In this photo taken with a smartphone, security personnel patrol a street in Baidoa, Somalia, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026. (AP Photo)
MOGADISHU: Fighter jets and drones joined intense ground battles in Baidoa on Monday, leaving at least three people dead after thousands of fighters loyal to the city’s ousted governor launched an assault.
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Somalia’s political divisions have deepened as several federal states resist President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s authority. In March, his government deployed troops to remove Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed Laftagareen, the leader of South West State.
Since then, he has made repeated efforts to regain control of the region and its principal city, Baidoa.
The latest fighting began early Monday, when local authorities said between 2,000 and 3,000 fighters attacked the city.
“There were heavy clashes all day in the city,” resident Hussein Abdifatah told AFP by phone.
“Most of the civilians have difficulties fleeing because both sides are fighting everywhere. There are a lot of explosions, but I don’t know what the bombing is and who is bombing.”
Doctors Without Borders reported that at least three people, including a healthcare worker, had been killed and 69 wounded. The group also said a health facility was severely damaged.
Mohamed Ali, a senior army commander in Baidoa, said the attacking forces had “entered the city from several directions, using vehicles loaded with explosives, and explosive drones”.
“The national army confronted them, inflicted heavy casualties and drove them out of the city,” he added.
A spokesperson for the former governor’s forces rejected government allegations that his fighters were operating with Al-Shabaab, the Islamist insurgency that controls large areas of central Somalia.
“We have no connection with Al-Shabaab. The fighting in Baidoa is strictly between our forces and those who invaded us while claiming to represent the federal government, along with Turkey, which is supporting them with F-16 fighter aircraft,” he told AFP.
Turkey has become a major backer of Mohamud’s administration and has sent fighter jets to Somalia.
Residents described the clashes as the fiercest Baidoa has seen in recent weeks, saying Turkish jets carried out missile strikes on areas around the city.
A member of the presidential palace guard, which is defending the regional administration installed by Mohamud’s government earlier this year, said “kamikaze drones” had struck its positions, leaving several people wounded.
By mid-afternoon, another resident said the fighting had subsided. Authorities had not yet determined the full toll of casualties or the extent of the destruction.
Laftagareen has been one of the most outspoken critics of Mohamud’s efforts to shift Somalia toward democratic elections and away from a system dominated by clan elders.
Mohamud has faced criticism after extending his mandate by one year as part of that reform process.
“This is the third time in six weeks that fighting has erupted in Baidoa, with devastating consequences for civilians,” said Elshafie Mohammed, MSF country representative in Somalia, warning that many of the wounded may have been unable to reach medical facilities on Monday.
