Somalia on Edge as Opposition Calls Mass Protests After Deadly Mogadishu Clashes

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somalia’s already fraught political climate sharpened further this week as an opposition alliance urged mass street protests in Mogadishu, even as President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud prepared to convene a national dialogue conference on May 10.

Former Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, along with other figures in the opposition-backed Council for Somalia’s Future, said they would take part in demonstrations scheduled for next Sunday. They called on residents uprooted by recent evictions to join the protests.

The appeal followed a string of security operations by government forces ahead of the planned talks, moves that have angered both residents and opposition leaders. In several Mogadishu neighborhoods, demolitions and displacement campaigns in recent days have at times turned into armed standoffs.

Late Wednesday, government troops carried out an operation in the Warlaliska area of Dayniile district and came under armed resistance from residents, according to witnesses and local reports.

Several people were reported killed in the fighting, though the precise death toll was not immediately clear. The area remained tense on Thursday. The unrest comes as Mohamud’s four-year term is set to expire on May 15, 2026.

Opposition leaders accused President Hassan Sheikh of steering the country toward a perilous political crisis, warning that the situation could erode trust in Somalia’s electoral process and deepen insecurity.

The federal government has not yet issued a public response to the accusations or to reports of casualties from the clashes.

AXADLETM