Tension has been simmering in Somalia for months over delayed elections. Politicians and analysts warn that clashes in Mogadishu between the federal government and supporters of opposition presidential candidates could escalate the country’s political crisis into a full-blown conflict.
Late on Thursday and in the early hours of Friday, gun and mortar fire erupted in the city amid a lockdown imposed by the government to prevent opposition supporters from holding a protest.
Soldiers in armored vehicles were deployed in the streets near where the protests were planned. The soldiers also sealed off other major streets in the city.
Later Friday, more gunfire erupted in the city as a street protest led by former Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire marched toward the KM4 area, a strategic junction manned by government troops.
A video clip circulated on social media showed the former prime minister and his supporters ducking for cover during the gunfire.
During the gunfire, a mortar round landed inside Mogadishu’s Aden Abdulle International Airport, starting a fire at one of the airport compound restaurants.
There is a growing concern that the boiling political tension triggered by the Somali people call for free and fair elections could throw the country back into a civil war.
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