{"id":7077,"date":"2026-06-04T15:35:28","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T15:35:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/06\/04\/fighting-in-somalias-capital-as-anger-over-election-delay-erupts\/"},"modified":"2026-06-04T15:35:28","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T15:35:28","slug":"fighting-in-somalias-capital-as-anger-over-election-delay-erupts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/06\/04\/fighting-in-somalias-capital-as-anger-over-election-delay-erupts\/","title":{"rendered":"Fighting in Somalia\u2019s capital as anger over election delay erupts"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p><em>Residents flee from their homes due to fighting between two warring political factions.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>Violence has erupted in Somalia\u2019s capital, Mogadishu, as government forces and opposition-allied militias have exchanged fire before an antigovernment protest, damaging buildings and forcing residents to flee.<\/p>\n<p>Fighting began on Wednesday and continued into Thursday before planned protests against President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud\u2019s decision to extend his term despite it expiring last month.<\/p>\n<section>\n<h2>Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n<p><span>list of 4 items<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span>list 1 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/opinions\/2026\/6\/2\/somalia-needs-a-political-settlement-before-it-is-too-late\">Somalia needs a political settlement before it is too late<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 2 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/3\/31\/somali-army-takes-over-key-city-in-southwest-as-state-leader-resigns\">Somali army takes over key city in Southwest as state leader resigns<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 3 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/gallery\/2026\/4\/27\/somalia-hunger-crisis-worsens-as-drought-displaces-over-500000-people\">Photos: Somalia hunger crisis worsens as drought displaces more than 500,000<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 4 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/4\/23\/more-than-6-million-somalis-face-hunger-amid-climate-shocks-and-conflict\">More than 6 million Somalis face hunger amid climate shocks and conflict<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>The move has also pushed back elections, sparking outrage among the opposition, who see it as Mohamud\u2019s plan to centralise power. The government has rejected these allegations.<\/p>\n<p>The opposition has called for a peaceful demonstration on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>The Associated Press news agency reported that there was a large number of people in the streets and a heavy security presence with police patrolling. Police said the violence came from \u201corganised attacks\u201d and linked it to political groups trying to secure power.<\/p>\n<p>It is yet another political upheaval for Somalia, which has been fighting the armed group al-Shabab since 2007. Somalia last held an election in 1969 and then was riven by civil war for more than 30 years.<\/p>\n<p>Gunshots and explosions were heard in several neighbourhoods in Mogadishu with resident Abdullahi Mohamed telling AP: \u201cWe heard heavy weapons fire, and people were fleeing their homes.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4626307\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4626307\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2026-06-04T101101Z_168340518_RC2TMLA9H5OR_RTRMADP_3_SOMALIA-POLITICS-1780568719.jpg?w=770&#038;resize=770%2C493&#038;quality=80\" alt=\"Members of Somali government forces stand among civilians at a street junction ahead of a planned protest\" fetchpriority=\"low\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4626307\">Members of Somali government forces stand among civilians at an intersection before a planned protest against President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud over his decision to remain in office after his term expired last month [Feisal Omar\/Reuters]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Former Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire, who said he has been targeted by security forces, lambasted the government in a post on X, saying it is using \u201cheavy weaponry\u201d made for \u201cconventional battlefield operations\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese are weapons entrusted to the Somali state to fight Al-Shabaab, now turned against Somalia\u2019s own leaders and citizens in an unprecedented campaign of political repression and targeted killing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>He added that \u201ccivilian infrastructure has not been spared\u201d and electrical supplies have been \u201cdeliberately disrupted\u201d.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"mortars-and-weapons\">\u2018Mortars and weapons\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>Civilians are at risk of becoming collateral in the fallout between the two warring political factions.<\/p>\n<p>Ahmed Ismail, a Mogadishu resident told the Reuters news agency: \u201cA mortar shell landed on my neighbour\u2019s house, injuring a mother. A big house near us is also ablaze. Mortars and other weapons landed on it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mohamud Farah, another witness, told Reuters that two armoured vehicles were set ablaze.<\/p>\n<p>There have been no official reports of casualties. Fighting subsided by 9:30am (06:30 GMT) on Thursday, according to the AFP news agency, as the government and the opposition began talks.<\/p>\n<p>A security analyst who asked to remain anonymous told AFP that there are \u201ccivilian casualties in some areas\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The African Union called for restraint, saying it was deeply concerned by clashes in residential areas. The European Union echoed this sentiment along with the US embassy in Mogadishu.<\/p>\n<p>Mohamud is not the first Somali president to try to outstay his term.<\/p>\n<p>Former President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo stayed more than a year in office after the official end of his mandate in 2021, triggering violence and condemnation from the international community.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Residents flee from their homes due to fighting between two warring political factions. Violence has erupted in Somalia\u2019s capital, Mogadishu, as government forces and opposition-allied militias have exchanged fire before an antigovernment protest, damaging buildings and forcing residents to flee. Fighting began on Wednesday and continued into Thursday before planned protests against President Hassan Sheikh &#8230; <a title=\"Fighting in Somalia\u2019s capital as anger over election delay erupts\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/06\/04\/fighting-in-somalias-capital-as-anger-over-election-delay-erupts\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Fighting in Somalia\u2019s capital as anger over election delay erupts\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7078,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7077","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7077","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7077"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7077\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}