Clan Tensions Rise Again in Lower Shabelle as Somalia’s Internal Conflicts Continue to Shift

Mogadishu (WDN) – Fresh clan tensions are escalating in Somalia’s Lower Shabelle region, raising fears of another round of intercommunal violence in a country where local clan conflicts have increasingly become a recurring feature of the security landscape—even as areas under Al-Shabaab control remain largely free from comparable internal clan warfare.

Reports from Lower Shabelle indicate growing tensions in the areas of Janaale, Baqal, Xawaaloow, and Lambar 60, where members of the Biyomaal clan are at odds with sections of the Hiraab clan family, particularly the Abgaal and Habar Gidir communities.

The dispute reportedly centers on competing claims over local administration, land ownership, and control of territories recently recovered from Al-Shabaab. Both sides are said to be mobilizing armed supporters, stockpiling weapons, and convening clan meetings as they prepare for a possible confrontation, each insisting it is defending its legitimate rights and interests.

The Biyomaal community has announced a campaign to reclaim areas it says were taken from it and has unveiled plans to establish a new local administrative entity it calls “Koonfur Bari.” Meanwhile, elders from the Hawiye (Abgaal and Habar Gidir) communities have vowed to defend what they describe as their ancestral territories against any attempts to alter the current balance of control.