Baidoa, Somalia (WDN) — Heavy fighting has erupted early this morning in and around Baydhaba between forces loyal to former Southwest State President Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed Laftagareen and troops aligned with the Federal Government of Somalia, as the battle for control of the strategic city enters another dangerous phase.

Reports from Baidoa indicate that Laftagareen-aligned forces launched attacks on federal government positions in and on the outskirts of the city, triggering exchanges of heavy gunfire and other weapons. The sound of heavy weapons has reportedly been heard across all parts of Baydhaba, raising fears among residents already traumatized by months of political tension and armed confrontation. At the time of this writing, the locals are reporting Turkish F16 planes flying over the city adding another layer of anxiety to the already traumatized civilians.

A spokesman for Laftagareen’s forces, Ugas Hassan Abdi Mohamed, said in a recorded video that Southwest State forces had launched an operation against federal positions and that fighting was continuing.

He urged residents to remain inside their homes while the fighting continued and called on federal and Southwest Darwish forces to surrender, promising that those who laid down their weapons would be treated well.  The extent of casualties remains unclear.

For much of the past five months, Laftagareen’s locally mobilized forces have presented themselves not simply as another political militia, but as a home-grown liberation and popular resistance force defending what their supporters describe as the political and territorial rights of Southwest State. In the eyes of most of the Baidoa population, the force has increasingly been portrayed as a grassroots movement resisting what they regard as federal interference in the affairs of the state.

That narrative has gained strength as federal forces have struggled to establish uncontested control over the city despite reinforcements and military deployments. The confrontation has consequently evolved beyond a conventional dispute between rival political authorities. It has increasingly become a contest between federal military power and a locally mobilized force claiming popular legitimacy.

Echoes of the RRA

Supporters of Laftagareen increasingly compare the current mobilization with the Rahanweyn Resistance Army (RRA), which emerged in the early 1990s and fought against armed factions and warlords in the Bay and Bakool regions.

The RRA eventually played a major role in removing warlord forces from Baydhaba and establishing a measure of local security and political control. For Laftagareen’s supporters, the comparison is deliberate.

They see the current force as a new generation of Rahanweyn resistance Army 2—an indigenous movement organized around the defense of Baydhaba and the political interests of the local population.

This has led some supporters to describe Laftagareen as the leader of a “Second RRA”, portraying the present confrontation as a continuation of the region’s historic resistance movements rather than simply another episode in Somalia’s political rivalry. That characterization remains political rather than an established institutional designation, but it illustrates the depth of sentiment surrounding the conflict.

The federal government retains important military advantages, including access to national security forces, aircraft and other logistical capabilities. But the conflict demonstrates the limits of military superiority when confronted by a locally embedded fighting force with knowledge of the terrain, community networks and a political narrative centered on defending the city.

Federal reinforcements transported by aircraft may provide substantial firepower and mobility, but airlifted troops alone cannot guarantee control of an urban environment where local forces retain support and freedom of movement.

The central question is therefore not simply which side possesses more weapons. It is which side can sustain its presence, maintain local support and ultimately establish legitimate authority over Baidoa. For Laftagareen’s supporters, capturing or reasserting control over Baydhaba would represent far more than a military victory. It would symbolize resistance to what they view as an attempt by Mogadishu to impose political authority over Southwest State through military force.

For the federal government, losing effective control of Baidoa would carry equally serious consequences. It could undermine its political strategy in Southwest State and demonstrate the difficulty of imposing federal authority through security deployments alone.

The fighting therefore has implications beyond the battlefield. It is becoming a test of whether political disputes within Somalia’s federal system can be resolved through dialogue and constitutional mechanisms—or whether armed confrontation will increasingly determine who controls regional capitals.

The most important feature of the current confrontation may be the emergence of a locally rooted force capable of resisting substantially better-equipped federal units. Laftagareen’s supporters see their forces as a liberation movement defending Baidoa from external political domination. Their comparison with the RRA reflects a powerful historical memory in the region, where armed resistance was once used to remove warlords and reclaim the city.

Whether today’s force can legitimately claim the same historical role remains a matter of political judgment. But its ability to sustain resistance demonstrates that military deployments from Mogadishu cannot automatically translate into political control on the ground.

The federal government may possess greater conventional capabilities, but the struggle for Baidoa will ultimately depend on more than firepower. A government can transport troops into a city by aircraft. It cannot transport legitimacy. That is the fundamental challenge facing the federal authorities. For Laftagareen and his supporters, the objective is increasingly framed as reclaiming Baidoa through a popular resistance movement. For the federal government, the priority is maintaining control and preserving its authority over the state.

As fighting continues, the outcome could shape not only the future of Baidoa but the wider balance between Mogadishu and Somalia’s federal member states.

For residents caught between the two sides, however, the immediate priority is simpler: an end to the fighting, protection of civilians and a political settlement that prevents Baidoa from becoming another prolonged battlefield in Somalia’s unresolved federal crisis.

WardheerNews