walwal

Welwel (Amharic: ወልወል, also transliterated Walwaal; Italian: Ual-Ual), is a town in eastern Ethiopia known as the Ogaden. Located in the Werder Zone of the Somali Region, this town has a longitude and latitude of 7°03′N 45°24′E with an elevation of 570 meters above sea level. Welwel has an estimated population of 842 according to the 2007 census.
From 1903 Welwel, together with Werder & Qorrahee, became Dervish centers headed by Sayid Khalif Abdullah Hassan, brother of the Sayid Mohammed. The town & its surrounding region was kept under Dervish rule through a series of forts erected there. The control of this region allowed the Dervish to count, even in the most critical moments, on a source of animal supply, also collected in the form of a tribute, taking it away from the traditional authorities. Furthermore, strategically, this region ensured a territorial link between the high Hiiraan, where the Bahgeri operated, and the Hawd Region and the Mudug which was in the hands of Daraawiish almost continuously between 1902 and 1910.[1]
Welwel was the oasis in Ethiopia where a border clash occurred in 1934 between the Kingdom of Italy and Ethiopian Empire. Benito Mussolini used this incident as a pretext to invade Ethiopia, which led to the Second Italo-Abyssinian War.
Records at the Nordic Africa Institute website provide details of a test oil well drilled at Welwel by Sinclair Oil in 1955, and about Fitawrari Wolde Amanuel primary school in Welwel during the year 1968.

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