MOGADISHU (Kaab TV) – Residents of Dayniile district have, for three consecutive days, been clashing with land-grabbing groups reportedly backed by Somali police forces and business figures alleged to have been sold land by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in the Warlaliska neighborhood.
Violent confrontations erupted between local residents—mostly women and children—and heavily armed police units, including special forces led by an officer identified as Aadan Dheere, who is said to be related to the president’s family through marriage.
The fighting began on Thursday, April 16, when angry residents, supported by local militias, confronted the land-grabbing groups attempting to seize property in the area. The clashes continued into the evening.
Local sources and hospitals reported that at least six people were killed during Thursday’s violence.
Further sporadic clashes occurred on Saturday and Sunday after armed police raided the Warlaliska neighborhood, arresting some residents and entering private homes.
Traditional elders who spoke to Kaab TV said several people were injured, including a Murusade clan elder, Nabadoon Omar Maanafaato, who sustained head and arm injuries.
At least one person was reportedly killed on Saturday during a two-hour confrontation between police units accompanying the land-grabbing operation and residents defending their homes.
As of Monday night, the situation is reported to be calm, although armed police remain deployed in the affected neighborhoods.
A nighttime curfew has been imposed in Warlaliska, with residents saying their movement is severely restricted.
With less than a month remaining in his term, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud is accused of accelerating land seizures in Mogadishu, disproportionately affecting vulnerable civilian populations.
Agencies monitoring displacement report that more than 140,000 families were displaced from their homes in 2025, many by government forces.
Sources who spoke to Kaab TV allege that public lands from which residents were evicted have been resold, with proceeds reportedly going directly to President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud rather than into the state treasury.
Residents also report a sharp increase in the seizure of privately owned land, often carried out by groups allegedly linked to the government.
Protests against land grabbing and forced evictions are frequent in Mogadishu. However, media coverage remains limited, as journalists and civil society members who speak out about these abuses have repeatedly faced arrests and intimidation.