Kaab TV conducted a public opinion survey among some of the city’s residents, who pointed out that last night’s announcement did not include any solution for the thousands of people displaced after their lands and homes were seized.

Abdullahi Mohamed, a young man living in Mogadishu, told Kaab TV that protests are a constitutional right and cannot be denied to the people.

“The government cannot block demonstrations. Hassan Sheikh himself was leading protests in the streets not long ago,” Abdullahi said.

Khayre Ma-safaade, another resident, said many of those displaced from their homes are still scattered in open spaces and facing ongoing abuses, including arbitrary arrests and beatings for voicing their grievances.

“Not even a proposal was presented. People were suddenly told to vacate everywhere. The public is still crying out, but no solution has been offered,” Khayre said.

Although the opposition’s Salvation Forum announced last night that the protests would be postponed for nine days following a meeting with clan elders, demonstrations still broke out this morning in Mogadishu’s Dayniile district.

Protesters there said they were opposing land grabs, chanting slogans such as “We don’t want Hassan the thief. We don’t want land grabbing.”

Dayniile is among the areas most affected by land seizures allegedly linked to President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and his family.

The opposition alliance said the protests will resume after the nine-day postponement and warned against the continued arrests and mistreatment of community members who support the opposition.

The post Opposition Postpones Protest, But Mogadishu Residents Take to Streets appeared first on Kaab TV.

Somali citizens exercising their right to speak, assemble, and move freely in their own country are met with live bullets from the Somali Police Force, an act not of governance but of brutal lawlessness. This is not merely a political mistake; it is an unlawful usurpation of power that shreds the social contract between our goverment and our people.

The Constitution is not vague on these matters. Article 18 guarantees freedom of expression and opinion, including the right to receive and impart information without interference. Article 20 protects the right to organize, to demonstrate, and to protest peacefully without requiring permission from the government. Article 21 secures freedom of movement and residence across Somali territory.

Article 16 ensures the right of every Somali citizen to associate, including through political parties. These provisions are unambiguous, binding, and supreme. No president, no police commander, and no prime minister has any authority to strip our people of these rights. To do so is an open violation of the Constitution and a betrayal of our people’s political right and aspirations.

It is important to note that Pres HSM himself instigated much of the political unrest in Mogadishu by illegally appropriating public lands and brutally evicting poor Somali families from their homes.

One appalling incident involved an 80-year-old Somali man whose home was demolished in broad daylight. The victim testified that the bulldozer that tore down his home physically lifted him into the air, which means that neither the police nor the driver of the bulldozer cared whether someone was still inside.

When this elderly man later spoke publicly about the cruelty he endured by attending an event organized by Madasha, he was beaten again with unimaginable brutality by uniformed Somali police officers, again in broad daylight. Such inhumane actions expose the regime’s utter contempt for Somali lives and its reckless disregard for even the most vulnerable among us.

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It is in this context that PM Hamza Abdi Barre’s disgraceful statement must be understood. To accuse the Madasha of a coup attempt is not only delusional; it is a calculated attempt to criminalize dissent and provide cover for state violence.

Hamza Abdi Barre was not selected for leadership, but for blind obedience. His role is merely to echo the commands of Pres HSM, suppress his own thoughts, and serve as a hollow vessel of borrowed words. His outburst carries no political weight or meaning, but the recklessness of his rhetoric has tarnished both himself and the office he occupies.

President HSM has no political, constitutional, or moral authority to obstruct the opposition from organizing lawful protests. His hypocrisy is glaring. Just three and a half years ago, he was among the loudest voices in opposition, demanding accountability and exercising the very freedoms he now denies others.

To turn his back on those principles the moment he reclaimed power is not only hypocrisy; it is corruption of the highest order. It is the politics of “do as I say, not as I do”, a politics that corrodes trust, poisons public life, and exposes a so-called “leader” who fears accountability more than he fears the disintegration of our great nation itself.

Worse still, Pres HSM’s administration reeks of corruption. The illegal appropriation and secret sale of public lands to his political and business cronies is a betrayal of the public trust. His tenure has delivered neither progress in governance nor stability in security. His only discernible vision is personal survival in Villa Somalia: staying in power at all costs, even if Somalia itself collapses.

What exactly would he do differently if he remains in office another four, eight, or even twenty years?

The evidence of the past three and a half years is damning: he has done nothing of substance, and he shows no capacity to do otherwise. Somalia is stagnating under his hand, and every additional year he stays in office is a year stolen from our country’s survival and the future of our people.

Article 38 of the Constitution makes plain that rights may only be limited when the restriction is lawful, justified, reasonable, and fair. Shooting live rounds at peaceful Somali citizens, criminalizing opposition voices, demolishing the homes of the poor, and silencing free expression are none of these things.

They are lawless, unjustified, unreasonable, and profoundly unfair. They are the acts of an insecure president clinging to power through violence and intimidation. Such acts delegitimize the presidency itself and the federal goverment.

In my opinion, the conclusion is clear and unavoidable: the longer Pres HSM remains in office, the greater the risk of national collapse. Our country cannot afford a presidency built on bullets, bulldozers, and lies. His departure from power is not simply desirable, it is necessary for the survival of the Somali state as a united entity. Somalia deserves leaders who respect the Constitution, protect the people, and govern through dialogue and accountability, not coercion and corruption. Until then, our freedoms remain under siege, and our Constitution remains dishonored and violated by the very man sworn to uphold it.

SOOMAALIYA HA NOOLAATO!

Mukhtar Ainashe

The post HSM’S Constitutional Betrayal , Political Hypocrisy, And The Brutality Against Ordinary Somalis appeared first on Kaab TV.

The footage, published by the group, was recorded during a graduation ceremony for a new batch of fighters enlisted into a unit named after Sheikh Muhamed Mire — a senior commander who served as the group’s finance boss and was linked to the 2013 Westgate Mall attack in Nairobi and the 2019 DusitD2 attack. Mire was killed in a U.S. airstrike on 24 December 2024.

Dressed in Somali military camouflage and carrying an AK-47, Ali Dheere praised recruits who completed training at the “Sheikh Muhamed Mire” camp.

He addressed a masked, uniformed group of fighters — many in full combat gear and American-style boots — seated under trees’ shade in what appeared to be a dense southern Somalia forest.

The appearance comes days after Somalia’s National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) claimed it had killed Ali Dheere and several other senior al-Shabaab commanders.

The group’s video appears intended to refute those claims and show that Ali Dheere is alive.

In a roughly 29-minute speech, Ali Dheere invoked the Israel–Gaza war to argue that human-rights protections are failing in the Muslim world, before shifting focus to Mogadishu and the forced evictions of many civilian population in the capital.

“Take an example of what is going on today in Mogadishu. No single place was spared. Even schools, hospitals and public lands were looted,” he said. “Every day we see on the media women and elderly crying.”

Ali Dheere warned businessmen, soldiers, government officials and clan elders he accused of participating in the evictions, saying al-Shabaab “will not forgive them.”

He stated the group plans to establish an Islamic court to return what he described as looted land to its original owners and vowed that public lands would be preserved under the movement’s control.

Intelligence sources in Mogadishu told this reporter that some local clan elders have recently met with al-Shabaab commanders to complain about evictions they link to President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, his family, and Premier Bank, of which the president is reportedly a co-owner.

Those sources said some complaints have been referred to al-Shabaab courts after a loss of confidence in government judicial institutions.

Referring to the new recruits, Ali Dheere thanked Somali clans “for contributing their boys to the jihadi group.”

He also criticised the government’s counter-insurgency campaign, which began in 2022 and has since slowed, claiming al-Shabaab is retaking areas previously seized by government forces.

“I call all to be prepared to bring this fight to an end and finish the small portion that is remaining for us,” he said, reiterating the group’s long-term aim of establishing an Islamic republic in Somalia.

Somalia’s government and security officials have not yet issued an immediate response to the video.

The post Al-Shabaab Spokesman Denounces Mogadishu Evictions, Hails New Recruits in Video Address appeared first on Kaab TV.

On Thursday, 14 August, Abukar Mohamed Keynan, a reporter for Radio Risaala and TV, was seized and beaten—struck with the barrel of a gun, slapped, and kicked—while covering an armed clash between two rival government forces over a planned eviction in Hodan district, Mogadishu.

His cameraman managed to flee, but Abukar could not escape. Armed officers apprehended him, handcuffed him, and forced him to lie on the ground. Three officers whom Abukar described as members of the Haramcad (a Turkish-trained police unit) and the police-military (trained in Uganda)—kicked him repeatedly with their boots.

Abukar sustained bruises across upper part of his body and a swollen upper lip. He was kept handcuffed under the scorching sun for two hours before being released. Scared and feeling pain, he was unable to continue his journalism work for the rest of the day.

The journalists had been at Tarabuunka junction, Mogadishu, where Somali government forces attempting to forcibly evict families from a former football field in the Horseed area of Hodan district engaged in deadly fighting with a rival government force, mainly from the Somali National Army (SNA), which opposed the eviction. The eviction operation was led by Abdihakim Eeldheer, a relative of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and recently appointed commander of the Haramcad unit, while the rival SNA forces were led by a former military general.

The full-day fighting caused multiple casualties, including civilians, and displaced many families living in the area.

Journalists working for several other channels told SJS that they narrowly escaped capture while reporting on Thursday’s clashes, as Haramcad police and other armed men chased them. As a result, local journalists had to rely on sharing material, as only a few were able to record footage from the scene. Journalists reported seeing several bodies lying in the area while they were being chased away.

On Thursday, police officers in Wadajir district, Mogadishu, confiscated the journalistic equipment of Mowlid Osman Bootaan, a cameraman with Shabelle TV, while he was recording a protest by internally displaced families living in the Wadajir district who complained that the government had evicted them and sold the land to businessmen. According to the journalist, the Wadajir police station commander had given the order to seize his equipment. He was held inside the station for several hours before being released, but only after the footage was wiped from his camera.

On Thursday, armed NISA and police officers were deployed on the roads leading to the Jazeera Hotel in Mogadishu, blocking a dozen of local journalists who were on their way to cover an opposition meeting at the hotel. Some journalists told SJS that the NISA officers were aggressive and threatened them with physical harm if they attempted to proceed to the meeting. As a result, some journalists returned without covering the event, while others later managed to sneak in.

An editor working for a local TV station told SJS that in recent weeks, NISA has increased its surveillance of reporters, particularly along Maka al Mukarama Street, near the Jazeera Hotel, and at Aden Adde International Airport, where many international diplomats are based. The editor said that his colleagues had been blocked, had their equipment confiscated, and had their footage deleted during various assignments—making it increasingly difficult for journalists to safely go out in search of news stories in Mogadishu.

“We strongly condemn the Thursday’s brutal assault on our colleague journalist Abukar Mohamed Keynan of Risaala Media Corporation. Beating, handcuffing, forcing to lie under the scorching sun and humiliating a reporter for doing his job is a blatant attack on press freedom and a human rights violation. We demand those who carried this attack to be identified immediately and held to account,” said  SJS Secretary-General, Abdalle Mumin.

“We also denounce the seizure of a journalist Mowlid Osman’s camera, and erasing footage, and detaining him which is not only unlawful but also a clear effort to censor the truth. Hassan Sheikh’s regime and the corrupt police must be reminded that the press has the right to report without fear of reprisal, and no matter how hard the regime tries to cover up its crimes—including evicting vulnerable families, targeting women and children, beating journalists and denying them their basic right to live in dignity—the regime’s actions remains exposed.” adds Mr. Mumin.

The post Mogadishu Journalists Face Wave of Attacks Amid Evictions and Armed Clashes in the Capital appeared first on Kaab TV.

In a letter addressed to the ambassadors of the United Kingdom, United States, Turkey, Norway, and other international partners in Somalia, community leaders detailed a series of abuses allegedly committed by Somali police officials.

The letter accuses authorities of enabling forced displacement, extortion, and harassment of Degodia residents.

“Our concerns are not only about the abuse of power,” the letter reads, “but also about systemic marginalization and clan-based discrimination, particularly targeting the Dagoodiye community—civilians who legally reside on government-allocated land but lack political protection or representation.”

Police Officials Named in the Complaint

The letter specifically names two senior police officials:

• Mahdi Omar Muumin (also known as Moalim Mahdi), the Banadir Regional Police Commissioner, is a former Al-Shabaab operative turned senior police leader. He is accused of overseeing forced evictions and land seizures.
• Mrs. Rahmo Sandheer, Commander of the Xamar Jajab Police Station, is alleged to have ties to a former militia group responsible for violence in the 1990s. Community members accuse her of participating in harassment and threats against Degodia residents.

Community leaders claim multiple formal complaints have been filed with Somali authorities—including the offices of the President, Prime Minister, Auditor General, and the judiciary—yet “no effective response has been delivered to date.”

In their letter, the Degodia community urged the international community to take immediate and concrete actions:

1. Suspend all international support—financial, training, and logistical—to police units involved until independent investigations are completed.
2. Apply international accountability mechanisms such as sanctions and travel bans on individuals responsible for abuses.
3. Recognize the ongoing discrimination and advocate for the legal rights and protection of the Dagoodiye within Somalia’s state institutions.

“Your voices, influence, and support for justice and human rights are crucial at this time,” the community wrote. “We trust in your commitment to upholding human dignity and the rule of law in Somalia.”

Historical Marginalization of the Degodia

The Degodia community—an ethnic group found in Somalia, Kenya, and Ethiopia—has historically faced exclusion and persecution.

In Kenya, one of the most horrific atrocities against the Degodia occurred during the Wagalla massacre in February 1984, when hundreds—possibly thousands—were executed by government forces on an airstrip in Wajir, North Eastern Kenya.

In Somalia, members of the Degodia have long been displaced, living in IDP camps or forced out of their ancestral land by dominant clans.

Multiple sources have accused President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and his close allies—including family members—of orchestrating mass land seizures and evictions in Mogadishu.

Once seized, these public lands are often handed over to politically connected businessmen and elites, without transparency or legal process.

In one high-profile case, a businessman with ties to the president reportedly exhumed graves at a Mogadishu cemetery to claim the land, sparking public outrage. The president’s family has also been linked to land expropriation in the Hamarweyne district after a violent attack on a popular restaurant.

Mogadishu’s power structures remain heavily influenced by the armed and politically dominant Hawiye clan, especially sub-clans such as Habargidir. This dominance has led to the marginalization of smaller clans, particularly in urban areas.

Land disputes and evictions—often carried out under the guise of urban renewal or security operations—continue to affect thousands.

Vulnerable populations, especially minority clans and IDPs, are frequently displaced with little to no legal recourse.

In 2021 alone, more than 185,000 people were displaced across Somalia due to conflict and insecurity—many of them in Mogadishu. Once evicted, families are forced into overcrowded camps with poor access to water, health services, and protection.

Editor’s Note: The Somali federal government has not publicly responded to these latest accusations. Requests for comment from the Banadir Regional Police Command and the Office of the President remain unanswered at the time of publication.

The post Degodia Community Cries Out: Land Theft, Police Abuse, and Clan Discrimination in Mogadishu appeared first on Kaab TV.