Somalia: Mogadishu’s Daynile district gripped by deadly clashes amid forced evictions

MOGADISHU (Somaliguardian) – Somali police personnel enforcing forced evictions and demolitions in Mogadishu’s Daynile district engaged in a fierce firefight with armed residents on Sunday, leaving casualties as the confrontation extended into a second day.

The clashes erupted on Sunday afternoon after police forces overseeing the forced eviction and demolition of an entire neighbourhood in the Warlaliska area of Daynile district killed three protesters earlier that morning. The operation also resulted in the demolition of dozens of homes.

Later that afternoon, armed residents ambushed the police personnel, triggering an intense exchange of gunfire that forced officers to abandon several wounded colleagues, along with a pickup truck of the type commonly used by Somali police and other security forces to mount anti-aircraft guns.

Videos circulating online showed injured police officers being carried by residents. Former President Sheikh Ahmed urged residents who had taken the wounded officers into their custody not to hand them over to the government, arguing that Somalia had no legitimate government. Instead, he called on the residents to hand the officers over to their families.

Meanwhile, former Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire published photographs of two senior police officials: Mogadishu Police Commander Moalim Mahdi and Yasin Ganey, commander of the police force in the western section of the capital. Khaire accused the two officials of being the driving force behind massacres, forced evictions and the demolition of residents’ homes in Daynile district.

The standoff persisted into Monday, with both sides maintaining opposing positions. No further clashes were reported that day.