SUMMARY
The murder of a Garre man, working as an aid distributor, by Murule clansmen in late December 2004 provoked the outbreak of violent clashes and a non-state conflict between the Garre subclan of Digil clan (Digil-Mirifle) and the Murule subclan of Gugundabe clan (Hawiye) in 2005.
The murder in 2004 should however only be seen as the triggering factor since the Garre subclan and the Murule subclan have a much longer history of latent political and economic conflict. Both groups reside in the Mandera district of Kenya, along the Ethiopia and Somalia borders, in which they battled for political control of the electorate throughout the early 1980s (an armed conflict sometimes referred to as the Suspense War). This specific conflict was resolved through the redrawing of electoral constituencies but allegedly left a residue of simmering suspicions. When further administrative reforms were carried out by the Kenyan government and local administrations similar conflicts over territorial and political ownership arose, especially as the situation in Somalia deteriorated after 1991 and weapons and enthusiastic (and armed) kinsmen were available across the border.
The two sub-clans also have a history of competition over the scarce resources of the land for livestock grazing and water, dating back at least to the 1920s. The two groups are known to have raised simultaneous claims of access to the Alango Dam, an important watering point. The abovementioned factors are thought to be the main reasons for the conflict, with the December 2004 murder being only the final catalyst.
Fighting between the two parties has mainly centered upon the Mandera district of Kenya, and included the use of small arms such as automatic weapons. Atrocities against civilians are known to have been carried out, leading to large refugee flows.
The round of fighting in 2005 was resolved by the actions of a government-appointed inter-clan arbitration committee, which included local prominent persons, Ministers of Parliament and religious leaders. Leaning on traditional conflict resolution mechanisms both sides were ordered to pay blood money to the other side for those killed, agreed on open pastures, and the reparation of destroyed houses. The government stepped in to act as a guarantor of the agreement. The relation between the Garre subclan and the Murule subclan was fairly stable until 2008 when clashes between the two groups once again took place.
The non-state conflict between the Garre subclan of Digil clan (Digil-Mirifle) and the Murule subclan of Gugundabe clan (Hawiye) is first included in UCDP data in 2005. In January that year, a clash in the Mandera district left 11 people dead and pushed the total number of deaths above the 25 battle-related deaths threshold.
