Commercial flights resume to Baidoa after federal forces take control

Wednesday April 1, 2026

Baidoa (AX) — Air traffic to Somalia’s Southwest State resumed on Tuesday, ending a suspension that had lasted nearly two weeks, just one day after federal forces took complete control of Baidoa, the region’s administrative hub.

The return of commercial flights offers a tentative sign of calm after days of heavy fighting that forced Southwest State President Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed Laftagareen to step down and set off a fresh political transition in the region.

Somalia’s Speaker of the House of the People, Sheikh Adan Mohamed Nur Madoobe, traveled to Baidoa on Tuesday with senior federal officials to supervise the transition and prepare the ground for new regional and local council elections.

Among those accompanying him were Minister of Religious Affairs Mukhtar Robow and Interior Minister Ali Yusuf Ali Hosh, both of whom are expected to be central figures in shaping a new Southwest administration.

Adan Maalim Ibrahim, a local air travel agent, said airport operations in Baidoa had restarted.

“Bookings began last night, and flights have restarted,” he said, adding that the airport is among the busiest in the country.

Commercial flights had been halted on March 18 as tensions escalated between Mogadishu and the Southwest administration. During the shutdown, only United Nations and African Union aircraft were allowed to land and take off for humanitarian and official purposes.

The political crisis in Southwest State is tied to a wider dispute between the federal government and several regional administrations over constitutional amendments that would extend the terms of federal institutions from four years to five. Southwest, Puntland State and Jubbaland have all رفضed the changes, accusing Mogadishu of weakening Somalia’s federal arrangement.

The federal seizure of Baidoa on Monday marked a sharp escalation in the confrontation and deepened concern among observers about the stability of the Horn of Africa country.

Residents said the resumption of flights, together with the arrival of federal officials, points to renewed efforts to restore governance and stability in the region, even as political tensions continue to shape Somalia’s uncertain constitutional and electoral future.