Somali police and armed residents clash over forced evictions in Mogadishu
Three protesters died and dozens of homes were demolished in Mogadishu's Daynile district, where the standoff continued into Monday.
Somali police engaged in a firefight with armed residents in Mogadishu's Daynile district on Sunday, during the forced eviction and demolition of a neighbourhood in the Warlaliska area. The clashes began after police killed three protesters that morning, and the operation destroyed dozens of homes.
Later that afternoon, armed residents ambushed the police, forcing officers to abandon several wounded colleagues and a pickup truck mounted with an anti-aircraft gun. Videos online showed residents carrying injured officers. Former President Sheikh Ahmed urged residents not to hand the officers to the government and to give them to their families instead. Former Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire published photographs of Mogadishu Police Commander Moalim Mahdi and Yasin Ganey, commander of police in the western section of the capital, accusing them of driving the massacres, evictions and demolitions.
Both sides held opposing positions into Monday, when no further clashes were reported.