Fantastic research.
For what it's worth, I've met at least one person who was half Afar and half Somali. So at least presently, there is some intermixing. I can't remember which parent was which, but he grew up in Djibouti and was in his early to mid-30s when I met him (about 9 years ago).
For context, I live in Minneapolis, which is a major hub in the Somali diaspora (we have the largest Somali population in the Western Hemisphere), and I used to be an ESL tutor, and it was in this capacity that I met him. I also studied Somali in college.
I also wanted to add that, while I don't know much about the Issa clan specifically (most Somalis I've known didn't want to talk about "Qabil," the term for clan, with me), Somalis generally are known for being very enterprising, and trade-focused, always battering and negotiating. Given that the traditional lifestyle for a lot of Somalis in the north (e.g. the Issa clan) is nomadic pastoralism (unlike the more settled, agricultural Somalis in the south), this makes a lot sense. So borrowing a knife from a neighboring culture doesn't seem much of a stretch to me.
Have fun,
Leif
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