Dolow (KAAB TV) – Developments from the Beledhawo district in Somalia’s Gedo region reveal increasing tension between Somali federal forces and Ethiopian officials operating in the area. Reports confirm that Ethiopian authorities based in the Dolow district have detained Abdirashid Janan—a senior Somali government security official—and the federal forces under his command, following their recent deployment to Beledhawo.
According to sources within the regional administration, Janan and his troops, who were deployed by the Somali Federal Government just days earlier, have been ordered to leave Beledhawo. The Ethiopian officials reportedly issued this directive after meeting with local traditional elders in an effort to de-escalate growing political and military friction in the area.
Speaking to KAAB TV, the governor of Gedo region—appointed by the Somali federal authorities—confirmed the sequence of events. “Ethiopian military officers arrived in Dolow and held discussions with local elders. Following that, they communicated a clear order to the UK camp in Beledhawo and to federal officials stationed there, particularly Minister Abdirashid Janan. He was given a three-day deadline to vacate Beledhawo due to concerns that his presence was destabilizing the local security situation,” the governor stated.
This development comes shortly after Beledhawo was taken over by Somali Federal Government forces led by Abdirashid Janan, who was recently reappointed as the head of the National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) and regional security chief for Gedo. His arrival in the district was seen by some as a federal assertion of authority in an area historically contested between the central government in Mogadishu and the semi-autonomous Jubbaland administration.
Ethiopia’s role in the region has drawn increasing scrutiny. Although operating under the auspices of international peacekeeping and security cooperation, Ethiopian forces in Dolow have often been viewed as favoring the Jubbaland regional administration—an entity with a complex and frequently adversarial relationship with the Somali federal government.
Just days prior to this standoff, Ethiopian troops stationed in Dolow, reportedly supporting Jubbaland-aligned forces, launched an attack on a Somali federal security camp within the same district—further inflaming the volatile political environment in Gedo.
Analysts suggest that Ethiopia’s growing influence in Somali internal affairs, particularly in sensitive border regions like Gedo, is contributing to an already fragile security landscape and exacerbating divisions between Somalia’s federal and regional authorities.
As the deadline approaches for Janan and his forces to withdraw from Beledhawo, it remains to be seen how the Somali federal government will respond to what appears to be external pressure from a foreign power acting within its sovereign territory.