities were modernized in the late 1960s. They were used to export bananas, hides, myrrh and citrus fruits. A large meat processing plant was established under Siad Barre , employing hundreds.

During the civil war in Somalia , Kismayo was fought over between different clans from the city and its surroundings. It became the stronghold of the 1999 Juba Valley Alliance under the leadership of Marehan-Darod Barre Adan Shire Hiiraale .

Numerous Somali Bantu from the Jubba Valley came to the city as internally displaced people .

Islamist rule

Kenyan soldiers from AMISOM 2012 at Kismaayo Airport.

On September 25, 2006, a faction of the Union of Islamic Courts took the city, ousting the Juba Valley Alliance.

When troops from neighboring Ethiopia invaded Somalia at the end of 2006 and ousted the Union from large parts of the country, large parts of the Union withdrew to Kismayo. Troops from Ethiopia and the interim government of Somalia followed and captured Kismayo on January 1, 2007. From June 2007, clan militias, loosely linked to the transitional government, again controlled the city.

In August 2008 they were again ousted by the radical Islamist al-Shabaab and Hezbul Islam . Since then, the Islamists have used the city's port to import weapons and other equipment by sea. In addition, taxes that they levied in the port were an important source of income. In October 2008 they stoned a 13-year-old girl. According to relatives, the girl had been raped and tried to report the crime to al-Shabaab security forces, but was then arrested, charged with illegitimate sex and publicly executed. At the end of September 2009 there was fighting between al-Shabaab and Hezbul Islam over differences of power between the two groups. Clan conflicts also played a role. In late 2011, Kenyan troops invaded Somali territory to fight al-Shabaab. The capture of Kismayo, in particular control of the port, was a strategic goal.

At the end of September 2012, Kenyan marines went ashore ( sea ​​landing ) in front of the Somali port city of Kismayo . The following night, the Islamists evacuated Kismayo, their last permanent base in Somalia. In Kismayo, several clans are vying for power and benefices.

Street scene in Kismayo 2016.

On July 12, 2019, a car bomb exploded in front of a hotel and gunmen then attacked the hotel with handguns. 26 people, including 2 Somali journalists, died in the attack. The terrorist organization al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack.

Infrastructure

Kismayo Airport

The Kismayo airport is located 10 km outside the city. Under the regime of Siad Barre , this was a base for the Somali Air Force. After the fall of Siad Barre in 1991, flight operations came to a standstill for years due to the Somali civil war . As a result of heavy fighting between various rival clans, the airport's infrastructure was badly damaged. In 2008 the Union of Islamic Courts took control of the airport and reopened it. That same year, the airport was named after Ahmed Gurey, a 16th-century Somali folk hero.

In 2016 the airport was placed under the control of the Somali transitional government. Since then, the airport has been rebuilt with foreign aid.

Climate table

Kismayo
Climate diagram
J F. M. A. M. J J A. S. O N D.     1   30th 24     1   30th 25th     3   31 25th     39   32 26th     111   30th 25th     89   29 24     52   28 23     21st   28 23     21st   29 23     15th   30th 24     17th   31 25th     3   31 24 Temperature in ° C ,  precipitation in mm Source: wetterkontor.de

Average monthly temperatures and rainfall for Kismayo Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Max. Temperature ( ° C ) 29.6 29.9 31.0 31.8 30.4 28.6 28.0 28.3 28.6 29.5 30.5 30.5 O 29.7 Min. Temperature (° C) 24.2 24.5 25.4 25.8 24.8 23.5 23.1 23.3 23.3 24.0 24.5 24.4 O 24.2 Precipitation ( mm ) 1 1 3 39 111 89 52 21st 21st 15th 17th 3 Σ 373 Hours of sunshine ( h / d ) 7.6 8.0 8.0 7.0 8.3 6.9 6.2 8.1 7.5 8.0 7.5 7.0 O 7.5 Rainy days ( d ) 0 0 0 4th 7th 11 9 5 3 2 2 1 Σ 44 Humidity ( % ) 77 76 76 77 80 80 80 79 78 78 77 77 O 77.9 Source: wetterkontor.de

Web links

Commons : Kismaayo  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ GIZ: Better living conditions in Kismayo
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Said Samatar : Kismaayu , in: Siegbert Uhlig (Ed.): Encyclopaedia Aethiopica , Volume 3, 2008, ISBN 978-3-447-05607-6
3. ^ Andreas Birken: The Sultanate of Zanzibar in the 19th century. Stuttgart 1971. p. 156.
4. ↑ ^{a b c d} Alisha Ryu: Somali Clan Disputes Giving Boost to al-Shabab , in: Voice of America , October 19, 2009.
5. ↑ Ken Menkhaus: Bantu ethnic identities in Somalia , in: Annales d'Ethiopie , N ^o 19, 2003 online
6. ↑ BBC News: Islamists capture key Somali port
7. ↑ BBC News: Somali Islamic stronghold falls
8. ↑ Islamist rebels in secret deal with Kismayo port militia ( Memento of July 5, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Garowe Online, May 23, 2008 (English)
9. ↑ taz.de: Islamists expand fighting
10. ↑ National Geographic 9/2009: Somalia Blues
11. ↑ Amnesty International: Somalia: Girl stoned was a child of 13
12. ↑ BBC News: Somali Islamists clash over port
13. ^ Spiegel online: Campaign against Shabab militias: Kenyans embarrass themselves in Somali morass
14. ↑ spiegel.de October 2, 2012: Battle for Kismayo
15. ↑ Gunmen storm Somali hotel killing 26 people . In: BBC News . July 14, 2019 ( bbc.com [accessed March 22, 2020]).
16. ↑ Somalia Islamists rename Kismayo airport. AFP , October 2008, archived from the original on October 11, 2008 ; accessed on March 24, 2020 (English). 
17. ^ Somalia: Jubaland shuts Kismayo airport ahead presidential election. Retrieved March 22, 2020 (American English).