Witnesses said it was sounded late Friday in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, as government forces approached the home of the city’s former police commander who was fired for opposing an attempt by the president to extend his term.
The standoff reveals splits within Somali security forces that threaten to see forces turn against each other, giving the al-Qaeda-linked Al Shabaab insurgency a chance to exploit.
“Somalia’s long-running political crisis has entered a new, dangerous phase,” the International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based think tank, said in a briefing note on Saturday.
“The opposition is reportedly considering the formation of a parallel government; the cracks have deepened into a security apparatus long divided along clan lines; and the president’s opponents have vowed to oppose the extension of his rule.”
Somalia, torn by civil war since 1991, is trying to rebuild with international aid, but the path to stability has been hampered by a political crisis triggered by no elections in February.
On Monday, lawmakers extended President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed’s term of office for up to two years.
The resolution was passed after then Mogadishu’s police chief, Saadaq Omar Hassan, announced that parliament had been suspended, leading to his dismissal moments later. read more
Hassan retired to his home in the Shirkole area of the city, which is guarded by 100 armed men reinforced by clan warriors, his family and local residents said.
Peace returned after the eruption of gunfire, but some residents of Shirkole held street demonstrations in support of Hassan, burning tires and shouting slogans at the president.
“If you are attacked, you have to defend yourself,” said Mahad Mohamed Salad, a pro-Hassan lawmaker.
The government denied that it wanted to attack Hassan.
“We have no interest in attacking a civilian area where most of the residents are children and women,” Homeland Security Minister Hassan Hunbdubey said in an online address Friday night.
Donors, opposed to the president’s decision to extend his term, fear the crisis could spur further attacks from Islamist al-Shabaab militants who have been trying to overthrow the government for years.
The militants killed Mohamed Abdi Hayle, the district commissioner for Hamarjajab on the outskirts of Mogadishu, on Friday, the state news agency reported.
They also took the Becaadweyn area in central Galmudug state without resistance on Thursday after the Somali military left the area, residents said.
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