Somalia’s Federal Army Drawn Deeper into Political Battles

Beledxaawo Tensions Raise Fresh Alarm as Mogadishu Faces Accusations of Using National Forces to Pressure Jubaland and Remove Regional Leaders

Beledxaawo (WDN) — Somalia’s political crisis is increasingly spilling onto the battlefield, with local authorities in Beledxaawo warning of a new federal military offensive against Jubaland — months after federal forces seized Baidoa in a confrontation that ended the tenure of South West President Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed Laftagareen.

The latest warning came from Beledxaawo District Commissioner Abdiasis Xareed Abdullahi, who said forces commanded by federal officers were moving from Doolow and Luuq toward Beledxaawo and appeared to be preparing to target military positions in the town.

“There is a new military movement. Forces led by officers have come from Doolow through Luuq and are heading toward Beledxaawo, targeting the military camps and the people of the town,” Xareed said.

He accused federal security officials of driving the mobilisation and warned that it could trigger another conflict in Gedo. The Federal Government had not immediately issued a response to the allegation.

From Baidoa to Beledxaawo

The warning comes at a critical moment for Somalia’s federal system. In March 2026, federal forces entered Baidoa after relations between Mogadishu and Laftagareen collapsed. The Somali National Army took control of the city, and Laftagareen subsequently resigned. Reuters reported that his departure came days after he had been re-elected for another five-year term.

Federal troops later clashed with forces loyal to Laftagareen, turning a political confrontation into an armed struggle over control of South West’s capital.

For critics of Mogadishu, the episode is evidence that the federal government is increasingly willing to deploy the national army to reshape political leadership in federal member states.

The government has presented its actions as efforts to restore state authority and maintain security. But the sequence has created a difficult question for Somalia: if federal forces can be used to remove or pressure the leadership of one federal state, what prevents the same model from being applied elsewhere?

Jubaland Is Now in the Line of Fire

Beledxaawo is precisely where that question is becoming urgent. The border town has repeatedly been at the centre of the confrontation between Mogadishu and Jubaland. Federal and Jubaland forces have fought for control of strategic locations in Gedo, including Beledxaawo and Doolow.

EUAA reporting has documented the wider military and political confrontation between the Federal Government and Jubaland in the region.

Recent developments show that the security situation remains fluid. Jubaland security forces recently conducted operations along the Doolow–Luuq corridor, while Jubaland’s security leadership placed forces on heightened alert amid efforts to consolidate a political and security agreement in Gedo.

Xareed’s latest warning therefore comes against an already tense backdrop. He appealed to the forces involved to avoid confrontation. “We do not want war. We want peace. We do not want two more young men to die.”

A National Army or a Political Instrument?

The developments in South West and Gedo point to a problem far larger than either Baidoa or Beledxaawo.

Somalia’s national army was created to defend the country and fight threats such as Al-Shabaab. Yet it is increasingly becoming involved in disputes over who controls federal member states and who has the authority to lead them.

That risks undermining the very federal system the national security institutions are supposed to protect.

The South West episode does not, by itself, prove that the sole purpose of the federal intervention was to remove Laftagareen. But the documented sequence — federal forces taking Baidoa, Laftagareen leaving office, and subsequent fighting with forces loyal to him — has strengthened that perception among his opponents.

Now, with federal-aligned forces reportedly moving toward Beledxaawo, similar concerns are resurfacing in Jubaland.

A Political Crisis Becoming a Security Crisis

The situation has become even more sensitive following the September 3–4 drone strike in Doolow that wounded former Somali corrections commander General Mahad Abdirahman Aden, known as Shub, and civilians, according to Jubaland. Jubaland alleged that Turkish-operated aircraft carried out the attack and linked it to political differences with Mogadishu.

The Federal Government denied involvement and said an investigation would be conducted, while Türkiye has not publicly confirmed responsibility.

The episode has further intensified concerns over the use of military capabilities in Somalia’s internal political disputes.

And because Beledxaawo sits on Somalia’s border with Kenya, any renewed fighting could quickly acquire regional consequences.

The Bigger Danger

The immediate question is whether the reported troop movements will result in fighting. The larger question is whether Somalia’s federal institutions can survive when political disagreements are increasingly settled through military deployments.

Baidoa showed that a dispute over political authority can become a military confrontation. Beledxaawo now raises the possibility that the pattern could spread to another federal member state.

If national forces become instruments in political battles between Mogadishu and the federal states, Somalia risks weakening the distinction between the national army and the political authority that controls it. That would carry consequences far beyond Gedo.

The danger is no longer simply another battle in Beledxaawo. It is the gradual militarization of Somalia’s federal politics — and the possibility that the army created to hold the country together could become one of the forces pulling it apart.

WardheerNews