The president of Somalia’s Southwest State, Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed Laftagaren has resigned and allowed to fly into exile shortly after the capital Baidoa fell to federal forces late on Monday.
Laftagaren in power since 2018 was re-elected with 66 percent of the vote last weekend in an election rejecte by the authorities in Mogadishu as a ploy by the former federal minister to hold onto power.
The former leader of the Southwest, a former ally of Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, had defied orders from Mogadishu to step aside and allow the installation of a new government, accusing the federal authorities of political intereference and encroaching on the state’s autonomy.
Other states such as Puntland had maintained uneasy relations with federal government over the devolution of power.
Since last week federal troops including Turkish-trained special units of the Somali military have been advancing on Baidoa, 246km southwest of the federal capital Mogadishu with instructions to oust the ‘recalcitrant’ Abdiaziz.
Clan militias had also backed the onslaught by federal forces, whose special military equipment included attack drones to prevent possible ambush by al-Shabaab militants who swarm the state.
Witnesses say the clashes between the Somali government troops using armoured vehicles and regional forces had been brief with the defenders routed and forced to retreat in some areas or capitulate altogether.
Hours after the skirmishes in and around Baidoa, footage emerged of triumpant federal forces parading the streets of the state capital accompanied by cheers from the public.
Laftargen has since been allowed by the federal authorities to fly into exile in Nairobi, Kenya as pro-Mogadishu politicians of the SouthWest state begin jockeying for his position.
Analysts say there with the government removed, Mogadishu faces a new challenge of forging reconciliation not only with the Southwest but other states of the federation wary of the federal government’s bid for the increased centralisation of power.
WN/as/APA