Shots fired in Mogadishu to clear protest against delay of elections 1 minute read
Mogadishu, Feb 19 (efe-epa).- Shots were fired by security forces in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Friday to disperse pro-opposition demonstrators protesting against delayed elections in the country.
The shots were fired into the air as protesters, including presidential candidate Hassan Ali Khaire, a former Somali prime minister, marched with banners and national flags along the road leading to Mogadishu airport on Friday morning.
Near the airport, a restaurant was hit by a grenade. The origin of the projectile is unknown.
“I and other presidential candidates, members of parliament, other officials and many civilians survived an assassination attempt,” Khaire said on his Facebook page.
MOGADISHU, Somalia - Security forces in Somalia's capital fired on hundreds of people protesting the delay of the country's election on Friday as at lea.
Gunfire in Mogadishu as political tensions soar
By AFP
Men flee the site of the violent clashes in the Somali capital. By STRINGER (AFP)
Gunfire broke out in Mogadishu on Friday as the opposition tried to march against delayed elections in the Somali capital where roads have been sealed off and heavy security deployed over the planned protest, witnesses said.
Months of political tensions over the holding of elections in the fragile Horn of Africa nation have burst into the open, prompting the United Nations to call for calm and restraint .
Somalia missed a deadline to hold an election by February 8, when President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, better known by his nickname Farmajo, was due to step down, creating a constitutional crisis.
Gunfire broke out on an opposition demonstration in the Somali capital Mogadishu Friday. The city is currently under heavy security surveillance as political tensions deepen.