MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somali government forces and heavily armed militias loyal to opposition political figures traded intense gunfire and mortar rounds across several neighborhoods in Mogadishu on Thursday, disrupting air traffic and forcing thousands of residents to flee, according to the Associated Press.
The fighting, which residents described as the most severe violence in the capital in years, intensified ahead of scheduled anti-government demonstrations, according to The New York Times. The outbreak of hostilities follows a deep political impasse over parliament’s decision to extend President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s term by one year after his official mandate expired on May 15, according to the BBC.
Witnesses and local authorities reported that the clashes began late Wednesday at the strategic Dabka junction before spreading to the Howlwadaag, Abdiasis, and Hodan districts, according to reports by Reuters and Hiiraan Online [REU], [HII]. Ground fighting transformed the city’s primary thoroughfare, Maka al-Mukarama road, into an active battlefield, according to The Guardian [GUA]. Mortar shells landed in densely populated residential blocks and the central Bakara market, setting commercial structures on fire and causing civilian injuries, according to reports from The Guardian and Reuters.
The warring factions exchanged blame for initiating the confrontation, according to the Associated Press [AP]. Former Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire accused government forces of launching a targeted assault against a consultative meeting he was hosting with lawmakers, elders, and opposition activists, according to Hiiraan Online [HII]. Conversely, the Somali police administration stated that its units were executing security operations against masked opposition militias who had launched unprovoked mortar strikes on state checkpoints, according to reports from the BBC and Hiiraan Online.
The escalation prompted immediate diplomatic reactions from international monitors, according to the Associated Press [AP]. The United Nations, the United States, and the African Union Commission issued concurrent statements demanding an immediate ceasefire, according to the Associated Press and The Standard [AP], [STA]. International donors warned that urban warfare in Mogadishu would fatally compromise the state’s security posture against al-Shabaab insurgents, according to Al Jazeera.
No official casualty counts have been published by the Ministry of Health, according to the Associated Press [AP]. Heavy military patrols remain deployed across primary transit routes, and road access to Aden Adde International Airport remains severely restricted, according to reports from the Associated Press and Hiiraan Online.
