Khatumo
SSC-Khatumo is a region centred around the Darawiish community in northwestern Somalia. It declared itself an autonomous state in 2012. It grew out of the SSC State, which stands for Sool, Sanaag and Cayn.
Cities
Understand
Khatumo (Somali: Khaatuumo, Arabic: ولاية خاتمة), officially the Khatumo State of Somalia (Somali: Maamul Goboleedka Khaatuumo ee Soomaaliya), is a region in northwestern Somalia, centred on Las Anod in the Sool province. It is viewed by government officials as a successor state of the early 20th-century Dervish state. Various Dhulbahante clan leaders and local governing officials have given Khatumo an assortment of names during various periods since the government collapsed in 1991. In the 1990s, it began as the Northern Somali Unionist Movement (NSUM), subsequently it was named SSC State, which stands for Sool, Sanaag and Cayn State, In 2008, it was named Northland State, while in 2012, a collection of local representatives, clan leaders and elders agreed upon the name Khatumo as well as unity with Somalia, and by the mid 2010s, a new movement called the Falaaluug rebels which consolidated control of southern Sool towns. Khatumo is bordered by Puntland to its east and Somaliland to its west and Ethiopia in the south. Unlike neighbouring Somaliland, Khatumo does not seek to secede from Somalia. The name "Khatumo" is Arabic for "positive conclusion".
Read
To get a glimpse of Khatumo's history, you can read about Diiriye Guure, sultan of the Darawiish sultanate.
Get in
There are two airports in Khatumo, Taleh Airport in Taleh and Ismail Mire International Airport in Buuhoodle.
See
Since most of the Khatumo region is largely untouched by modernization and tourism, you can see the cultivation, management and breeding of bygone eras of husbandry first-hand.
Do
Visit some of the Dhulbahante garesas built during the era of sultan Diiriye Guure, including:
- Taleh Dhulbahante garesa
- Las Anod Dhulbahante garesa
Stay safe
See the warning on the Somalia article for information on the security situation.
Khatumo can be dangerous for independent travellers. There remains tension in the area due to overlapping territorial claims between the Khatumo government and those of Puntland to the east and Somaliland to the west. Overland travel from Khatumo in an easterly or westerly direction can be dangerous.