SUMMARY

When Shabelle Valley Alliance (SVA) was formed, by former members of Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government (TFG), one goal was to fight al-Shabaab in the area around Beled Weyne.

In a number of clashes, spread over the year, SVA forces, and those of al-Shabaab were pitted against each other. The most affected area is around Beled Weyne, the regional capital of Hiraan region in western Somalia. The area is close to the border to Ethiopia and on a number of occasions reports claim that Ethiopian troops may have been fighting alongside SVA.

The non-state conflict between al-Shabaab and SVA is first included in UCDP data in 2011. By August of that year violent clashes in the Hiraan region had resulted in over 25 battle-related deaths.