Ras Kamboni

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Ras Kamboni is a district and town in southern Somalia, in the Lower Juba region. It sits on a peninsula near the border with Kenya and is the southernmost town in Somalia. The very tip of the peninsula is called Ras Kamboni (Cape Kamboni). The town is about 274 kilometers south of Kismayo. Its population is around 79,000. The coordinates are roughly 1.63°S, 41.58°E.

History in brief
- The Ras Kamboni area has been linked to extremist training camps with connections to al-Qaeda, according to American officials and certain reports in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
- In December 2002, the United States created the Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) to monitor the region and help train local forces.
- In 2007, during the war in Somalia, Islamic Courts Union fighters retreated to Ras Kamboni. Reports said the U.S. carried out airstrikes against suspected al-Qaeda operatives, and an American aircraft carrier was nearby. Oxfam also reported deaths among nomads in the area.
- After Ethiopian forces withdrew, the militant group al-Shabaab took control of Kamboni. On October 20, 2011, Somali Transitional Federal Government forces took the town in what was described as a bloodless takeover.
- In December 2024, the Somali army attacked Ras Kamboni to try to seize the town from Jubaland but the attack was repelled, with casualties reported.