Calm Returns to Mogadishu After Two Days of Clashes in Somalia
By morning, residents said the capital looked noticeably quieter. Military convoys had thinned out, while traffic and ordinary street life slowly returned to major roads after security personnel and armed groups pulled back from several areas that had...
MOGADISHU, Somalia – Mogadishu began to settle down on Saturday after two tense days of fighting and security stand-offs pitted federal government forces against troops aligned with opposition figures.
By morning, residents said the capital looked noticeably quieter. Military convoys had thinned out, while traffic and ordinary street life slowly returned to major roads after security personnel and armed groups pulled back from several areas that had become flashpoints.
- Advertisement -
Former Somali president Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and former prime minister Hassan Ali Khaire also went back to their homes in Mogadishu’s Halane area after mediation efforts were launched to cool tempers and restore order.
The federal government said it had wrapped up a security operation targeting what it called “anti-peace militias” that it accused of trying to stir unrest in the capital. Officials said the operation left the city secured and stopped moves they said could have undermined public order.
At the same time, international partners stepped up efforts to ease the political standoff, pressing both government officials and opposition leaders to sit down for talks over elections, governance arrangements, and Somalia’s democratic transition.
The confrontation has heightened concern among foreign observers, who have urged restraint and a negotiated settlement to avoid fresh instability in the Horn of Africa country.
AXADLETM
