The Cabdalle Surre and their territories in Mudug,Galgaduud, Bari and Sanaag

Surre in Bari and Mudug

In the Bari and Mudug regions of Somalia and all the way to Hiiraan region is another cluster of Dir clans known as the Surre Qubeys or Abdallas. The Surre have been associated with spreading the Islamic faith in Somalia and the Qadiriya Sufi tariiqa in southern Somalia. They left the Lafaruug area of Awdal where their founder was killed during the clashes with the Ethiopians and they were the defeated. That last defeat forced the Biamal to flee to the Lower Shabeele region while the Qubeys and Abdalles fled to Mudug and Bari.

The Surre sub-clan is mainly local to Puntland state districts such as Mudug (Galkaiyo, Jariiban, and Hobyo) in particular Towfiq, El danane (Ceel dhanaane) and Awle (Cowle) of the Golol Valley which is dominated by the Saleban Abdalle segments Agoon, Daba(dabac), Siad, food'ade muuse Gorod Abdalle and Na'door(nacdoor Abdalle; Nugal (Eyl); Bari (Qardo, Bosaso, Qandala, Alulo)(siyaad); and Sanaag (Laasqoray), the Laasqoray Surre clan called locally Reer Cabaas or curdudub and live side by side with Warsangeli. In Galgudug, the Surre sub-clan of Cabdalle occupies territory extending 180 km from approx 20 km of Abudwaq to Balanballe parallel to the Ethio-Somalia boundary. The centre of the Surre in Galgadud in the district of Xeraale which is located between Dhusamared and Abudwaq (The heartland of the Dariqa sects Ahlu-Sunna Wal Jameeca). Southward, the Surre is also an integral part of the Hiiran region communities. The base of the Surre is the commercial and farmland villages of Alaabay, Kabhanley and Defow. Perhaps the most important region for the Surre remains Luq district of Gedo. The border town of Boholgaras to the limits of the Jubba River banks of Luq is dominated by Surre/Dir sub-clan of mainly Fiqi-Muhumed sub sub-clan. In the Jubba regions, Jamame is an important homeland of the Surre accompying their Biamal brothers who are vastly dominant in that area. The farmland town of Bender-Jadid is solely domiciled by the Surre.

The majority of western scholars (both Italian and British) simply referred to the Surre as the "Dir of central Somalia" without differentiating them, but recent studies in Somalia revealed that the majority of the Dir in Hiiran, Gedo, Jubba and Bakool are divided into two branches, the Qubeyes and Abdalles, both descendants of Surre.

The Surre are allocated five MPs among the Transitional Federal Parliament namely: Mahad Abdalla Awad, Jeylani Ali Kediye, Nasra Abdisalam Alim, Sh. Mohamed Sh. Yusuf Direed, and Qamar Adan Ali.