MOGADISHU- Heavy fighting has erupted between Somalia’s Semi-autonomous Jubbaland region and Federal Government Forces after Jubbaland held an election against the advice of authorities in Mogadishu.
The clashes will raise concerns that internal rivalries are diverting attention from the fight against the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab group just as the mandate of an African Union peacekeeping force expires.
The Assistant Security Minister of Jubbaland, Adan Ahmed Haji, told a press conference in the regional capital Kismayu that Federal Forces from Mogadishu in Ras Kamboni, using drones attacked Jubbaland Forces, but Somalia’s Defense Minister Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur said the Jubbaland forces initiated the clashes when Jubbaland forces attacked the Somali federal military troops that were deployed in Lower Jubba to take bases withdrawn from by ATMIS.
In late November, Jubbaland which borders Kenya and Ethiopia and is one of Somalia’s five semi-autonomous states re-elected regional president Ahmed Mohamed Islam Madobe to a third term.
The national government in Mogadishu, led by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, opposed the election, saying it was held without federal involvement.
As the election dispute escalated, the Somali Federal Government issued an arrest warrant for Madobe, while Jubbaland issued a reciprocal one for President Mohamud.
A Federal Army officer in Mogadishu, Major Aden Nur, said thar fighting was in an area 20 km from Ras Kamboni, a town where Somali Federal Troops have increased their numbers since the election.
“So far federal forces captured four technical (gun-mounted pickup) vehicles from Jubbaland forces. Fighting is going on far from Ras Kamboni. There are casualties on both sides but no exact figure,” Nur told journalists.
In the wider fight against al Shabaab, the mandate of the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) expires in less than three weeks and no agreement has been reached on which countries will contribute to the follow-on peacekeeping mission or how it will be financed.
Jubbaland is seen as the breadbasket of Somalia and Kismayu is an important port and its shoreline delineates a contested maritime zone, with potential oil and gas deposits.
In 2021, Kenya rejected a U.N. court ruling that decided mostly in favor of Somalia in the row but said it would pursue a diplomatic solution.
Additional Reporting by Associated Press.
