You don't know who is who. Both sides are wearing military attire.
Heavy fighting broke out Wednesday in Somalia's capital, with mortar rounds hitting civilian neighborhoods and Bakara market, the country's largest business center. The violence stems from President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud's May announcement extending his term by one year after it expired, which opposition leaders and regional authorities have rejected.
- Heavy fighting erupted Wednesday afternoon in Mogadishu between government troops and opposition militias
- Mortar rounds struck civilian neighborhoods and Bakara market, Somalia's largest business center
- President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud extended his term by one year past its May 15 expiration date
- Former president Sharif Sheikh Ahmed (2009-2012) and former prime minister Hassan Ali Khaire accused government forces of targeting their homes
Fierce clashes between Somali government troops and opposition-allied militias have erupted in Mogadishu, forcing civilians to flee as the capital descends into violence over President Mohamud's unconstitutional term extension.
By Wednesday afternoon, the streets of Mogadishu had become a war zone. Government troops and opposition militias, positioned in their respective clan territories across Somalia's capital, opened fire on each other with a ferocity that sent civilians running for their lives. The main road through the city, Maka al-Mukarama, transformed into a battlefield. By nightfall, mortar rounds were falling on neighborhoods where families lived in close quarters, and on Bakara market—the commercial heart of the country. Videos circulating online showed smoke billowing above the skyline.
The immediate trigger was President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud's decision in mid-May to extend his own term by a year, past the constitutional expiration date of May 15th. Opposition leaders rejected the move outright. Regional authorities did the same. Thursday was supposed to bring mass demonstrations against him. Instead, Wednesday brought guns.
Former president Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, who led the country from 2009 to 2012, said government forces had surrounded and attacked his home. He posted a video to Facebook accusing Mohamud's administration of illegally rewriting the constitution. "I will fight back," he declared. Former prime minister Hassan Ali Khaire went further, posting on X that government troops had deployed heavy weapons—anti-tank systems, drones—in densely populated areas in what he characterized as a deliberate campaign to kill him and Ahmed.
The violence felt familiar to anyone who remembered 2021, when Somalia's last election cycle collapsed into similar street fighting. But this time felt worse. Kowsar Abdi Ibrahim, a resident of the Howl Wadaag district, said she hadn't witnessed combat of this intensity in five years. "This is more intense than anyone expected," she told observers. During a brief pause in the gunfire on Thursday, she fled with her grandmother to another part of the city. Even then, with the shooting temporarily stopped, she remained terrified. "There are still troop movements," she said. "So even if the gunshots stop, it doesn't mean the fighting has ended." Another resident, Bashir Mohamed, had also abandoned his home in the same district. The problem was simple and paralyzing: both sides wore military uniforms. "You don't know who is who," he said. "The violence can pick back up any time."
Police characterized their actions as a "large-scale security operation" against "heavily armed militias" who had launched mortar attacks. The UN secretary general, António Guterres, confirmed that the fighting had killed people, wounded civilians, and destroyed infrastructure. His office issued a statement condemning violence undertaken for political gain and urging all sides toward restraint and dialogue. The UK embassy in Mogadishu and the US diplomatic mission issued similar pleas for de-escalation.
Somalia has lived with state collapse and clan warfare since 1991, when the dictator Mohamed Siad Barre fell. For nearly two decades, the country has also battled al-Shabaab, an al-Qaeda-linked insurgent group. The latest eruption in Mogadishu suggested that the political system itself remained fragile—capable of fracturing into violence whenever power was contested. Thursday's planned protests had not yet occurred. The question now was whether they would happen at all, or whether the capital would remain locked in combat.
Citações Notáveis
I haven't seen this kind of fighting in five years. This is more intense than anyone expected.— Kowsar Abdi Ibrahim, Mogadishu resident
The government forces encircled and attacked my house. I will fight back.— Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, former president, in a Facebook video
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why did the president think he could simply extend his own term? Doesn't Somalia have constitutional limits?
It does on paper. But Mohamud announced the extension unilaterally in May, claiming he needed more time. The opposition and regional leaders said no immediately. The constitution was clear. He ignored it.
And the militias—are these organized rebel groups, or clan-based armed men?
Clan-based, mostly. Opposition leaders embedded themselves with militias from their own clan strongholds across the city. That's how power works in Mogadishu. You don't have a national army so much as competing armed groups tied to families and regions.
The residents fleeing—where do they go? Is there a safe part of the city?
They move to other districts, hoping those areas won't become battlegrounds. But as one woman said, even when the shooting stops, the troops are still moving. There's no real safety. You're just gambling that your new neighborhood won't be next.
Has this happened before?
In 2021, yes. Similar political crisis, similar street fighting. But people who lived through both say this is worse. More intense. The weapons are heavier. The indiscriminate fire is hitting civilian areas harder.
What do the international observers want?
Restraint. Dialogue. The UN, the US, the UK—they're all calling for de-escalation and political negotiation. But those calls mean little when the guns are already firing and the opposition doesn't trust the president to honor any agreement.