SNA Declares Baidoa Fully Secured; Remaining SW State Forces Scattered

Somali National Army forces declared Baidoa fully secured on March 31, with remaining Southwest State loyalist security forces confined to scattered pockets. The swift military operation — taking less than 48 hours — effectively ended the constitutional standoff between the Federal Government of Somalia and Southwest State. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud's government moved to assert direct federal authority over the city and Southwest State administration. The operation was presented by Mogadishu as a law enforcement and constitutional order action, while critics — including opposition MPs, Jubbaland, and Puntland — condemned it as an unconstitutional military coup against a democratically re-elected state president.