Heavy gunfire sent civilians fleeing on the outskirts of Somalia’s southwestern city of Baidoa early Thursday as government forces battled militias in the latest flare-up of a deepening political and security crisis.
Somalia’s Defense Ministry said federal forces were responding to an assault by fighters loyal to former South West state President Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed Laftagareen. The ministry also accused al-Shabab, the al-Qaida-linked extremist group, of participating in the attack. The allegations could not immediately be independently verified.
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The violence marks the latest escalation in a dispute between Somalia’s federal authorities and Laftagareen over control of South West state. Federal troops seized Baidoa on March 30, prompting Laftagareen to resign. He had led the state since 2018.
Fighting ended in the early afternoon, though officials did not release information about the overall number of casualties or the scale of the clashes. Government troops patrolled the streets while ambulances transported victims. Residents later emerged to inspect the damage and remove bloodstained clothing from the pavement.
Dr. Abdikafi Omar Mohamud, who heads the emergency department at Bay Regional Hospital in Baidoa, told The Associated Press that medical staff treated 71 wounded people, including 15 women, and received the body of one civilian who had been killed.
Abdullahi Haji, a Baidoa resident, told AP by phone that he fled his home after hearing intense gunfire and bullets striking or landing in residential neighborhoods.
Located about 245 kilometers (150 miles) northwest of Mogadishu, Baidoa is a major humanitarian center. It is home to more than half a million people displaced by conflict and drought.
At least four civilians were killed and 98 wounded in fighting in and around Baidoa last month.
