Gunfire and smoke over Mogadishu – US warns
Heavy gunfire echoes over Somalia's capital Mogadishu, according to reporters on the spot.
An ongoing political crisis appears to have turned into violent fighting between government forces and opposition. The US warns of long-term consequences.
Smoke has been rising over the city on the Indian Ocean since Wednesday. Heavily armed security forces patrol the streets.
- We heard heavy weapons being fired and people fled their homes. Many families are leaving the area in search of safer places, Abdullahi Mohamed in the Mogadishu district of Howlwadaag told the AP news agency.
The information about what is happening is contradictory. A major operation against “heavily armed militias” that have threatened stability in the capital is underway, police say, according to the AP.
Former Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire instead claims that President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has sent armed forces against the opposition ahead of planned protests against Mohamud’s rule.
Amended the constitution
“This evening, repeated attacks were directed at the residence of former President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed in Mogadishu by forces acting on the orders of Hassan Sheikh Mohamud,” Khaire wrote on X late Wednesday, continuing:
“Now he is mobilizing state forces to silence those who oppose his unconstitutional hold on power.”
The country in the Horn of Africa was supposed to hold elections in May, but instead the president extended his own mandate through a constitutional amendment in March. Mohamud himself claims that he is trying to move the country towards democratic elections and replace the current clan-based system, where large clans have far-reaching influence. The opposition sees it as a way to concentrate all power around the president.
Humanitarian crisis
According to Khaire, the flare-up of fighting has claimed lives.
“Heavy weapons more associated with the battlefield than densely populated urban areas, including anti-tank weapons, drones and more, have been directed at us,” he wrote on X on Thursday.
The US embassy in Mogadishu calls the violence “reckless.” Somali leaders on all sides have a responsibility to preserve stability, they write on X.
“Measures taken in the coming hours and days could have long-term consequences for Somalia’s security, unity and future.”
Somalia has long been hard hit by political crises and conflicts between clans, the Islamist group al-Shabab and weak governments. Combined with a prolonged drought, this has created one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises.
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