{"id":4068,"date":"2026-09-28T17:59:59","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T17:59:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/?p=4068"},"modified":"2026-09-28T17:59:59","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T17:59:59","slug":"fighting-intensifies-in-somalia-as-government-forces-battle-supporters-of-ousted-governor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/28\/fighting-intensifies-in-somalia-as-government-forces-battle-supporters-of-ousted-governor\/politics\/","title":{"rendered":"Fighting intensifies in Somalia as government forces battle supporters of ousted governor"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"739\" height=\"415\" src=\"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/images-14-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4071\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/images-14-1.jpg 739w, https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/images-14-1-300x168.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 739px) 100vw, 739px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fighting intensified in Somalia on Monday as government forces and supporters of an ousted regional governor clashed, with fighter jets and drones reportedly deployed in the conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The fighting is linked to tensions between Somalia\u2019s federal government and regional authorities opposed to what they describe as an increasing concentration of power under President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In March, Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed Laftagareen, governor of Somalia\u2019s South West State, was ousted. His supporters have since mobilised local forces in a fight for control of the region and its central town, Baidoa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Somalia\u2019s Ministry of Defence said government forces had regained control of Baidoa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The claim was disputed by fighters opposed to the government. One fighter said on Monday that their forces were advancing inside the city despite the deployment of aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOur forces are advancing in the city. Fighter jets are flying over the city, but they are not deterring us,\u201d the fighter said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The latest clashes add to Somalia\u2019s continuing political and security tensions, with several regions resisting moves by the federal government to consolidate its authority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The competing claims over control of Baidoa could not be independently verified from the information available.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fighting intensified in Somalia on Monday as government forces and supporters of an ousted regional governor clashed, with fighter jets and drones reportedly deployed in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4071,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49,43,41,5,35,40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4068","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-africa-news","category-current_affairs","category-hot_topics","category-politics","category-regional","category-top_stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4068","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4068"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4068\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4072,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4068\/revisions\/4072"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4071"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}