BALAD-HAWO, GEDO (WDN) – Tensions are reaching a boiling point in the border town of Balad-Hawo as senior officials and armed units loyal to the Jubaland administration continue to pour into the area, raising fears of a direct military confrontation with federal government forces already stationed in the town.

On Tuesday, the District Commissioner of Doolow, accompanied by a high-level delegation, arrived in Balad-Hawo and was greeted by local supporters. Their arrival follows an earlier deployment of key Jubaland ministers — including the Ministers of Interior, Security, and Labor — who are now entrenched in the town alongside other senior regional officials.

While Somali federal forces maintain a significant presence in Balad-Hawo, Jubaland-aligned personnel are expanding their control in key neighborhoods. The dual presence has created an increasingly volatile situation, with residents and observers warning that a clash may be imminent.

Security analysts say the standoff reflects the deepening political and military rivalry between the Federal Government and the Jubaland administration, which continues to reject Mogadishu’s authority over parts of the Gedo region. Balad-Hawo, a strategic town near the Kenyan border, has been a flashpoint in previous confrontations.

“There is growing fear that the two sides could engage in open conflict over control of the town,” one local elder told WardheerNews. “The situation is tense, and people are on edge.”

The latest developments add to the growing instability in southern Somalia, where overlapping claims of authority and militarized rivalries threaten to ignite yet another front in the country’s long-running political crisis.

WardheerNews