Federal Troops Clash with Opposition Forces in Somalia's Baidoa

By Al Mayadeen English

Source: Agencies

17 Aug 2026 11:57

Heavy fighting erupts in Baidoa between Somalia's federal troops and armed opposition groups, with civilians reportedly killed and wounded.

Somalia's federal troops and armed opposition groups clashed in heavy fighting in central Baidoa on Monday, as violence erupted in the administrative capital of South West state, a local resident and a federal army officer told Reuters.

Baidoa is home to international peacekeepers and humanitarian agencies and is one of Somalia's largest cities, with a population of more than one million people.

The renewed fighting could further worsen the humanitarian crisis in the area. Baidoa hosts hundreds of thousands of displaced people, while one in four children living at displacement sites are severely malnourished, according to a July survey by Médecins Sans Frontières.

"Militias loyal to the former Baidoa president entered Baidoa from two sides, challenging two battalions of federal military. Fighting has intensified now," Farah Nur, a shopkeeper in the city, told Reuters.

Fighting follows federal takeover of Baidoa

Federal troops have controlled Baidoa since March, when they seized control of the city, prompting South West state leader Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed Laftagareen to resign.

Nur told Reuters that federal forces were using heavy weapons. He said he had seen at least two civilians killed inside their homes by stray bullets, while several other injured people were being taken to hospital.

Hassan Mohamed, Laftagareen's spokesperson, said in a Facebook post that their forces had captured Baidoa and called on federal troops to surrender. 

"The armed militias attacked Baidoa this morning, we are pushing them back....there are casualties as stray bullets enter houses," Captain Osman Abdullahi, a Somalia federal military officer, told Reuters.

Somalia's internal divisions deepen amid growing foreign presence in 'Somaliland'

The fighting in Baidoa comes as Somalia remains deeply divided, with the self-declared Somaliland administration maintaining a separate political and security structure in the north despite Mogadishu's rejection of its claims to independence. The dispute has contributed to Somalia's wider political fragmentation, while growing foreign military and strategic involvement risks further complicating efforts to preserve the country's territorial integrity.

Against this backdrop, construction at Berbera Airport in Somaliland, underway since October 2025, has reportedly expanded beyond civilian infrastructure, with satellite imagery indicating the gradual emergence of a potential military installation, according to an analysis by French daily Le Monde.

Berbera's strategic location on the Gulf of Aden, near the Bab al-Mandab Strait, has made it increasingly important to foreign powers seeking a foothold along a vital maritime corridor. Dubai-based DP World has maintained a longstanding commercial presence through its involvement in Berbera Port, while Le Monde reported that the airport expansion could ultimately serve US and Israeli strategic interests.

For Mogadishu, developments of this kind add another layer to an already complex security environment, particularly as the federal government seeks to assert authority across the country. Somaliland authorities and the Somali federal government have not publicly responded to the claims reported by Le Monde.

The reported expansion has also drawn warnings from Ansar Allah leader Sayyed Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, who accused "Israel" of seeking a foothold in Somalia and warned that his movement would act against Israeli activity on Somali soil. Such developments underscore how Somalia's internal divisions are increasingly intersecting with broader regional rivalries around the Gulf of Aden and Bab al-Mandab Strait.