Violent confrontations erupted between local residents—mostly women and children—and heavily armed police units, including special forces led by an officer identified as Aadan Dheere, who is said to be related to the president’s family through marriage.

The fighting began on Thursday, April 16, when angry residents, supported by local militias, confronted the land-grabbing groups attempting to seize property in the area. The clashes continued into the evening.

Local sources and hospitals reported that at least six people were killed during Thursday’s violence.

Further sporadic clashes occurred on Saturday and Sunday after armed police raided the Warlaliska neighborhood, arresting some residents and entering private homes.

Traditional elders who spoke to Kaab TV said several people were injured, including a Murusade clan elder, Nabadoon Omar Maanafaato, who sustained head and arm injuries.

At least one person was reportedly killed on Saturday during a two-hour confrontation between police units accompanying the land-grabbing operation and residents defending their homes.

As of Monday night, the situation is reported to be calm, although armed police remain deployed in the affected neighborhoods.

A nighttime curfew has been imposed in Warlaliska, with residents saying their movement is severely restricted.

With less than a month remaining in his term, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud is accused of accelerating land seizures in Mogadishu, disproportionately affecting vulnerable civilian populations.

Agencies monitoring displacement report that more than 140,000 families were displaced from their homes in 2025, many by government forces.

Sources who spoke to Kaab TV allege that public lands from which residents were evicted have been resold, with proceeds reportedly going directly to President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud rather than into the state treasury.

Residents also report a sharp increase in the seizure of privately owned land, often carried out by groups allegedly linked to the government.

Protests against land grabbing and forced evictions are frequent in Mogadishu. However, media coverage remains limited, as journalists and civil society members who speak out about these abuses have repeatedly faced arrests and intimidation.

The post Deadly Clashes Erupt in Mogadishu’s Dayniile as Residents Resist Land Grabs appeared first on Kaab TV.

Two officers from the Southwest regional forces, said to be close to President Abdiaziz Laftagareen, stated that they reject the takeover of Baidoa by troops they claim were transported by aircraft.

They also voiced opposition to the planned, disputed elections expected to take place in Baidoa.

Da’uud Mohamed Abdirahman (Da’uud Jiroon), a spokesperson for the forces, said they had exercised patience for some time but that their calls for peace had not been understood.

“Baidoa is a place that has already witnessed conflict. We wanted to avoid adding further suffering to an already affected population,” Da’uud said.

“There is no district in Somalia that has invaded another, nor a region that has taken over another,” he added, describing the operation by federal forces, supported by allied clan militias, as a direct invasion.

He warned against holding elections in the city.

“No elections will take place like this. We will conduct the election ourselves, and it will be led by the local community,” he said.

The officers called for troops deployed from Mogadishu to be withdrawn and returned to their original bases.

The commander of the forces, Col. Isaaq Meedeey, also warned against incoming flights to Baidoa.

They declared Baidoa airport closed and cautioned civilian aircraft against landing in the city.

At the end of last month, Southwest State forces withdrew from Baidoa, while President Abdiaziz Laftagareen fled to Kenya.

Federal Government forces subsequently took control of the city, reportedly with support from Turkish drones and allied clan militias from Mogadishu and Buurhakaba.

The latest statements from these officers indicate that tensions in Southwest State remain unresolved, with reconciliation efforts among local communities yet to succeed.

The post Southwest Somalia Officers Reject Federal Takeover of Baidoa, Warn Against Contested Elections appeared first on Kaab TV.

The national emergency, originally declared on April 12, 2010, under Executive Order 13536, was introduced in response to the deteriorating security situation in Somalia, including persistent violence, piracy off its coast, and violations of a United Nations arms embargo.

Additional measures were later introduced through Executive Order 13620 in 2012, targeting key issues such as the export of charcoal—seen as a major funding source for the militant group al-Shabaab—the misuse of Somali public assets, and violence against civilians.

In the latest extension signed on April 8, President Trump stated that the situation in Somalia continues to pose an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to US national security and foreign policy.

The extension, issued under the National Emergencies Act, keeps existing sanctions and related measures in force until at least April 12, 2027.

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President Hassan Sheikh, with 38 days remaining in his term, is said to be preparing a new offensive targeting Gedo region in Jubaland, where Villa Somalia is reportedly planning to unilaterally conduct its own elections.

The camp where the militias and Gorgor forces are being gathered is located on the road leading west towards Bardaale.

The militias currently in Baidoa are equipped with weapons and vehicles supplied by Turkey and Egypt.

The South West administration withdrew from Baidoa last week after being forced out of the city, which had served as the seat of the South West administration for more than 14 years.

THE GEDO OFFENSIVE

Well-placed sources have told Kaab TV that Villa Somalia’s plan is to wrest the entire Gedo region from Jubaland’s control, particularly Doolow district, which Jubaland currently administers.

Sources added that Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s plan is to complete the capture of Gedo region and install a hastily arranged election before April 20th.

Reports indicate there is military movement in the direction of Doolow district, where Jubaland-aligned administration and forces are currently stationed.

Additionally, sources based in Kismayo have told Kaab TV that Jubaland is conducting military preparations in Lower Jubba region, the area where Jubaland retains its strongest presence.

Apart from limited areas in Lower Jubba and Doolow district in Gedo region, the remaining areas of Jubaland are controlled by Al-Shabaab, while the districts of Luuq, Garbaharey and Beledhawo — previously taken from Jubaland — are now home to clan militias aligned with the Federal Government of Somalia.

The post Villa Somalia Masses Forces in Baidoa for Imminent Gedo Offensive appeared first on Kaab TV.

Al-Shabaab fighters entered Balcad district and seized the police station and the town centre, where they remained for approximately one hour before withdrawing.

Eyewitnesses reported that a brief exchange of fire took place at the police station, with the resident troops fleeing the scene.

Al-Shabaab militias had previously been present on the outskirts of Balcad and along the road connecting Jowhar and Balcad, which they control and where they collect money from vehicles at checkpoints.

Balcad is located 38 kilometres from Mogadishu.

No statement has been issued by the federal government or the Hirshabelle administration regarding Al-Shabaab’s brief seizure and subsequent withdrawal from Balcad district.

This attack, in which Al-Shabaab temporarily took control of Balcad, comes as large numbers of troops — including Turkish-trained forces and clan militias — have been deployed to Baidoa, where the federal government seized control from the South West administration the previous week.

The post Al-Shabaab Briefly Seizes Balcad District Before Withdrawing appeared first on Kaab TV.

The two victims, who were employed by a local non-governmental organisation, were shot dead and their bodies set alight, according to General Mahad Abdirahman, a former Somali police custodial corps commander who also led the Southwest police command in Baidoa.

Speaking in an interview with a Nairobi-based Somali journalist on Saturday, General Mahad laid blame squarely on the militia forces and Somali federal government troops who entered Baidoa following the takeover.

“They were killed because they were Harin clan,” he said.

“Their bodies were burned with gasoline poured on them by the militia.”

General Mahad claimed that the killings took place inside a house belonging to Aden Mohamed Nur Madobe, Speaker of the Somali Federal Parliament’s lower house.

Aden Madobe had not responded to the accusations at the time of publication.

The Somali federal government has also yet to comment on the reported killings.

Chaos Follows Baidoa’s Fall

Baidoa descended into turmoil on Monday after federal forces completed their takeover of the city, prompting Southwest State President Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed Laftagareen to flee.

He departed for Nairobi, Kenya on a chartered flight along with his closest leadership circle and family members.

A local journalist in Baidoa told Kaab TV that the two young men were captured by militia allied to Somali government forces on Monday before being executed.

General Mahad, himself a close relative of Laftagareen, said he had spent nearly a week under house arrest in Mogadishu before being released after federal forces took full control of Baidoa.

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, whose term expires in mid-May, travelled to Baidoa on Friday to begin consultations on forming a new administration for the region.

His arrival was immediately overshadowed when Al-Shabaab fired mortar rounds at Shaati Gaduud Airport as his plane landed, in what appeared to be a direct attempt on his life.

No casualties among the presidential party were reported.

The post Two Men Shot Dead and Bodies Burned in Baidoa Following Federal Takeover, Somali General Says appeared first on Kaab TV.

The little-noticed requirement, buried within Germany’s Military Service Modernisation Act, went largely unreported until the Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper brought it to public attention on Friday — prompting swift clarification from Berlin.

A Defence Ministry spokesman confirmed to the BBC that males aged 17 and older must now obtain prior approval for extended stays abroad. Under the current framework, such approval must generally be granted, though it remains unclear how violations would be enforced.

The ministry said the regulation was designed to “ensure a reliable and meaningful military registration system”, adding: “In the event of an emergency, we must know who may be staying abroad for an extended period.”

Officials acknowledged the consequences for young people could be “far-reaching”, and said exemption regulations were being developed “in part to avoid unnecessary bureaucracy”.

A Cold War-Era Rule

The legal basis for the requirement dates back to Germany’s 1956 Conscription Act, which has been amended several times — most recently last December. Previously, the obligation to report extended stays abroad applied only if Germany was in a formal state of national defence or mobilisation.

The ministry noted that a similar provision “was in effect during the Cold War and had no practical relevance” at the time.

Its revival reflects a dramatically changed security landscape.

Germany, which hosts more than 1.3 million Ukrainian refugees — roughly one-third of all Ukrainians sheltering within the European Union — has been among the EU nations most directly affected by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Those concerns have been further sharpened by the Trump administration’s repeated suggestions that the United States could scale back its commitment to NATO.

The travel approval rule is one element of a broader effort to reverse decades of military decline.

The Military Service Modernisation Act sets out plans to grow Germany’s active personnel from around 180,000 to 260,000 by 2035 — rebuilding a force that numbered nearly half a million during the Cold War, before being run down through the peacetime years of the 1990s and the suspension of compulsory service in 2011 under then-Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Under the new law, all 18-year-olds are now sent a questionnaire asking whether they wish to join the armed forces.

From July 2027, they will also be required to complete a fitness assessment to determine their eligibility for service should a conflict arise.

Women may volunteer but cannot be conscripted under Germany’s constitution.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz has pledged to rebuild the Bundeswehr into Europe’s strongest conventional army, describing the current security environment as the most dangerous in a generation.

While service remains voluntary for now, officials have not ruled out compulsory conscription if too few recruits come forward or if the security situation deteriorates further.

The changes have not gone down well with all Germans.

When parliament approved the legislation, many young people took to the streets in protest.

“We don’t want to spend half a year of our lives locked up in barracks, being trained in drill and obedience and learning to kill,” one protest organiser wrote on social media — capturing a mood of resistance that the government will need to navigate as it presses ahead with its military ambitions.

The post Germany’s New Military Law Requires Young Men to Seek Approval for Long Stays Abroad appeared first on Kaab TV.

The post President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud Narrowly Escapes Al-Shabaab Mortar Attack at Baidoa Airport appeared first on Kaab TV.

Hassan Sheikh, whose term in office is ending next month, had arrived in Baidoa from Mogadishu to begin meetings on establishing an administration for South West State of Somalia, following the departure of Cabdicasiis Laftagareen’s administration after the city was taken over by Federal Government forces and allied clan militias.

According to journalists present at Shaati Gaduud Airport, as Hassan Sheikh’s plane landed, up to three rockets were fired at the airport, endangering people on site.

One rocket struck the rear of the president’s plane, forcing the two pilots to move to a nearby control tower made of reinforced stone, according to an airport official who spoke to Kaab TV.

Two other rockets landed in the public waiting area and on the airport runway.

No casualties were reported from the attack.

Video shows black smoke as mortars fired by Al-Shabaab landed close to the runway at the Baidoa Shaati Gaduud Airport moments ago.

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud arrived in Baidoa on Friday after his forces took control of the city on Monday, expelling regional leader Abdiaziz… https://t.co/Kk5wazj34a pic.twitter.com/Wc3cwKiAOd

— Kaab TV (@KaabTV) April 3, 2026

President Hassan Sheikh, who was being welcomed at the airport, was quickly evacuated in armored vehicles directly to the South West State Presidential Palace.

Footage from the airport showed panic and confusion, with people fleeing and vehicles rushing out, as part of the convoy accompanying the president.

Officials from Baidoa Airport and the Office of the President of Somalia have not commented on the attack, which targeted an airport that had been considered secure for eight years, regularly used by international agencies, diplomats, and government officials.

This week, Baidoa entered a period of political transition after the departure of President Laftagareen’s administration, which had governed the city for seven years.

Federal Government forces and allied clan militias from the Mogadishu area captured Baidoa on Monday, 30 March, and since then, the city has been in a state of instability.

Residents told Kaab TV that clashes broke out on Thursday between two militias fighting over control of the Baidoa district administration building, resulting in deaths and injuries.

There have also been reports of targeted killings described as clan-based, involving individuals believed to be associated with Laftagareen’s former administration, raising concern among the local population.

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