Baidoa

Friday April 3, 2026 Baidoa (AX) — Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud landed in Baidoa on Friday for his first trip to the Southwest regional capital since the installation of an interim administration and the latest political turmoil in the state. In a statement, Villa Somalia said the visit is intended to speed up the delivery of social services, push forward peace and reconciliation efforts, reinforce governance and support preparations for Somalia’s planned one-person, one-vote elections. The president is expected…

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…

Tuesday March 31, 2026 Baidoa (AX) — Somalia’s Speaker of the House of the People, Sheikh Adan Mohamed Nur Madoobe, landed in Baidoa on Tuesday as federal authorities moved to steer preparations for presidential and local council elections in South West State, one day after federal forces seized control of the city. Accompanying the speaker are Minister of Religious Affairs Mukhtar Robow and Interior Minister Ali Yusuf Ali Hosh, both of whom are expected to be key figures in shaping a new regional administration after…

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Federal officials landed in Baidoa on Tuesday afternoon as Mogadishu moved to take charge of a political handover in South West State, one day after regional president Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed Laftagareen announced his resignation. The delegation, which included the ministers of interior, foreign affairs and religious affairs, along with Lower House speaker Sheikh Aden Madobe, arrived at Shaati Gaduud airport in Baidoa. For some of the officials, the trip marked a return to the city after years away,…

Tuesday March 31, 2026 MOGADISHU, Somalia - Somalia's prime minister has rejected calls for indirect voting in South West State after federal forces secured Baidoa, arguing that the transition should move toward national reform rather than return to the older indirect election model. The dispute over Baidoa is also being read as a test of Somalia's federal arrangement, with critics warning that unilateral intervention could reshape the balance between Mogadishu and the regions. “Baidoa is under the control of the…

Monday March 30, 2026 Baidoa (AX) — Federal government forces, reinforced by armed groups linked to opposition factions in Southwest State, moved into Baidoa on Monday after intense clashes with the Southwest regional administration. Witnesses said gunfire broke out heavily on the town’s outskirts earlier in the day as the rival sides fought for control of strategic points in the interim administrative capital. The death toll was not immediately known, and neither side had issued official casualty figures. Footage…

Monday March 30, 2026 Baidoa (AX) — Southwest State President Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed Laftagareen stepped down Monday, just hours after federal government troops and armed groups aligned with regional opposition leaders entered Baidoa following fierce fighting that killed at least two people and injured 25 others. “Effective today, March 30, 2026, I, Mr. Abdicasiis Hassan Mohamed Laftagareen, resign as President of the Southwest State,” Laftagareen said in a post on his official Facebook page, offering no explanation for…

Monday March 30, 2026 Baidoa (AX) — Heavy fighting erupted on Monday in and around Baidoa, pitting Southwest State forces against federal government troops and allied armed groups loyal to the regional administration. Residents said intense bursts of gunfire rang out from early morning and continued for hours. The violence reportedly began near a livestock market close to a checkpoint on the main road connecting Baidoa and Mogadishu, then spread into other parts of the town. The number of casualties remains unclear, and…

BAIDOA, Somalia — Intense fighting flared Monday on the outskirts of Baidoa, where Southwest State security forces battled troops from the Federal Government of Somalia backed by armed militias, according to officials and witnesses, in the latest sign that the region’s political standoff is deepening. The confrontation unfolded in the peri-urban belt around the city and involved both light and heavy weaponry. Southwest State media said its regional forces pushed back what it described as an attempt by “armed groups” to force…

BAIDOA, Somalia — Armed tension surged across southern Somalia on Saturday after federal forces started moving from Buurhakaba toward defenses near Baidoa, raising the specter of a direct confrontation tied to a widening dispute over the Southwest State’s election schedule. The operation follows the arrival of roughly 2,000 federal soldiers in Buurhakaba. Some contingents reportedly came from the Lower Shabelle region, traveling through areas controlled by militant groups without meeting resistance—an itinerary that has…