Mogadishu (Somalia Today) — Heavy gunfire erupted in central Mogadishu on Wednesday near the home of former Somali prime minister Hassan Ali Khaire, leaving at least three people dead and raising fears that a political dispute over President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s mandate could slide into a wider security crisis.
Sources told Somalia Today that three people were killed and eight others wounded in the clash in Howlwadaag district, where Khaire had recently moved ahead of a planned opposition protest on Thursday.
Residents said the two sides exchanged heavy fire, sending panic through nearby neighbourhoods and forcing civilians to stay indoors.
Khaire said the incident put him and a senior traditional elder from the Murusade clan in danger while he was meeting community elders. He accused forces loyal to the government of attacking him.
“An attack was launched against us by forces commanded by the president whose term has expired,” Khaire said in a social media post, using language the opposition has adopted since May 15, when it says Mohamud’s four-year mandate ended.
Somalia Today could not independently verify the full circumstances of the clash.
Police blame ‘armed militia’
Somalia’s police command gave a sharply different account, saying the fighting began at around 5:00 pm after what it described as an “armed militia group” attacked officers at a checkpoint.
“The Somali Police Command informs the Somali public that at 5:00 pm today, police officers carrying out their duty at a checkpoint were attacked by an armed militia group organised in a way that threatens public security,” police spokesman Abdifatah Adan Hassan told reporters.
He said the police responded to the attack and took what he called lawful action.
“The Somali Police Force, while carrying out its duty, responded to the wrongful act committed by the militia that attacked them,” he said. “The police took lawful action against the groups that attacked that location.”
Abdifatah said the armed group did not distinguish between security forces and civilians, adding that the incident appeared aimed at destabilising Mogadishu at a time when the capital had seen fewer attacks by militant groups.
He also issued a warning to political actors ahead of Thursday’s planned demonstration.
“Every person or group, whatever name they carry, if they threaten the security of the Somali people, lawful action will be taken against them,” he said.
Mandate dispute
The clash comes during one of Somalia’s most serious political confrontations since the 2021 electoral crisis, when a move to extend the mandate of then-president Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo triggered armed confrontation in Mogadishu before leaders returned to negotiations.
Somalia’s latest dispute stems from constitutional changes approved by parliament in March, which Mohamud’s government says will help move the country towards one-person, one-vote elections after decades of indirect clan-based voting.
The opposition says Mohamud was elected in 2022 for a four-year term that expired on May 15, 2026. It argues that no constitutional change can extend his authority without a broad political agreement.
The government says the reforms are needed to end repeated electoral delays and move Somalia away from a system in which clan elders and political elites choose lawmakers.
But opposition leaders and several regional figures accuse Mohamud of using the reforms to centralise power and prolong his rule.
Thursday’s planned protest aims to oppose what the opposition calls a one-year mandate extension and denounce forced evictions in Mogadishu, another issue that has fuelled public anger in recent months.
The government says it has not banned the protest but has allowed it only at three designated sites. Opposition figures have rejected those limits, saying they have a constitutional right to demonstrate freely.
Calls for restraint
The confrontation has alarmed residents in a city still marked by memories of political violence and armed factional mobilisation.
Security forces appeared across several major roads on Wednesday night, while movement remained restricted in parts of the capital.
Residents in Howlwadaag and surrounding areas said they feared further clashes if government forces and armed opposition guards remained deployed close to each other.
Former president Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, another senior opposition figure, condemned the attack on Khaire and said it would not stop the protest.
“This attack will not stop the demonstrations,” he said.
International partners, including the United Nations, the European Union and several Western embassies, have urged Somali leaders to return to dialogue and agree on an election roadmap.
The United States has also urged Somali political actors to show restraint and avoid steps that could fuel violence or instability.
For now, both sides remain locked in a dangerous standoff.
The government says it is enforcing public order and preventing armed mobilisation. The opposition says it is resisting an unlawful extension of power.
Wednesday’s gunfire in Howlwadaag has made that dispute far more volatile, raising the risk that a battle over elections could turn into another armed confrontation in the Somali capital.
