Welcome to Foreign Policy’s Africa Brief.
The highlights this week: Somalia’s political deadlock worsens after clashes broke out last week, U.S. policies block Africans from entering the country as the World Cup gets underway, and South Africa’s president walks a delicate tightrope on immigration in the wake of deadly protests.
Fighting between Somali federal troops and opposition-allied militias broke out in Somalia’s capital of Mogadishu on June 3, as the country’s political crisis spirals, threatening the future of its electoral system.
Tensions have flared in recent months over delays to Somalia’s elections, originally scheduled for earlier this year, and the highly contested one-year extension to President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s term, which was slated to end on May 15.
Last week’s clashes, which killed one person and injured 55 others, occurred ahead of planned protests for June 4 against the term extension. The demonstrations did not end up taking place.
