By Derek Vanbuskirk
Somali forces, trained and previously funded by the U.S., are following escalating orders against citizens and public officials in what those officials told the Daily Caller is a constitutional crisis.
President of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, is leading these forces against the state in a last-ditch effort to extend his May-ending term by another year and to unconstitutionally change the nation’s voting structure to retain his seat indefinitely, leaders of Somalia’s South West State told the Caller. Officials alleged that Sheikh may not only be using U.S.-trained and elite forces, but also funds that may have come from U.S. tax dollars to appease terrorists to cooperate with the movement of his troops. (RELATED: Airstrike Cuts Off Iranian Navy’s Head Amid Strait of Hormuz Standoff, Officials Say)
“He wants to stay in power until he dies,” the president of the South West State, Abdiaziz Laftagareen, told the Caller, claiming that President Sheikh would run the voting machines, the electoral commission and the voting software. “He wants to impose people on an election that he has designed for himself and also a constitution that was literally unilaterally approved for him.”
The South West State refused to accept these conditions by conducting its own elections, leading to the movement of the Somali National Army (SNA) to take control of the state, Laftagareen alleged. He told the Caller the states of Puntland and Jubaland also refused.
Approximately 500 federal troops have been sent to Barawe, the capital of South West State, and have taken control of the city, Speaker of the State Assembly of South West Ali Faqi told the Caller in a statement.
While there has been little damage and few deaths and injuries, “the scale of escalation is growing by the day” and is exacerbated by the severe drought and other hardships in the area, Faqi said.
President Sheikh now wants to dispatch approximately 1,000 SNA troops — many of them having received international instruction and gear, including from the U.S. — to engage in the conflict to secure his extended authority, according to the speaker’s statement.
These troops are allegedly embedded with members of the elite fighting force, the Danab Brigade, which was trained by the U.S. to fight Somalia’s infamous terrorist group al-Shabaab, the officials told the Caller.
In 2024, the U.S. Embassy to Somalia announced that it would help construct up to five military bases for the Danab Brigade, a project valued at more than $100 million. The move followed a 2017 effort to “recruit, train, equip and mentor” 3,000 Somalis for the SSNA.
The U.S. formally announced it was suspending funding to the Danab Brigade in June 2025 due to allegations of rampant corruption. Somalian Finance Minister Bihi Imaan Egeh said “U.S. assistance has provided approximately $1.5 billion annually” and added that the funds had directly affected the Danab forces. However, the U.S. Embassy to Somalia announced that the U.S. Joint Special Operations University had conducted a two-week Civil Military Operations course for Danab members in Somalia in an August 2025 statement.
Faqi shared with the Caller a photo taken Thursday that allegedly depicts a Danab member leading “Gogor troops” toward Baidoa that are expected to arrive Friday.
Dr. Abdillahi Hashi Abib, a member of Somalia’s Parliament and Foreign Affairs Committee, shared another example with the Caller. He claimed it’s a Wednesday photo showing another Danab member moving with the SNA as they prepare for more conflict. He alleged that the other photos show more Danab members moving with the SNA. (RELATED: Protesters Cheer For American Troops To Return From Iran ‘In Caskets’)
Along with President Sheikh allegedly using members of the Danab Brigade on his own citizens instead of the terrorists the U.S. has built them up to fight, Laftagareen told the Caller that “everybody is aware” the president paid off al-Shabab to allow him to continue his efforts to stay in power.
Faqi alleged that Sheikh’s army pays al-Shabab $300,000 a month to maintain peace in the country’s capital, Mogadishu. Sheikh had also allegedly paid heads of al-Shabab on March 20 to allow his troops a clear passage through the territories’ occupied streets so that he could move them toward Baidoa without interference, a bribe that could have been obtained through the fraudulent use of U.S. tax dollars, according to the official.
A State Department spokesperson told the Caller that it knew about bribery allegations and that the Trump administration “maintains a firm zero tolerance policy for waste, theft, or diversion of U.S. resources.”
State Minister of Interior in Somalia Sadat Nur Aliyow told Somali Eye, according to a translation verified for the Caller, that Laftagareen had “rejected the agreed path” and that “no one should think they can do whatever they want.” Aliyow also claimed that they could seize the port city of Kismayo in one hour and that they will respond “hard with an iron hand.”
Laftagreen has been accused on abusing his power himself. Somali security analyst Abdikarin Dahir alleged that he “attempts to portray a local political crisis of his own making as a looming national catastrophe,” thus distorting the narrative and distracting from his “long-spanning abuse of power and growing opposition.”
“The State Department is aware of the [Somali Government’s] declaration that the president of the Southwest State no longer holds a valid mandate,” the spokesperson told the Caller. “While legal decisions on elections and mandates are for Somalis to make, it is vital Somalia focus on political reconciliation and reducing the internal strife hampering the fight against al-Shabaab and ISIS.”
A Pentagon official told the Caller that although the Department of Defense does not comment on operational details, the U.S. maintains its partnership with the Federal Government of Somalia to achieve shared security interests.
The official said the department has worked with the Somali government to conduct airstrikes on al-Shabaab and ISIS-Somalia for the protection of the U.S.’s homeland, forces and citizens overseas.(RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Somali Lawmaker Shares How US Pays The Price Of Somali Terror And Trafficking)
The president of Somalia, the U.S. Embassy in Somalia and the Treasury of Somalia did not return the Daily Caller’s request for comment.
