Escalating Violence Blocks Access To Health Care In Somalia
With roads to hospitals blocked since the fighting started, many of the wounded have been unable to access care.
By Medecins Sans Frontieres | Doctors Without Borders
September 28, 2026
On September 28, fighting erupted in and around Baidoa, Somalia, leaving a health facility severely damaged, an ambulance looted, and reports of one health worker killed and homes attacked. This was the third incident of violence in Baidoa since August 17.
Two medical staff working alongside MSF teams were robbed and another was injured.
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is deeply alarmed by the impact of the escalating violence on civilians and their access to essential health care in Baidoa, which is located in southern Somalia's South West state.
MSF urgently calls on all parties to the conflict to protect civilians, patients, health care workers, and medical facilities, and to ensure that people in need of medical care can reach hospitals safely and without obstruction.
“It is unacceptable that civilians and health care are being caught up in violence,” said Dr. Elshafie Mohammed, MSF country representative in Somalia. “Injured people need immediate medical attention, but many cannot reach hospitals. Without timely treatment, many can bleed to death."
Injured people cannot reach care
Medical teams at Bay Regional Hospital, where MSF works in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, have received 69 patients affected by the violence, including five children.
Three deaths have been recorded. Roads leading to hospitals in Baidoa have been blocked since the fighting began, severely restricting access to medical care, and patients that have reached Bay Regional Hospital are only a small portion of the wounded.
MSF is concerned that many wounded people remain unable to access treatment and expect more patients to arrive at the hospital once access routes reopen.
The disruption is affecting not only those wounded in the fighting, but also people who need other urgent and essential medical care. MSF supports the hospital’s emergency, maternity, pediatrics, nutrition, and outpatient departments.
This is the third time in six weeks that fighting has erupted in Baidoa, with devastating consequences for civilians. It is unacceptable that civilians and health care are being caught up in violence. Injured people need immediate medical attention, but many cannot reach hospitals.
Dr. Elshafie Mohammed, MSF country representative in Somalia
“Health facilities, health care workers, and patients must never be targeted,” Dr. Elshafie Mohammed said. “We call on all parties to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure and to ensure that patients can reach health care facilities safely, without fear, delay, or obstruction.”
Armed clashes also erupted in and around Baidoa on August 17, when teams at Bay Regional Hospital received 94 wounded people, including 29 women and 20 children, five of whom were under the age of 5. Four deaths were recorded, including that of a young woman.
A new wave of clashes began on the morning of September 3, when teams received 71 wounded people, including 15 women and 12 children. One death was also recorded.
Escalation comes amid ongoing malnutrition crisis
Drought and severe aid cuts by the United States and other donors have worsened the ongoing malnutrition crisis in Somalia. In a malnutrition survey carried out by MSF in July, half of the young children screened in displacement sites in Baidoa were acutely malnourished, and 1 in every 4 was severely malnourished.
In response, MSF increased the bed capacity at Bay Regional Hospital and distributed relief items and water to displaced families. MSF has been urgently calling on the donor community, international organizations, and health authorities to ensure a well-coordinated, adequately funded, and effective emergency response without delay in Baidoa and other affected areas of Somalia.
Since the beginning of the year, more than 21,000 children have been admitted to MSF-supported outpatient malnutrition facilities in Baidoa — more than double the number recorded during the same period last year.
Additionally, 2,890 children have been admitted for inpatient care, an increase of 78 percent compared to the same period in 2025. Figures in 2025 were already higher than the year before. We are seeing a similar trend in Mudug, where admissions to MSF-supported inpatient facilities increased by 70 percent in June and July.
© Médecins Sans Frontières 2026
