Somali national troops clashed Monday with forces loyal to Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed Laftagareen, the ousted head of South West State (one of Somalia's semi-autonomous federal member states), in a battle for control of Baidoa, the state capital. The federal government accused Laftagareen's fighters of attacking army positions with explosive-laden vehicles and of coordinating with Al-Shabaab militants; it said nearly 30 militants were killed before government forces regained full control of the city. The fighting, which Médecins Sans Frontières confirmed had produced multiple casualties, underscores the deepening fractures between Mogadishu and rival regional administrations as President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud struggles to unify a country still battling a persistent Islamist insurgency.