Baidoa (Somalia Today) – Somalia’s South West State accused the federal government on Wednesday of using national security assets in an internal political dispute after what it said was an operation in Buurhakaba and Waajid that killed 13 civilians.
Regional authorities said armed aircraft carried weapons and military supplies into the two districts, while South West’s security ministry said the dead included four women, seven men and two children.
The regional administration urged the international community to intervene, arguing that matériel meant for the fight against Al-Shabaab was instead being used in a domestic confrontation.
By late Wednesday, Mogadishu had not publicly responded to the accusation or to a request for comment from Somalia Today.
The allegation comes amid one of Somalia’s sharpest federal-regional ruptures in recent months.
Constitutional dispute
On March 17, South West State announced it was suspending all cooperation with the federal government, accusing officials in Mogadishu of arming local militias in a bid to unseat regional president Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed Laftagareen.
At the centre of the standoff is a widening dispute over constitutional authority, elections and the balance of power in Somalia’s fragile federal system.
Earlier this month, parliament approved constitutional changes aimed at moving the country beyond decades of transitional rule.
Critics say the amendments could delay planned elections and extend President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s time in office by increasing presidential terms from four years to five.
The changes form part of a broader push by the presidency to move towards universal suffrage and direct voting, but opposition figures and some regional leaders say the process has moved too quickly and without the broad national consensus needed in a post-conflict state.
That dispute has increasingly played out on the ground in South West State.
On March 22, the federal interior ministry said the mandate of Laftagareen and his administration had expired and that Mogadishu would no longer recognise appointments or dismissals made by the regional leadership.
South West rejected the move as unlawful federal interference, raising fears in Baidoa and surrounding areas that a constitutional dispute could turn into a wider security confrontation.
The European Union also weighed in this week, with EU Ambassador to Somalia Francesca Di Mauro urging all sides to give mediation a chance and warning that further confrontation could deepen instability.
Old grievances
The stakes are high because Baidoa is both a military and humanitarian hub, where federal troops, regional forces and aid operations overlap in an area already hit by drought and displacement.
The South West crisis also draws on older grievances over federal intrusion.
Laftagareen came to power in a controversial 2018 regional election after former Al-Shabaab leader Mukhtar Robow, who many expected to win, was barred from running.
That history has continued to fuel suspicion in the region about political interference from Mogadishu.
More broadly, the dispute reflects a wider pattern of friction between Villa Somalia and the federal member states.
Puntland said in March 2024 that it would no longer recognise the federal government until disputed constitutional amendments went to a referendum, while Jubbaland suspended ties with Mogadishu in November 2024 over its own electoral dispute.
The confrontation also comes at a sensitive moment for national security.
Somalia remains under pressure from Al-Shabaab, which controls parts of the countryside and retains the ability to carry out attacks in major urban centres.
The African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia, or AUSSOM, replaced the previous AU force on January 1, 2025, to support Somali security operations amid continued funding and security strains.
In that context, South West’s claim that federal officials are redirecting counter-insurgency resources into an internal political dispute is likely to heighten concern that divisions within the state could undermine the wider fight against the jihadist insurgency.
