Monday October 26, 2026
Baidoa (HOL) — Heavy fighting erupted Monday morning on the outskirts of Baidoa between forces loyal to former South West State President Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed Laftagareen and troops aligned with Somalia’s federal government and the current regional administration.
The clashes began in the Burijeed area on the southern outskirts of Baidoa, near a security checkpoint along the main road connecting the city to Mogadishu, according to local sources.
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An independent journalist based in Baidoa said the city remained relatively calm Monday, although signs of escalating tensions had emerged on its outskirts since Sunday.
The journalist reported that a landmine explosion on Sunday struck members of the South West State administration’s security forces near the area where Monday’s fighting occurred. The number of casualties from the blast could not immediately be confirmed.
There were also no verified casualty figures from Monday’s clashes, and neither the federal government nor Laftagareen’s representatives had released a detailed statement about the fighting.
Additional troops have been deployed to the Burijeed area following repeated attacks on Baidoa by forces loyal to Laftagareen, who has remained at odds with the federal government over control of South West State.
The latest confrontation follows months of clashes between rival forces in and around Baidoa, where a dispute over the regional leadership has increasingly turned into armed conflict.
Federal forces and fighters supporting the administration of President Adan Mohamed Nur Madobe have repeatedly confronted Laftagareen-aligned forces seeking to regain control of the regional capital.
The renewed fighting has heightened concerns among residents of Baidoa, which hosts hundreds of thousands of people displaced by conflict, drought and insecurity elsewhere in Somalia.
The city is a major humanitarian hub in southern Somalia, where recurring violence threatens civilians and complicates efforts to deliver assistance to vulnerable communities.
Monday’s clashes underscore the continuing political and security dispute in South West State, with rival factions increasingly relying on military force to assert control over the regional administration.