Somalia capital Mogadishu hit by overnight clashes

Heavy gunfire rocked Somalia’s capital overnight, with smoke rising over the city and armed forces deployed on the streets on Thursday after clashes erupted between rival political factions ahead of planned protests, News.Az reports, citing AFP.

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud plunged Somalia into a fresh political crisis in mid-May after announcing a one-year extension of his term, which had been due to expire on May 15.

The opposition and regional leaders have rejected the move, and demonstrations against it were due to take place in Mogadishu on Thursday.

However, as opposition leaders arrived in the city ahead of the planned protests on Wednesday, clashes broke out and continued sporadically through the night, according to AFP journalists and local witnesses.

"We did not sleep throughout the night because of sporadic gunfire," said Xalimo Salad, a resident of Mogadishu's Howl Wadaag district adding that "more intense gunfight broke out" on Thursday morning.

"We have seen federal government forces deploying reinforcements," he said.

Police said they were conducting a "large-scale security operation" against "heavily armed militias who launched mortar attacks on some neighbourhoods of the capital".

Former prime minister Hassan Ali Khaire said he had been attacked by government forces on Wednesday after relocating from his base in the heavily fortified green zone around the airport to his city residence, in order to take part in the protests.

In a post on social media on Thursday he said the president's forces had "directed a sustained and indiscriminate military assault with the apparent objective of killing me".

There was no immediate word on casualties as of Thursday morning, and by 9:30 am the fighting had subsided as the government and opposition entered negotiations, according to sources.

A security analyst, who asked not to be named, confirmed to AFP the violence had spread since last night and had "escalated this morning".

"Mortars and heavy calibre weapons being used, civilian casualties in some areas," he said.

International observers have expressed concern, with the US embassy in Mogadishu calling the violence "reckless" and urging dialogue.

A joint statement from the EU and UN missions and British embassy said the clashes were "deeply concerning".

News.Az 

By Nijat Babayev