Somalia’s federal government has lifted a months-long flight ban to the Doolow airport in Gedo region amid longstanding political tensions with Jubbaland.

The Interior Ministry said Sunday that domestic flights could resume to Doolow, nearly five months after Mogadishu grounded traffic to the southwestern town of Jubbaland State.

The airport was shut down on December 23, 2024, following an incident in which a Halla Airlines flight on the Mogadishu–Kismayo route was allegedly diverted and forced to land in Doolow without clearance. Federal officials called the landing a breach of Somali airspace laws.

Interior Minister Abdullahi Sheikh Ismail Fartaag said the reopening decision followed a federal security review and fresh guarantees from local Doolow authorities.“Given the urgent needs of the Gedo population, especially with the Hajj season approaching, and based on assurances from Doolow officials and regional security forces, we have decided to reopen the airport as of May 11, 2025,” he said in a statement.

But the row over the airport has exposed deeper rifts between the central government and the Jubbaland regional administration, which had accused Mogadishu of using the ban to punish communities seen as politically aligned with President Ahmed Madobe — whose controversial re-election in 2019 is still not recognised by the federal government.

Residents in Gedo had decried the airport closure for cutting off critical medical and trade routes. The reopening is expected to ease civilian movement and restore basic services to the remote border town.

Still, the tension is far from resolved. Jubbaland officials maintain that the flight ban was part of a broader federal campaign to undercut the autonomy of regional states. The federal government, in turn, has directed security forces to remain on alert, urging Doolow authorities to maintain tight surveillance at the airport and prevent “any threat to public safety or national security.”The Doolow episode is the latest flashpoint in the rocky relationship between Mogadishu and Kismayo — a standoff that continues to test Somalia’s fragile federalism.

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