Somalia fighting hits Baidoa with jets and drones

Heavy fighting involving fighter jets and drones broke out Monday in Baidoa, Somalia, between government forces and supporters of ousted South West State governor Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed Laftagareen.

A local resident, Hussein Abdifatah, said there were clashes all day in the city and that many civilians were struggling to flee because fighting was taking place across the area. He said there were many explosions but that he did not know who was bombing.

Somalia's Ministry of Defence said on X that government forces had inflicted a “major defeat” on Laftagareen's forces. It accused him of operating alongside Al-Shabaab, the Islamist insurgent group that controls large parts of central Somalia.

An opposition fighter said Laftagareen's side had made gains in the city despite fighter jets overhead.

A member of the presidential palace guard, which is protecting the regional administration installed by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud's government earlier this year, said “kamikaze drones” were hitting their forces and that several people were wounded.

The fighting follows a March move by Mohamud's government to send troops to oust Laftagareen as head of South West State. Laftagareen has since made repeated attempts to retake the region and its main city, Baidoa.