Three Rounds of Fighting in Six Weeks Leave Hospitals Overwhelmed as MSF Warns of a Growing Humanitarian Crisis

Baidoa (WDN) — The fighting in Baidoa is becoming a recurring war with no political settlement in sight, and civilians are paying the price.

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has issued a stark warning over the latest clashes in and around Baidoa, saying repeated violence is putting civilians, patients and medical workers at serious risk while preventing people from reaching hospitals for treatment.

The latest fighting on September 28 was the third major round of clashes in just six weeks. According to MSF, a health facility was severely damaged, a health worker was killed and an ambulance was looted. Two medical workers associated with MSF were also robbed, with one sustaining injuries.

The organisation has called on all parties to protect civilians, patients, medical personnel and health facilities and to ensure that the wounded can reach hospitals safely and without obstruction.

69 Casualties Reach Bay Hospital

Medical teams working with Somalia’s Ministry of Health at Bay Regional Hospital have so far treated 69 people injured in the latest violence, including five children. MSF said three people had died.

But the organisation warned that the number of casualties could rise sharply because roads leading to hospitals have remained blocked since the fighting began.

Only a small number of wounded people have so far reached Bay Regional Hospital, raising fears that others remain trapped in areas where fighting took place. The consequences extend beyond those directly caught in the conflict.

Road closures are also preventing patients with unrelated medical emergencies from reaching hospitals, potentially turning an armed confrontation into a wider public-health crisis.

A Pattern of Repeated Bloodshed

The latest casualties add to an increasingly grim pattern. During fighting on August 17, Bay Regional Hospital received 94 wounded people, including 29 women and 20 children. Four people died.

Another round of fighting on September 3 sent 71 wounded people to the hospital, including 15 women and 12 children. One person died.

Now, less than a month later, the violence has erupted again. Three major rounds of fighting in six weeks have transformed what might otherwise have been isolated security incidents into a continuing cycle of violence.

For residents of Baidoa, the question is no longer simply when the next battle will occur, but how long the city can continue absorbing the human cost of a conflict that has yet to produce a political solution.

A Political Crisis Becoming a Humanitarian Crisis

The violence is unfolding against a much broader political confrontation between the Federal Government and forces aligned with former South West State President Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed Laftagareen.

The dispute has increasingly moved from political disagreement to armed confrontation, with federal forces and opposition fighters repeatedly clashing around Baidoa.

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s government has maintained its position on the political and constitutional questions at the centre of the dispute, while efforts to reach a broader political settlement have so far failed to prevent repeated fighting.

The consequence is becoming increasingly visible on the streets and inside hospitals. Political disputes that cannot be resolved through negotiation eventually create pressure for security solutions. In Baidoa, that dynamic has already produced repeated clashes, civilian casualties and severe restrictions on humanitarian access.

MSF Warns of What Comes Next

MSF’s warning is particularly significant because the organisation is working directly inside the healthcare system affected by the conflict.

The organisation supports Bay Regional Hospital in cooperation with the Ministry of Health, providing emergency care as well as maternal and newborn services, paediatric care, nutrition support and outpatient treatment.

That makes the hospital both a medical lifeline and a direct indicator of the consequences of the fighting. When roads are blocked, ambulances are looted and health workers are attacked, the damage goes far beyond the battlefield.

The wounded cannot reach doctors. Pregnant women cannot reach maternity services. Children cannot reach treatment. And patients with no connection to the conflict become casualties of the conflict simply because they cannot reach a hospital.

The Political Question Can No Longer Be Ignored

Military control may temporarily change the balance on the ground, but it cannot by itself resolve the political dispute that continues to drive the confrontation.

Baidoa has now experienced three major episodes of fighting in six weeks. The humanitarian consequences are accumulating, while the political disagreement remains unresolved.

For President Hassan Sheikh’s government and its opponents, the latest warning from MSF should therefore carry a message beyond the immediate battlefield: every additional round of fighting comes with a growing civilian cost.

The central question is no longer simply who controls Baidoa. It is whether Somalia’s political leaders can find a negotiated way out before another round of fighting sends more civilians to the same hospital—and leaves another generation of residents trapped between political ambitions and armed confrontation.

Baidoa does not need another battle. It needs a political settlement capable of stopping the next one.

WardheerNews