Beledweyne

Beledweyne Beledweyne
City
Satellite view of Beledweyne
Beledweyne Location in Somalia
Coordinates: 04°44′09″N 045°12′13″E / 4.73583°N 45.20361°E / 4.73583; 45.20361Coordinates: 04°44′09″N 045°12′13″E / 4.73583°N 45.20361°E / 4.73583; 45.20361
Country	Somalia
Region	Hiran
District	Beledweyne
Government
• Mayor	Mohamed Hassan Nuriye
Area
• Total	24 km2 (9 sq mi)
Population
• Total	67,200
Time zone	EAT (UTC+3)

Beledweyne (Somali: Beletweeyne, Arabic: بلد وين‎‎) is a city in south-central Somalia. Located in the Beledweyne District, it is the capital of the Hiran province. The town is situated in the Shebelle Valley near the Ogaden, some 206 miles (1000 km) north of Mogadishu. Beledweyne is divided by the Shebelle River into eastern and western sections. By area, it is the fourth largest city in Somalia.

During the 2006-2009 phase of the civil war, the internationally backed Transitional Federal Government (TFG), supported by Ethiopian troops, seized control of the town from the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) in the Battle of Beledweyne in 2006. However, by the end of 2008, the radical Islamists had regrouped and Al-Shabaab, a splinter outfit of the ICU, had retaken all of the city in addition to much of southern Somalia.

In December 2011, the Transitional Federal Government retook control of Beledweyne from the Al-Shabaab militants. Somali National Army (SNA) soldiers and around 3,000 allied Ethiopian army troops descended on the city, capturing it following several hours of fighting. In October 2013, additional SNA and AMISOM troops were deployed to the town to firm up on security after Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for a suicide bomb attack at a local cafeteria.

On May 7, 2012, Beledweyne held its first mayoral elections since the start of the civil war in the early 1990s. 200 delegates took part in the contest, which was overseen by the Hiran region's head of elections, Sadaq Omar Sabriye. Mohamed Hassan Nuriye emerged as the new city mayor, obtaining 135 votes versus 11 and 8 votes, respectively, for the two nearest competitors.