Woqoyi Galbeed consists of three districts: Gebiley, Hargeysa and Berbera. The region’s capital is Hargeysa.765 Woqoyi Galbeed’s population was estimated at 1 504 986 as of January 2026.766 For more detailed background information on Woqoyi Galbeed, see section 2.8.2. of the EUAA COI Report Somalia: Security Situation (May 2025).
According to Map 3 Somalia – Approximate Territorial Control as of 31 March 2026 and Map 2 Somalia – Approximate Territorial Control as of 31 March 2025, the entire region, including the cities of Hargeysa and Berbera, was reported to be under the control of the ‘Somaliland administration (separatist)’.767
In the period from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026, ACLED recorded 15 security incidents in Wogoyi Galbeed region, including battles, explosions or other forms of remote violence, and violence against civilians, causing 19 fatalities.768
Figure 41: Evolution of security events and fatalities in Wogoyi Galbeed per month, based on ACLED data.769
Figure 42: Evolution of security events in Wogoyi Galbeed per type, based on ACLED data.770
In the period from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026, the following actors (coded as either ‘Actor 1’, or ‘Actor 2’) were, among others, involved in security incidents: Police Forces of Somaliland were involved in 7 security incidents involving violence against civilians. Moreover, unidentified armed groups were involved in three security incidents involving violence against civilians.771
Illustrative security incidents
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On 3 July 2025, Somaliland police opened fire at a protest against a mining company in Agabar area, resulting in two civilians killed.772
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On 7 October 2025, an elderly man was killed over an alleged land dispute in Ahmed Dhagax district of Hargeysa.773
- Conflict-related displacement
According to the UNHCR PRMN, no individuals were newly displaced from Woqoyi Galbeed region due to conflict or insecurity in the period from April 2025 to February 2026, and no other individuals arrived from other regions.774
Other impacts on civilian life and humanitarian situation
A December 2025 map by UNOCHA showed ‘very limited’ to ‘limited restrictions’ regarding humanitarian access in most parts, while on the border to Awdal small areas are designated as facing ‘moderate restrictions’.775 In total, UNOCHA recorded eight humanitarian access incidents in 2025,776 of which one was recorded in the period between July and September 2025.777 Regarding the food insecurity situation as of January 2026, IPC reported that about 61 % of the total analysed population of 1 504 986 were either in Acute Food Insecurity IPC Phase 2 (stressed, 47 %), 3 (crisis, 11 %) or 4 (emergency, 3 %).778 In March 2026, heavy rains and flooding resulted in the destruction of 162 farms, with the worst affected area being Dararweyne.779 NRC recorded no evictions in Wogoyi Galbeed in 2025.780
- 765
UNOCHA, Somalia Administrative Reference Map, as of 20 July 2023, url
- 766
IPC, Somalia: Acute Food Insecurity and Acute Malnutrition Analysis January-June 2026, 24 February 2026, url, p. 4
- 767
PolGeoNow, Somalia Approximate Territorial Control, as of 31 March 2026, n.a.; PolGeoNow, Somalia Approximate Territorial Control, as of 31 March 2025, n.a.
- 768
EUAA analysis based on publicly available ACLED data. ACLED, Data Export Tool, Somalia, data covering 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026, as of 16 April 2026, url
- 769
EUAA analysis based on publicly available ACLED data. ACLED, Data Export Tool, Somalia, data covering 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026, as of 16 April 2026, url
- 770
EUAA analysis based on publicly available ACLED data. ACLED, Data Export Tool, Somalia, data covering 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026, as of 16 April 2026, url
- 771
EUAA analysis based on publicly available ACLED data. ACLED, Data Export Tool, Somalia, data covering 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026, as of 16 April 2026, url
- 772
Caasimada, Faah-faahinta dil laba qof loogu geystay Somaliland [Details of the killing of two people carried out in Somaliland], 4 July 2025, url
- 773
Caasimada, Faah-faahinta dil maanta ka dhacay magaalada Hargeysa [Details of a killing that occurred today in the city of Hargeisa], 7 October 2025, url
- 774
UNHCR, PRMN Datafile – Somalia, as of 16 April 2026, url
- 775
UNOCHA, Somalia Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan 2026, 27 January 2026, url, p. 17
- 776
UNOCHA, Humanitarian Access Snapshot (2025), 8 January 2026, url, p. 2
- 777
UNOCHA, Humanitarian Access Snapshot (July – September 2025), 15 October 2025, url, p. 2
- 778
IPC, Somalia: Acute Food Insecurity and Acute Malnutrition Analysis January-June 2026, 24 February 2026, url, p. 4
- 779
Dawan, Somaliland: Heavy Rains Destroy 162 Farms in Maroodi-jeeh, 25 March 2026, url
- 780
NRC, Evictions, n.d., url, filter ‘2025’ and ‘2026’, respectively, as year, ‘Wogoyi Galbeed’ as region. Numbers include data until 31 March 2026, as of 8 April 2026.