Sunday December 25, 2022
Baidoa (HOL) - Southwest Minister for Information, Ilyas Ali Noor, announced on Saturday night that he has resigned from his position, citing Friday's gun battle in Baidoa, the interim capital of the Southwest regional state, which left at least ten people dead.
In a
video posted on Facebook, minister Ilyas Noor, who is in Baidoa, accused Southwest's President Abdiaziz Laftagren of not respecting ongoing peace efforts and ignoring the pleas of elders not to attack the home of former finance minister Mohamed Fargeti.
"I am clarifying that the Southwest administration caused yesterday's problem in Baidoa. The bloodshed could have been avoided and resolved through negotiation. The state government did not respect us," said minister Ilyas Noor.
Mohamed Adan Ibrahim Fargeti, who served as the Minister of Finance as part of Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke's cabinet, said in a press conference in Mogadishu that the state security forces attacked his house in Baidoa.
Ilyas called on the Ethiopian forces in the Southwest regions to support the election and for the people to choose who they wanted.
At least ten people were killed in a
gun battle between South West State forces and militias loyal to opposition candidates in Baidoa early Friday morning.
Local journalists in Baidoa reported that while the situation is still tense, a
sense of calm returned to Baidoa on Saturday.
Recently, a political firestorm has been brewing in Baidoa between the incumbent President Abdiaziz Laftagareen and opposition candidates.
In 2019, Southwest parliament extended President Abdiaziz Laftagaren's term for one year, pushing his mandate expiry to December 19, 2023. However, the opposition opposed the President's term extension.