Federal troops in Somalia are advancing from the town of Buurhakaba toward regional defenses of the Southwest State, amid military confrontation over a deepening electoral dispute, APA can report on Saturday.
The military manoeuvre comes over the weekend as the Southwest State administration prepares to finalise its local electoral process, a move that has been explicitly rejected by the federal government in Mogadishu.
According to information reaching APA, a federal force with a military strength of 2,000 federal soldiers has transitioned from the Lower Shabelle region, passing through territories held by militant groups without encountering any resistance, is going to the Southwest State.
The central government has been pushing for a unified national electoral model that several regional states have rejected.
In response, Southwest State security forces have been placed on high alert, reinforcing primary defensive lines located just outside the city limits of Baidoa.
“We are ready to defend our administrative autonomy against any unauthorized military movement,” one of the military officers Baidoa was quoted as saying
The standoff represents a significant escalation in the ongoing power struggle between President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s administration and regional state authorities.
Addressing the nation on Saturday, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud strongly defended the implementation of one-person, one-vote elections, insisting the country has moved beyond the long-standing system of indirect voting.
MG/as/APA