Heavy gunfire tore through Mogadishu overnight after a political standoff over election delays exploded into clashes.
The fighting started Wednesday evening between government troops and opposition fighters. It continued into Thursday across several neighborhoods, with residents reporting gunfire and mortar attacks.
The crisis began after President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s term ended on May 15. Parliament extended his rule by one year, but opposition leaders called the move unconstitutional. They organized protests for Thursday.
Police said they launched a “large-scale security operation” against “heavily armed militias” who fired mortars. Former Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire said government forces attacked him and other leaders as they prepared for what was meant to be a peaceful demonstration. He blamed the president and said the assault violated citizens’ right to protest.
Former President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed posted that the violence would not stop the protests. “If the President and his soldiers think that we are afraid or that we will flee, we are not going to run away,” he wrote on X.
The US embassy in Mogadishu called the violence “reckless” and urged all sides to resolve differences peacefully. Casualty numbers are still unknown, and President Mohamud has not commented.
Somalia hasn’t held a direct one-person, one-vote election since 1969. President Mohamud has pushed to replace the clan-elder system, but 30+ years of civil war have kept reforms stalled.
