Heaviest Baidoa Clashes Yet: 71 Wounded, 1 Killed as Laftagareen Militia Storms City With Reported Al-Shabaab Support

Fighting erupted before dawn on September 3, 2026 in Baidoa between federal government forces and Darawish militia loyal to former Southwest State president Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed Laftagareen, in the most serious clash in the city since the August 17 VBIED assault. Laftagareen's forces entered multiple neighborhoods — including Al-Faras, Boonkaay and areas between Cunaay and Ceel Cabdi Shiraay — reportedly seizing the Ninth Brigade military base at Boonkaay and claiming capture of three armed vehicles; electricity was cut in parts of the city and residents reported house fires. Somalia's Defense Ministry said government forces were responding to a joint attack by Laftagareen loyalists and Al-Shabaab, but a Laftagareen spokesman, Ugaas Hassan, publicly rejected any Al-Shabaab role, claimed sole responsibility for the operation, called on federal soldiers to surrender, and urged fighters to protect civilians. Ethiopian AUSSOM troops, which hold the airport and the presidential compound, took no part in the fighting. The shooting subsided by early afternoon. Bay Regional Hospital's emergency department head, Dr Abdikafi Omar Mohamud, reported 71 wounded (including 15 women) and 1 civilian killed — the clearest casualty figures yet for the five-month standoff over Southwest State control that began with the SNA's March 30, 2026 takeover of Baidoa.