SUMMARY

Oromo and Somali (Ethiopia) people are neighbors in eastern Ethiopia, with Oromiya and Somali states sharing a long stretch of border. According to analysts, Oromo and Somali (Ethiopia) in eastern Ethiopia have for the most part had a history of relatively peaceful coexistence and interaction, and ethnic identities have been rather fluid, as the groups are not homogeneous and individuals may have had ties to both groups (shared language, religion, political affiliation, kinship, and so on). However, the federal restructuring of Ethiopia along ethnic lines in the 1990s led to a need to systematically define ethnic affiliation, and there have been increasing tensions between the groups over issues such as contested border delimitations and scarce land resources. Some of these conflicts have been at the subgroup level, for instance in the buffer zone between southern Somali and Oromo states, where Garre (a Somali (Ethiopia) subgroup) and Boran (an Oromo subgroup) have been engaged in a protracted non-state conflict over border delimitations. In other cases it is difficult to disaggregate the conflict below the level of Somali versus Oromo, such as in conflicts in West and East Harrarghe zones in the early 21st century.

The non-state conflict between Oromo and Somali (Ethiopia) tribes is first included in the UCDP data in 2000. In July of that year, clashes broke out in Oromiya's West Hararghe zone in Ethiopia, which resulted in around 40 battle-related deaths.