MOGADISHU, Somalia: Fighting erupted early Thursday between government forces and militias on the outskirts of Somalia’s southwestern city of Baidoa, with reports of heavy gunfire and civilians fleeing their homes. Somalia’s Defense Ministry said government forces were responding to an attack by fighters loyal to former South West state President Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed Laftagareen. The ministry said that al-Shabab, an al-Qaida-linked extremist group, also took part in the attack. The claims could not immediately be independently verified. The clashes are the latest escalation in a political and security dispute between Somalia’s federal government and Laftagareen over control of South West state. Federal forces took control of Baidoa on March 30, after which Laftagareen resigned. He had governed the state since 2018. Clashes stopped in the early afternoon, but there was no official information on casualties or the extent of the fighting. Government troops patrolled the streets, ambulances rushed to the victims, and residents ventured out assessing damage and clearing out bloodied clothes from the pavement. Dr. Abdikafi Omar Mohamud, head of the emergency department at Bay Regional Hospital in Baidoa, told The Associated Press that 71 wounded, including 15 women, and one dead civilian were received by his staff. Abdullahi Haji, a Baidoa resident, told AP over the phone that he left his home as soon as he heard heavy gunfire and stray bullets landing in residential areas. Baidoa, about 245 kilometers (150 miles) northwest of Mogadishu, is a major humanitarian hub and hosts more than half a million people displaced by conflict and drought. Last month, fighting in and around Baidoa left at least four civilians dead and 98 others wounded.