Clashes between opposition supporters and state security forces continued in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, Thursday after violence erupted the previous evening ahead of a planned "anti-government" demonstration.
No official casualty figures were immediately available from the violence that prompted calls for restraint from the U.N. and the U.S. as the government and opposition traded blame for the violence.
Residents reported heavy gunfire and explosions as fighting broke out in several neighborhoods Wednesday.
"We heard heavy weapons fire, and people were fleeing their homes,” said Abdullahi Mohamed, who lives in the city's Howlwadaag district. "Many families left the area looking for safer places."
Opposition politicians claim the rally planned for Thursday was intended to protest what they call constitutional violations and efforts by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud to extend his tenure. The government has rejected those allegations.
