Mogadishu (Somalia Today) – Britain urged restraint on Friday as Somalia’s confrontation with South West State entered a tenser phase, with Mogadishu and Baidoa locked in a widening dispute that has disrupted flights and strained federal ties.
The standoff has raised fears of fresh instability in one of the country’s most politically and militarily sensitive regions.
In a statement issued by the British Embassy in Mogadishu, London said it was “following developments in South West State closely”.
It warned that recent tensions risked “further destabilising the security situation and impacting on communities who are facing severe humanitarian pressures”.
“As a friend and partner of Somalia, we urge all sides to exercise restraint and prioritise de-escalation,” the embassy said.
It added that Britain remained in contact with interlocutors at both federal and member-state levels and welcomed mediation efforts by traditional elders to find a peaceful way forward.
Institutional rupture
The appeal came after South West State announced this month that it was suspending all cooperation and relations with the federal government in Mogadishu.
At a press conference, South West officials accused the federal government of arming militias and trying to unseat regional president Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed Laftagareen.
The accusations have deepened an already bitter quarrel over constitutional reforms and the future of federalism in Somalia.
The row also disrupted commercial links between Mogadishu and Baidoa, the administrative centre of South West State, underlining how quickly the political fallout has begun to affect daily life.
At the centre of the crisis lies a broader argument over Somalia’s political future.
Earlier this month, parliament approved constitutional changes that critics say could extend President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s term by a year and delay elections.
Mohamud welcomed the vote as part of a long-promised transition away from the clan-based indirect system that has dominated Somali politics for decades.
Fragile federal order
But opposition figures and several regional leaders say the process lacked the broad national consensus needed in Somalia’s fragile federal order.
Relations between the centre and member states have long been marked by suspicion and power struggles.
South West leaders have framed the row in sharper terms, saying the constitutional changes weaken federal principles and upset the balance between Mogadishu and the regional states.
The confrontation has since moved beyond legal and political argument into an institutional rupture.
Somalia’s interior ministry said this week that Laftagareen’s mandate, and that of his administration, had expired and that the federal government would no longer recognise appointments or dismissals made by the current regional leadership.
The ministry also said it was working with traditional elders from South West to manage the process and avoid instability, a sign that Mogadishu is trying to combine legal pressure with local mediation.
That has sharpened fears that a constitutional dispute could spill into a broader political and security crisis.
Humanitarian stakes
South West State is not only one of Somalia’s federal member states, but also a region where federal troops, local security forces, humanitarian agencies, and communities displaced by conflict and drought all operate side by side.
Britain’s warning on humanitarian pressure reflects a much wider emergency across Somalia, where millions of people continue to face hunger, displacement, and insecurity after repeated climate shocks and years of conflict.
Any renewed confrontation in South West would risk worsening those pressures in a part of the country that already sits at the intersection of political crisis and humanitarian need.
The message from London also carries particular weight because Britain has long been one of Somalia’s most engaged Western partners.
The UK reopened its embassy in Mogadishu in 2013, becoming the first EU country at the time to restore a permanent diplomatic presence in the city after the collapse of the Somali state in 1991.
Since then, Britain has played a prominent role in Somalia’s international diplomacy, security support, and humanitarian response.
Al-Shabaab threat
Britain is not alone in voicing concern.
Other international actors have also called for dialogue, while elders from South West and figures from other Somali administrations have begun trying to calm the situation before troop movements and political brinkmanship turn into open confrontation.
The crisis in South West fits a broader pattern of strain across Somalia’s federal system.
Puntland declared in March 2024 that it would no longer recognise the federal government until disputed constitutional amendments were approved through a nationwide referendum.
Jubaland later suspended ties with Mogadishu after a dispute over regional elections.
For President Hassan Sheikh, the danger is that political fragmentation could come at a moment when Somalia is still trying to hold on to gains against the Al-Shabaab militant group.
Although Somali forces, backed by African Union support and local militias, have pushed the insurgents out of parts of central and southern Somalia, the group retains the ability to strike important towns and cities.
A prolonged confrontation between Mogadishu and South West would risk diverting attention and security resources away from that fight.
