Follow-ups: Monitoring Unit of HAPC ,

Publication date: March 31, 2026,

The South West State of Somalia issued a press release yesterday, Monday, expressing its deep concern over what it described as the indiscriminate use of military equipment provided by Turkish government by Somali federal government forces against the residents of the southwest of the country.

According to the statement, Turkish drones accompanying federal government forces are heading towards the state capital, Baidoa, causing panic among citizens. The statement also noted that handing over such weapons to irresponsible hands is a threat to security and stability and reinforces the state of social disintegration, as the forces could use this equipment in internal conflicts instead of using it to combat terrorism.

The statement added that Somali forces trained by Turkey had diverted armored vehicles intended for counter-terrorism operations to use against local citizens.

In contrast , the Somali Federal Government announced on Saturday that the elections were fraudulent and illegal in Baidoa, the capital of the South West State of Somalia.

Federal Government explained that the elections in Baidoa violated the rules of the constitution and all agreements of the National Consultative Council, describing any process based on illegitimacy, coercion, political corruption, and hiding under the guise of elections, as unacceptable.

According to the statement issued by the Federal Ministry of Interior, what is happening is merely an attempt to manipulate the concept of democracy and impose a specific result before the electoral process, as he put it, and that the elections are cancelled because they are illegitimate according to the Somali constitution and the system of government in the country.

Following this political and military escalation, the President of the South West State of Somalia, Abdulaziz Laftagren officially submitted his resignation on Monday, in protest against what he described as the storming of Baidoa, the capital of South Somali State, by federal government forces.

Meanwhile, the Chairperson of African Union Commission, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, called on Somali leaders to engage in peaceful dialogue, warning of escalating tensions that threaten to undermine the country’s stability between the federal government and the Southwest State.

Observers note that the pace of political escalation has recently intensified between the Somali Federal Government in Mogadishu and the state authorities, exceeding the existing escalation between Mogadishu and Somaliland, as each state has become like a new Somaliland. This is due to several reasons, most notably the unrealistic nature of the serious work led by the Mogadishu authority, Mogadishu’s monopoly on decentralized decisions, and the absence of basic rights towards each Somali state.