SUMMARY

The Issa (Dir) are a northern Somali clan that primarily reside in Djibouti, northwestern Somalia (Somaliland) and Shinile Zone in the Somali regional state in Ethiopia. It is one of the largest clans of the Dir clan family. In Djibouti, the group make up roughly half of the population and in Ethiopia, it is the second biggest Somali clan after the Ogaden (in all, the Somali clan in Ethiopia number around 3 million). The Issa, apart from being pastoralists, are also involved in trade and transport. The group’s success in the latter two areas has been great, especially after the political upheavals in the late 1980s and early 1990s in the region which lead to the virtual collapses of state control of the borders between Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somaliland and Somalia. Goods and people could now move freely across the borders and trade, mainly controlled by the Issa, flourished.

The Issa have been involved in the non-state category of UCDP organised violence.