Somalia: Curfew enforcement leaves two dead as anti-Govt protests rock Mogadishu

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Running battles ensued between the police in Bondheere district and angry civilians on Friday night, following the unprecedented shooting of two youths, as authorities struggle to enforce curfew in Somalia.

Trouble started when an elite police officer fired randomly while dispersing a crowd within the busy Jubba junction in Mogadishu, killing two people perhaps from stray bullets, a move that triggered demonstrations.

Bonfires were lit in major roads within the Somali capital, which is currently under lockdown, due to raging Coronavirus pandemic, which has since left 16 people dead across the Horn of Africa nation. The protests lasted for several hours, police said.

Sahra Abdi, a former Reuters reporter said police "fired live bullets to disperse" supposed curfew violators, with the bullets instantly killing a "young mom and young man" who were reportedly in their homes.

The curfew hours had on Thursday revised from 8 pm local time to 7 pm, a move which may have triggered the confusion. It now runs from 7 pm local time to 5 am, and it only affects Mogadishu, which harbors millions of people.

Ismail Mukhtaar, an official with Somalia's ministry of information, had said that the curfew would "help reduce the rate of Coronavirus infections". As of Wednesday, a total of 328 people had tested positive for COVID-19.

One of those killed by the rogue police officer was a pregnant mother, witnesses said. Protestors who carried anti-government placards demanded "instant" justice, asking authorities to "bring culprits" into the book, Bashir Mohamoud, a journalist in Mogadishu said.

Unconfirmed reports indicate that police who participated in the enforcement of the curfew recently graduated from Eritrea after months of vigorous training. Asmara is stepping up as a key ally to Mogadishu, whose instability dates back to 1991 when dictator Siad Barre was toppled.

For the better part of Friday evening, hundreds of youths broke their Ramadhan and thronged into the streets, chanting "no police, no curfew, time for a change, Farmajo out" according to Abdishakur Mohamed, another freelance journalist in the capital.

Another group also extended the protests to National Intelligence Security Agency [NISA] headquarters chanting "your time is up" as bonfires raged the capital, Abdifatah Mohamed Mukhtar, a resident tweeted.

Federal President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo's regime has often been on the spot for alleged extrajudicial killings, gagging of media, and use of excessive force against critics, especially those allied to the opposition factions.

But police chiefs in the capital said "the culprit has been arrested" in a dispatch to the media. According to authorities, the suspect was identified as Constable Hassan Ali Adan and has since been remanded.

With an almost dysfunctional judiciary system, however, it's highly unlikely that the suspect will be successfully tried to international standards, given that such cases have previously collapsed due to manipulation of evidence and undue influence from the state.

In Somalia, both the police and army have often been accused of impunity and indiscipline. For instance, suspected soldiers were accused of raping women within Janaale and Baidoa in different incidents this month.

Besides the curfew in Mogadishu, which has also been replicated in the semi-autonomous state of Puntland, authorities have also suspended domestic and international flights, learning and mass gatherings to avert COVID-19 spread.

The country has received medical supplies from Chinese philanthropist Jack Ma, United Arab Emirates, the US, Turkey among others, to supplement its almost dysfunctional healthcare system, officials confirmed.

Coronavirus pandemic has left close to 2.7 million people infected, 700,000 recoveries and 180,000 dead within a span of five months globally, data from Johns Hopkins University indicate.

GAROWE ONLINE