Hurso (

Somali language Somali (Latin script: ; Wadaad writing, Wadaad: ; Osmanya: 𐒖𐒍 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘 ) is an Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language belonging to the Cushitic languages, Cushitic branch. It is spoken as a mother tongue by Somalis in ...

: Huursoo) is a town in eastern

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

. Located in the

Shinile Zone Sitti Zone ( so, Gobolka Sitti), formerly known as Shinile, is a zone in Somali Region of Ethiopia. Located at the northwestern point of the Somali Region and stretching across the savanna north of the Ahmar Mountains, Sitti is bordered on th ...

of the

Somali Region The Somali Region ( so, Deegaanka Soomaalida, am, ሱማሌ ክልል, Sumalē Kilil, ar, المنطقة الصومالية), also known as Soomaali Galbeed (''Western Somalia'') and officially the Somali Regional State, is a regional state ...

about 40 km west of Dire Dawa, it has a longitude and latitude of and an altitude of 1130 meters above sea level. It is one of four towns in

Erer Erer is a town in central Ethiopia. Located in the Shinile Zone of the Somali Region, it is located 51km east of Shinile. It is the administrative center of Erer woreda. Overview Erer has had telephone service at least as early as 1967. Recor ...

woreda Districts of Ethiopia, also called woredas ( am, ወረዳ; ''woreda''), are the third level of the administrative divisions of Ethiopia – after ''zones'' and the '' regional states''. These districts are further subdivided into a number of ...

. Hurso was served by a

station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

on the

Ethio-Djibouti Railways The Ethio-Djibouti Railway (french: Chemin de Fer Djibouto-Éthiopien, C.D.E.; ) is a metre gauge railway in the Horn of Africa that once connected Addis Ababa to the port city of Djibouti. The operating company was also known as the Ethio-Dj ...

. South of the town is Camp Hurso, where members of the 294th Infantry Regiment,

Guam Army National Guard The Guam National Guard is a federally funded military force, part of the National Guard of the United States. Guam Army National Guard (GU ARNG) is the Army National Guard of Guam which, together with the Guam Air National Guard, comprises the Gu ...

, U.S. Army, spent a year training soldiers of the

Ethiopian National Defense Force The Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) ( am, የኢፌዲሪ መከላከያ ሠራዊት, Ye’īfēdērī mekelakeya šerawīt, lit=FDRE Defense Force) is the military force of Ethiopia. Civilian control of the military is carried out t ...

in 2006. Hurso was where the founding meeting of the

Ethiopian Somali Democratic League The Ethiopian Somali Democratic League (ESDL) was a political party in the Somali Region of Ethiopia. It was the ruling EPRDF's regional partner from 1994 to 1998. Overview The ESDL was formed in 1994 through the merger of ten clan-based politi ...

was held, under the sponsorship of the

Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front The Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF; am, የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝቦች አብዮታዊ ዲሞክራሲያዊ ግንባር, translit=Ye’Ītiyop’iya Ḥizibochi Ābiyotawī Dīmokirasīyawī Ginibari) was an eth ...

and the leadership of the two Somali members of the federal cabinet, Federal Minister

Abdul Mejid Hussein Abdul (also transliterated as Abdal, Abdel, Abdil, Abdol, Abdool, or Abdoul; ar, عبد ال, ) is the most frequent transliteration of the combination of the Arabic word '' Abd'' (, meaning "Servant") and the definite prefix '' al / el'' (, mea ...

and Federal Vice-Minister Samsudin Ahmed. In1997 Hurso was librated by Eltireh troops: Gurugra branch of WSLF (Western Somalia Libration Front). Ethiopia had the largest casualties at Hurso, Cubans and Russians were sent in to fight the Somalis. After the Somalis were forced to retreat, it result in the 1978 Gurgura farms Hurso to be confiscated by the Derg. 1991 GLF formed and fought to librate Hurso, Erer, Gota and Dire Dawa. 1994 - 1995 after the formation of the new government by Meles Zenawi, the Gurgura of Hurso, Erer and Dire Dawa reattacked with new tackticks which resulted in complete confiscation of Gurgura farms of Hurso again and displaced Gurgura people all over the Somali Region, Djibouti, Somaliland and the Oromo region. Executive oder was signed to shoot and kill any Gurgura who returned to Hurso and attempted to take their homes or farms back and as of 2022 this is still the case.

Demographics

The town's inhabitants belong to mainly Gacalwaaq subclan of the

Gurgura The Gurgure, Gorgorah or Gurgura ( so, Gurgure, om, Gurgura, ar, غرغرة) is a northern Somali clan, a sub-division of the Dir clan family. Distribution The Gurgure are the majority in the Erer district in the Sitti Zone and Dire Dawa. ...

Madaxweyne Dir who mostly speak Somali and some Oromo. As of recent, due to sever droughts in the region some of the neighbouring issa people have come to or near the town for farming or to graze their livestock. Based on figures from the

Central Statistical Agency The Central Statistical Agency (CSA; Amharic: ማዕከላዊ ስታቲስቲክስ ኤጀንሲ) is an agency of the government of Ethiopia designated to provide all surveys and censuses for that country used to monitor economic and social growth ...

of Ethiopia published in 2005, Erer has an estimated total population of 3,318 of whom 1,695 are men and 1,623 women.CSA 2005 National Statistics
, Table B.4 The 1997 census reported this town had a total population of 2,226 of whom 1,120 were men and 1,106 women. The three largest ethnic groups reported in this town were the

(Somali) (59.88%), the Oromo (22.46%), and the Amhara (11.99%); all other ethnic groups made up the remaining 5.67% of the residents.''1994 Population and Housing Census of Ethiopia: Results for Somali Region, Vol. 1''
Tables 2.4, 2.14 (accessed 10 January 2009). The results of the 1994 census in the Somali Region were not satisfactory, so the census was repeated in 1997.

References

Populated places in the Somali Region {{Somali-geo-stub History