El Buur

In 1990 a hospital was constructed in El Buur, but never became fully operational due to the civil war that began soon after.[7] On 23 July 1990, El Buur would be captured by the United Somali Congress (USC) and the town would become a base for the rebels. In November 1990, two Somali Air Force pilots would fly a Marchetti SF.260 and defect to the USC at the rebel base in El Buur.[8] By December 1990 the town operated as the headquarters for Gen. Mohamed Farah Aidid and the USC during its offensive to topple the government of Siad Barre.[9][10]

Following the large scale Ethiopian intervention in late 2006 and the collapse of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), residents from the three clans residing in the El Buur formed a governing committee with representatives from each clan in order to address lawlessness.[7] As the conflict dragged on the town would become a major stronghold for the militant group Al-Shabaab. On the afternoon 26 March 2012, the Ethiopian military in cooperation with Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a (ASWJ), captured the town from Al-Shabaab after a day of heavy fighting.[11] Following the capture of El Buur, Shabaab fighters in the town simply began living among the civilian population and melted back into clan militias making identification of the insurgents nearly impossible. Within several months all foreign troops would withdraw and the town would revert to insurgent control.[12] In February 2014, the town would once again be captured by AMISOM and ASWJ.[13]

On 31 October 2017 six children, including an eight month old, were killed when an AMISOM peacekeeping contingent opened fire on the outskirts of El Buur. Three children were also reportedly maimed.[14] In April 2018, a US military drone strike beside the town would result in the deaths of a civilian woman and her child.[15]