UN SAYS FIGHTING DISPLACES UP TO 100000 PEOPLE IN MOGADISHU

Wed 28 April 2021:

The United Nations says tens of thousands of Mogadishu residents fled their homes this week after rival groups of soldiers clashed in the streets on Sunday amid a standoff over President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed’s extended stay in power.

The UN has raised concerns after recent violence forced up to 100,000 people to flee their homes in the Somali capital Mogadishu, according to a statement on Wednesday.

The UN said those displaced include vulnerable internally displaced persons who had sought refuge in the Somali capital but have again fled to find refuge at the outskirts of Mogadishu.

“I am extremely concerned about the deteriorating security situation in Mogadishu,” said Cesar Arroyo, the acting humanitarian coordinator for Somalia.

“Apart from displacing innocent civilians, the initial violence has created uncertainty and fear of disruptions of humanitarian assistance to hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people across the city.”

Parts of Mogadishu witnessed violence Sunday as several gunfights between security forces and opposition forces were reported.

Somalia’s former President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said Sunday that government forces attacked his residence in north Mogadishu.

“Unlike the previous two years, most displacement in Somalia this year is conflict-related,” Arroyo said, urging “parties to the conflict to respect international humanitarian law and their obligation to protect civilians.”

This year, conflict-related displacement has escalated in Somalia. Since January, an estimated 173,000 people have been displaced, almost two-thirds by conflict, according to the UN.

The Horn of African country has seen political and election stalemate after President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo’s mandate expired on Feb. 8, and opposition leaders announced they do not recognize him as the head of state.

Several rounds of talks between the central government and regional leaders have ended without an agreement.

On April 12, the Somali parliament voted to extend the mandate of the president and the federal government by two years.

On Tuesday, Farmajo called for elections in a bid to ease the current political tensions in the country.

The president bowed to growing pressure overnight and announced in a national address that he would prepare the country for elections that have been delayed since early February. He also said he would speak on Saturday to parliament, whose lower house this month approved a two-year extension of his mandate that he signed into law to the anger of Senate leaders, the opposition and some in the international community.

The president in his address vowed that this week’s scenes of clashes between rival soldiers would not be repeated, while many Mogadishu residents who had feared a return to open warfare in Somalia sighed with relief.

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