Fierce gunfights rocked the capital of Somalia on Thursday night. Smoke also rose above Mogadishu in the morning after armed clashes broke out between political factions there ahead of planned protests. TASR informs about it according to the report of the AFP agency.
- Night armed skirmishes and shootouts broke out in Mogadishu.
- The president extended his mandate by one year, which triggered a crisis.
- The opposition and regional leaders plan to protest the decision.
- Government forces attacked former leaders ahead of protests.
Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud plunged Somalia into a new political crisis when he announced that his mandate, which was due to expire on May 15, was being extended by one year. The opposition and regional leaders have rejected the move and demonstrations are expected to take place in Mogadishu on Thursday against the decision.
But when opposition leaders arrived in the city on Wednesday ahead of the protests, clashes broke out, which continued sporadically throughout the night, according to AFP journalists in the area. Police said in a statement that they were carrying out a “large-scale security operation” against “heavily armed militias who have carried out mortar attacks on some neighborhoods of the capital.”
They attacked on the move
Former Somali Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire said he was attacked by government forces on Wednesday after he moved from his base in the heavily fortified Green Zone around the airport to his residence in the city to attend protests. “We were attacked by forces under the command of a president whose mandate has already expired,” Khaire said in a post on social media. According to witnesses, gunfire was also reported near the residence of former head of state Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, which is located near the sought-after Lido Beach area.
The president is trying to move Somalia towards democratic elections and replace the system based on clan leaders, writes AFP. Mohamud argues that he gained an extra year in the presidency after parliament approved a new constitution in March that set the framework for holding elections.
But the country is deeply divided between feuding clans, and much of its territory is under the control of the Islamist insurgent group al-Shabaab. As a result, only minimal progress has been made in the organization of elections, except in a few localized areas. The opposition and regional leaders have also strongly opposed Mohamud’s plan, which they see as an attempt to centralize power.
