Fighting Between Somali Federal Troops and Jubaland Forces Kills at Least 10 Near Kenya Border

BELED-HAWO, Somalia - Clashes between Jubaland regional forces and the federal government troops left at least 10 people dead, Tuesday, with Mogadishu accused of trying to exert control over Gedo region in Jubaland state of Somalia.

At Beled-Hawo township near the Kenya-Somalia border, the two rival groups engaged in a fierce gunfight, which came a few months following clashes between the same federal troops and the regional forces within the same state.

The government of Somalia had deployed troops to Ras Kamboni and El-Wak within Jubaland after disagreeing with the outcome of the Jubaland polls, where Ahmed Islam Mohamed Madobe was re-elected as the leader for the third time.

This is the latest round of enmity resulting from the political differences between the federal government and Jubaland leadership. At the national level, Madobe is a chief critic of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.

So severe is the animosity between the two leaders, leading to the recent appointment of Abdirashid Janan, a former Jubbaland interior minister, who was installed as the intelligence officer in charge of Gedo region.

Gedo region remains strategic for the federal government, which is using the divide-and-rule tactic to continue destabilising Jubaland. Previously, such an approach had put Janan in trouble when he was working with Jubaland.

Madobe, just like his Puntland counterpart, Said Abdullahi Deni, accuses President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud of working clandestinely to change the constitutional order by removing the current parliamentary system and replacing it with a presidential system.

Hassan Sheikh is also working to dismantle the federal system and has been put on the spot for supporting direct polls in place of indirect polls. This idea has been contested, with critics arguing that the country is not ready for the monumental constitutional changes.

Abdirashid Janan, the new intelligence chief of the Gedo region, confirmed that his forces were defeated in yesterday’s battle in Beled-Hawo on the Somalia-Kenya border and were driven out of the city, which is now fully under the control of Jubaland forces.

The SNA forces suffered a major defeat in the December 2024 battle at Raaskambooni, where the government was organizing an offensive to overthrow Ahmed Madobe, the President of Jubaland state of Somalia.

GAROWE ONLINE