Qoryoley was named after a Somali man named Ahmed Qoryoley who founded the town before Somali independence. After the fall of the
Siad Government, Abdirahmaan Sheikh Mohamed Khadi took the position of district mayor. He was the youngest mayor of all Somali mayors in 2007. On June 12th, 2024, two clan militias, the
Garre and the
Jiiddo, battled for over four hours.
Al-Shabaab On March 10th, 2014, a battle took place just outside Qoryoley between
Al-Shabaab and Somali and
AMISOM (now
ATMIS) forces resulting in the death of four soldiers and a civilian. On March 22nd, 2014, Ugandan troops in AMISOM liberated Qoryoley from al-Shabaab control, in Operation Eagle. On June 26, 2015, al-Shabaab raided a military base in
Leego, which made AMISOM withdrawal from multiple areas, including Qoryoley, which on July 4, was retaken by al-Shabaab. In May 2017, fighters from al-Shabaab attacked
Somali National Army (SNA) bases. In the assault, two soldiers were injured. In 2018, a Somali government position in Qoryoley was attacked, five military camps being the target, resulting in the deaths of a civilian and twelve of their own militants. Militants raided the El-Salini military base, outside of Qoryoley in September 2019, killing an unknown number of soldiers. On February 19th, 2020, an armed assault by assailants and suicide bombers at El-Salini base occurred, against Somali and ATMIS forces. ==Demographics==