File Photo/Somali Times
By MP Dr Abdillahi Hashi Abib
In 1992, Baidoa became a mass grave.Southwest families starved. Children died in their mothers’ arms. The world called it the “City of Death.”
That wound never healed.
On 17 August 2026, Baidoa was thrown into violence again.
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At 05:15, legitimate South West forces launched an assault with mortars and RPGs against positions in Iidow Dhagal, Bonkay and Mayafulka, seeking to restore what they regard as the legitimate South West State government. Two camps fell. Fighting tore through Bakin and Warsadda Hasey. By 07:15, forces had reached Afar Idoor Roundabout in central Baidoa.
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Then Turkish armoured reinforcements rolled through the streets to support the illegitimate South West leadership installed by Hassan Sheikh Mohamud after the expiration of his presidential term. The illegitimate forces of Aden Mohamed Nur were unlawfully executing direct orders from former President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. Gunfire tore through the air, communications went down, and Baidoa stood one step away from another potential slaughter.
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Gunfire. Blackouts. Fear. Civilians trapped between armed forces. Baidoa stood on the edge of catastrophe.
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Legitimate South West forces later withdrew toward the outskirts near Baidoa Park Residence, reportedly to prevent further civilian casualties. But people had already been killed, homes damaged, and a city carrying the scars of famine and war had once again been turned into a battlefield.
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This demands answers.
The Somali National Army exists to defend Somalia and fight Al-Shabab – not to become an instrument for settling political disputes between Mogadishu and a federal member state.
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Turkey is dripping in this blood. It handed the expired dictator on-the-ground intelligence, drones, ammunition, military equipment, helicopters and elite troops trained on Turkish soil – all to keep him clinging to power. Those Turkish weapons and Turkish-trained units reached the outskirts of Baidoa, powered the confrontation, and turned neighbourhoods into killing zones. Turkey is actively rebuilding the exact same pattern of violence that crushed the Southwest community in 1992.
Today Baidoa holds more than half a million – up to 800,000 – displaced people already starving. Children are dying of malnutrition. Famine is circling. Unleashing heavy weapons on this fragile city with foreign backing is a moral crime and a clear violation of international humanitarian and human rights law.
ENOUGH.
We demand an immediate independent investigation into the fighting of 17 August.
We demand accountability for anyone who unlawfully ordered, enabled, armed or facilitated attacks against civilians.
We demand that the United Nations Security Council urgently address the escalating violence, civilian protection and the role of external military assistance.
Baidoa is not a battlefield for political power struggles.
Southwest civilians are not expendable.
They paid in blood once.
THEY MUST NOT PAY AGAIN.
SAVE SOUTHWEST.
PROTECT BAIDOA.
STOP ANOTHER “CITY OF DEATH.”
ACT BEFORE MORE GRAVES ARE DUG.