SUMMARY

The Dabare sub-clan of the Digil-Mirifle is a Somalia clan of the Digil denomination. The Digil-Mirifle clan is one of Somalia’s largest, making up around 20% of the country’s population. The Digil and Mirifile clans are often grouped together and referred to as the Rahanweyn, but the Dabare are a specific sub-clan of the Digil denomination. Several sub-clans exist in the Dabare clan structure.

The Dabare clan mainly resides in the Bay and Middle Jubba regions of south-central Somalia and like most other Digil-Mirifle clans the Dabare are agro-pastoralists and not predominantly nomadic. The Digil-Mirifle speak their own dialect of Somali, which differs from the official Somali language, something that caused resentment within the clan during the dictatorship of Siad Barre. Like many others in Somalia the Dabare sub-clan has its own militia and has at times engaged in non-state conflicts with rivalling clans and political organisations in the chaotic environment of post-Barre Somalia.

Like many other Digil-Mirifle sub-clans the Dabare clan is known to have had links to the RRA (Rahanweyn Resistance Army), an anti-Aideed faction formed in 1995. In 2002 the group formed an autonomous region called the “South-West State of Somalia”. For more information, see the RRA actor description.

The Dabare sub-clan of the Digil clan (Digil-Mirifle) has been involved in the non-state category of UCDP organised violence.