The paramount chief of Somalia’s Hawadle clan has called on clansmen serving in the Somali National Army (SNA) and other federal security forces to leave their posts and gather in Beledweyne, the capital of Hiiraan region. Somali media report that some soldiers and intelligence personnel have answered the call. In Mogadishu, a separate clash over forced evictions in Dayniile district has drawn a second clan elder into open criticism of the government. Taken together, the two disputes show the federal government facing clan-based resistance in central Somalia and in the capital while it is also fighting al-Shabaab.
The developments were highlighted on X by several accounts, including @allak_weda (quoting Somali Guardian) and @rmconsultantgrp, a small security-commentary account. Neither is an official source. DefenceMENA checked their claims against Somali government statements and Somali news outlets.
Beledweyne: the Ugaas’s call to arms
On the night of 6 November and again at a news conference on 7 November, Hawadle traditional leader Ugaas Yusuf Ugaas Hassan urged Hawadle members of the security forces to assemble at his residence in Beledweyne, according to Hiiraan Online and Somali Guardian. “Security forces belonging to the Hawadle clan should gather in the city of Beledweyne and stand with me, their Ugaas,” he said, according to Hiiraan Online. He also told SNA soldiers from Hiiraan to refuse to take part in operations against their communities: “You have seen what has become of the national forces; there is no government to defend today.”
The Ugaas said rival groups were using the federal government’s name to attack Hiiraan. Somali Guardian reported that the federal government was preparing about 1,500 troops at the Hananbure base in Galgaduud for an operation to retake Beledweyne. The government has not confirmed any such offensive, Hiiraan Online noted.
Defections: reported by several outlets, scale unknown
Several Somali outlets reported that some federal personnel answered the call. Horseed Media and Somali Guardian said National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) personnel who had defected took control of Beledweyne airport on 7 November and warned federal and Hirshabelle officials not to land. Caasimada Online, as republished by Warkasta, published video of soldiers with military vehicles being welcomed at the Ugaas’s residence. Baidoa Online said reports “suggest that some soldiers may have begun leaving their assigned locations.”
No outlet has given a verified number of defectors, and the federal government has not publicly confirmed any defections. Somali Guardian reported on 8 November that Hawadle troops had abandoned frontline positions against al-Shabaab. @rmconsultantgrp said SNA units in Qoryoley and Bulo Marer, in Lower Shabelle, were “stretched thin and hit by desertions”. DefenceMENA could not independently confirm either claim.
The Hirshabelle dispute behind it
The crisis grows out of a dispute over who leads Hirshabelle, the federal member state that includes Hiiraan and Middle Shabelle. Hawadle politicians reject the re-election of Hirshabelle President Ali Gudlawe. They say President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud promised their clan the state presidency and then backed Gudlawe in a vote that Mogadishu controlled, Somali Guardian reported. In late October, Hawadle clan fighters took over Beledweyne’s provincial headquarters. Somali Guardian, citing Caasimada Online, said Macawisley clan militias, which had fought al-Shabaab alongside the army since 2022, left frontline posts in the Mataban and Buulo Barde districts.
Former NISA director Abdullahi Mohamed Ali “Sanbalolshe”, a leading Hawadle opponent of the government, arrived in Beledweyne on 7 November. Somali Guardian reported that Ethiopian forces protected his convoy; Horseed said he came from Ethiopia. Ethiopia has not commented. Somali Guardian also reported that Sanbalolshe had said he would ally with anyone, including al-Shabaab, to remove the president. Djiboutian officers stationed in Hiiraan are trying to bring the sides together, according to Horseed.
The government’s response
Speaking on 8 November at the inauguration of Hirshabelle’s new leadership, Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre acknowledged that many people in Hiiraan have “long-standing grievances” about Hirshabelle. He said the federal government was committed to resolving them through dialogue, Caasimada Online reported. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud called for calm and said Beledweyne needed to be made peaceful so that Hirshabelle’s leadership could work there.
Mogadishu: deadly clash over evictions in Dayniile
On 8 November, security forces escorting demolition crews in Warlaliska, in Mogadishu’s Dayniile district, opened fire on residents protesting against the destruction of their homes, Geeska reported. Former Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire said three civilians were killed. Another local report put the toll at two. The government had not released casualty figures.
The Somali-language outlet Somali Memo reported that armed residents later pushed back the forces, killing up to two soldiers and capturing one, citing local sources. This has not been independently confirmed. Reports that more than 200 homes were demolished are also unverified, Geeska said.
On 9 November, the traditional leader of the Murusade clan, Ugaas Abdirisaq Ugaas Abdullahi Ugaas Hashi, condemned the demolitions as land grabbing. He urged Dayniile residents to defend their land “in a united manner while maintaining peace”, according to FTL Somalia and Caasimada Online.
The X post by @rmconsultantgrp describes this as “heavy fighting” between clan militias and government forces as “the regime loots Mogadishu’s last public assets before fleeing”. The reporting reviewed supports a deadly clash over evictions and land, not a wider battle for the capital. The claims about looting and the government “fleeing” are the account’s own characterisation.
Reported NISA defection to al-Shabaab (unconfirmed)
A separate, unconfirmed report adds to the security picture. Somali Guardian and Garowe Online report that a senior commander of Duufaan, a Turkish-trained paramilitary unit of the National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA), has defected to al-Shabaab. Both outlets say he took laptops, communications equipment and files with him. Neither names him beyond the name “Luqman”. Garowe Online and the Turkish outlet Mirahaber say he had already been removed from his post. They report that he travelled from Dayniile through Basra in Lower Shabelle to al-Shabaab-held Middle Juba.
Rashid Abdi of the Nairobi-based Sahan Research said NISA “is said to be severely compromised”, with informant identities potentially exposed. NISA and the federal government have not commented, and the defection has not been officially confirmed. The report is not linked to the Hawadle dispute.
Analysis: a federal army that answers to clans
The Beledweyne crisis matters militarily because of who is involved. Hiiraan was the starting point of the 2022 offensive against al-Shabaab, which relied heavily on Hawadle Macawisley militias working alongside the SNA. If those fighters and clan members of the army leave their posts, government-held areas are exposed. The insurgents have already regained much of the ground taken in 2022–23, Somali Guardian reported.
The Ugaas’s direct appeal to serving soldiers also highlights a long-standing weakness: many SNA units are still recruited and organised along clan lines. When a political dispute turns into a clan dispute, some soldiers’ loyalty can follow the clan rather than the chain of command.
The timing is poor for Mogadishu. Uganda has started withdrawing its troops, and the AU mission’s authorisation ends on 31 December. The government is also in armed disputes in South West State, where pro-Laftagareen forces hold several towns, and Puntland and Jubaland are outside the electoral process. DefenceMENA’s analysis of Somalia’s foreign backers sets out how far Mogadishu depends on foreign forces. Clan-based resistance in Hiiraan and in the capital adds a further strain on the security forces.
What is not known
- How many SNA and NISA personnel have defected in Hiiraan, and whether any frontline positions against al-Shabaab have actually been abandoned since 7 November.
- Whether the federal government will send troops to Beledweyne or rely on talks, and what role Djiboutian AU troops and Ethiopia will play.
- Whether desertions have affected units in Lower Shabelle, as one X account claims.
- The confirmed death toll in Dayniile, including the reported deaths of soldiers.
- Whether the reported NISA Duufaan commander’s defection is real, who he is, and what material he took.
Sources
- Caasimada Online, Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre’s remarks on Beledweyne, 8 November 2026 (Somali): caasimada.net
- Hiiraan Online, 7 November 2026: hiiraan.com
- Hiiraan Online, 8 November 2026: hiiraan.com
- Somali Guardian, “Hawadle Clan Chief Issues Call to Arms in Central Somalia”, 7 November 2026: somaliguardian.com
- Somali Guardian, “Mawisley militias abandon front lines in central Somalia”, 1 November 2026: somaliguardian.com
- Horseed Media, 7 November 2026: horseedmedia.net
- Baidoa Online, 7 November 2026: baidoaonline.com
- Warkasta / Caasimada Online, video of defected troops in Beledweyne: warkasta.com
- Geeska, 9 November 2026: geeska.com
- Somali Memo, 9 November 2026 (Somali): somalimemo1.com
- FTL Somalia, 9 November 2026: ftlsomalia.com
- Caasimada Online, Khaire on Dayniile, 9 November 2026 (Somali): caasimada.net
- Somali Guardian, “Somalia: Senior NISA commander defects to Al-Shabaab, raising fears of intelligence breach”, 8 November 2026: somaliguardian.com
- Garowe Online, 9 November 2026 (Somali): garoweonline.com
- Mirahaber, 8 November 2026 (Turkish): mirahaber.com
- @SomaliGuardian, X post, 8 November 2026 (NISA defection claim): x.com
- @allak_weda, X post, 8 November 2026 (commentary; quotes Somali Guardian): x.com
- @rmconsultantgrp, X post, 9 November 2026 (claim; not an official source): x.com
Method: claims from the two X posts were checked against the Somali prime minister’s public remarks and against reporting by several Somali outlets. Defection numbers, frontline withdrawals, Lower Shabelle desertions, soldier casualties in Dayniile and the reported NISA defection could not be independently confirmed and are attributed above.