"[15]A UN Report published by Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (1999), states concerning Awdal: "The Gadabuursi clan dominates Awdal region.

As a result, regional politics in Awdal is almost synonymous with Gadabuursi internal clan affairs.

"[17]Marleen Renders and Ulf Terlinden (2010) both state that the Gadabuursi almost exclusively inhabit the Awdal Region: "Awdal in western Somaliland is situated between Djibouti, Ethiopia and the Issaq-populated mainland of Somaliland.

It is primarily inhabited by the three sub-clans of the Gadabursi clan, whose traditional institutions survived the colonial period, Somali statehood and the war in good shape, remaining functionally intact and highly relevant to public security.

"[18]There is also a sizeable minority of the Issa subclan of the Dir who mainly inhabit the Zeila district.