Violence Erupts in Mogadishu as Farmajo supporters clash with opponents

Supporters of Somalia’s President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed and those opposed to the extension of his four-year term exchanged gunfire on Sunday on the streets of the capital Mogadishu.

“There is gunfire between pro-opposition military and government forces at Fagah Junction,” Halima Osman, a resident of Fagah in Mogadishu, told Reuters news agency.

A Reuters witness saw four military vehicles positioned in one place in the Fagah area.

Former Somali president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in a tweet alleged that forces loyal to the president attacked his house on Sunday, adding that: “I’ve warned and am now repeating how dangerous it is to politicise security. (Mohamed) will shoulder the responsibility of whatever happens as a result of this.”

The internal security minister, Hassan Hundubey Jimale, denied the former president’s claim and blamed the attack on “armed militias”. Hassan said government forces responded to the attack and brought it to an end.

There were no immediate reports of casualties, but the gunfire heard across much of the city highlighted earlier warnings that the election standoff could increase instability in the Horn of Africa nation.