Somalia: Laftagaren forces briefly seize Baidoa after gunfight with army
MOGADISHU (Somaliguardian) – Fierce clashes erupted in Somalia’s Southwest state on Saturday as forces loyal to the ousted regional leader Abdiasis Laftagaren briefly seized control of the interim regional capital, Baidoa, underlining the fragile security grip of the federal government just two months after it forcibly took the reins of power. Gunfire rattled the strategic […]
Black News 
MOGADISHU (Somaliguardian) – Fierce clashes erupted in Somalia’s Southwest state on Saturday as forces loyal to the ousted regional leader Abdiasis Laftagaren briefly seized control of the interim regional capital, Baidoa, underlining the fragile security grip of the federal government just two months after it forcibly took the reins of power.
Gunfire rattled the strategic town early in the morning as loyalists to Abdiasis Laftagaren launched a coordinated assault against federal troops. The federal forces had wrestled control of Baidoa in late March, forcing the regional president to resign and flee.
Social media footage depicted rebel fighters patrolling the deserted streets of Baidoa in the early hours. However, their control proved short-lived. Following hours of intense engagements, the loyalist militia withdrew to the rural periphery, allowing the Somali National Army to reassert control.
Escalating Tensions and War of Words
The regional police commander, Sadiq Dodishe, said that government forces had repulsed the incursion and fully secured the town. In a scathing rebuke, Commander Dodishe accused Laftagaren of exploitation, alleging he was using vulnerable young men as cannon fodder to destabilise the region while his own family enjoyed comfortable life abroad.
The military rhetoric escalated further when the Somali National Army issued a statement characterising the pro-Laftagaren forces as Al-Shabaab khawarijites – a term the government routinely deploys to delegitimise Islamist insurgents. The army maintained that its personnel successfully defended the town and were currently pursuing the retreating assailants.
From their stronghold outside the regional capital, Laftagaren’s allies remained defiant. The ousted leader, who still claims to be the legitimate president of Southwest state, vowed to sustain the armed resistance until the federal forces – whom he described as invaders – are compelled to withdraw.
A Town Under Siege
The weekend’s incursions highlight a deteriorating security landscape in Southwest state. Since the federal government’s political maneuver to unseat the regional administration, Baidoa has found itself effectively surrounded by two distinct hostile fronts:
Regional Loyalists: The pro-Laftagaren forces, who have retreated to nearby rural areas, appear to be adopting guerrilla tactics reminiscent of long-standing insurgencies in the Horn of Africa.
Al-Shabaab Militants: The Islamist group maintains a formidable presence just a few kilometres outside Baidoa and continues to exploit the political vacuum.
Only weeks ago, Al-Shabaab demonstrated its lethal capability by killing three senior military commanders and a number of other soldiers in an ambush outside the town, reportedly capturing multiple military vehicles.
Political and Humanitarian Fallout
Analyses of the crisis suggest that Mogadishu’s aggressive centralisation policies may have inadvertently opened a second front in an already volatile region. Critics argue that the heavy-handed removal of the local administration has fractured the anti-Al-Shabaab coalition, forcing federal troops to battle a newly minted political insurgency alongside a deeply entrenched jihadist threat.
With both factions operating on the fringes of Baidoa, the dual threat compounds an already precarious humanitarian situation in Southwest state, raising serious questions over the federal government’s long-term strategy to stabilise the region.
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