From 1944 to 1974, the Sool region was formerly Las Anod district. It was one of three districts under British protection. The other two districts were the Burao and hargeysa districts.[10]
In 1974 most Sool was part of the larger
Nugaal region, with its capital at
Garowe. It was established as a separate region in 1984 with its capital at
Las Anod.[11]
Sool is disputed by
Somaliland and
Puntland. The former basis its claim on the
British Somaliland protectorate borders, and the later on the territory inhabited by the
Harti clan that established the state in 1998.[12]: 36 Khatumo State and its predecessor
SSC Movement which rejected both claims also made attempts to establish a separate administration in the region.
In 2003, Puntland sent troops to
Las Anod under the pretext of conflict mediation and occupied it outright.[12]: 63 Somaliland and Puntland were in conflict west of Las Anod. In 2007, Somaliland took military control of Las Anod. Somaliland and Puntland were in conflict near
Tukaraq.[12]: 68 In 2018, the Somaliland army captured Tukaraq.[13] In April 2019, the Somaliland army took control of
Taleh.[14] In May 2022 Somaliland captured
Bo'ame, the last town in the region outside of Somaliland control.[15]
Due to the prolonged conflict between Somaliland and Puntland, many Dhulbahante and Warsangeli living in the region did not recognize the Sool region and eastern Sanaag, as either Somaliland or Puntland.[16] On 5 January 2023, Somaliland forces withdrew from Las Anod after mass civil unrest in the city.[17] On October 19, the government of Somalia recognized the state of
SSC-Khaatumo as a federal member.[18] Since the defeat of Somaliland troops in the base in Goojacde, much of Sool has been under the control of SSC-Khatumo.[1][19]
"The residents of Sool overwhelmingly hail from a single clan grouping in the form of the Dhulbahante [...]. Sool boasts a degree of kinship homogeneity that is rare even in the Somali Horn".[24]
The
Habr Je'lo clan of the
Isaaq clan-family make up the vast majority of the population in western Sool, including the region's second largest town
Aynaba,[25] as well as the wider
Aynaba District.[26]
^Hohne, Markus V. (2006). "Political identity, emerging state structures and conflict in northern Somalia". Journal of Modern African Studies. 44 (3): 405.
doi:
10.1017/S0022278X06001820.
S2CID54173895.
^Political Orientations and Repertoires of Identification: State and Identity Formation in Northern Somalia, 2011, Markus Hoehne, p. 285, "Schlee (1994 [1989]: 223) confirmed that... Fiqishiini ’."