Gunfire erupts in Somali capital amid president's standoff

Gunfire has erupted in Somalia’s capital between soldiers loyal to the government and others angry at the country’s leader as tensions spiked over President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed’s extended stay in power

MOGADISHU, Somalia -- Gunfire erupted in Somalia’s capital on Sunday between soldiers loyal to the government and others angry at the country’s leader as tensions spiked over President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed’s extended stay in power. There were no reports of casualties, but the gunfire heard across much of the city highlighted earlier warnings that the election standoff could increase instability in the Horn of Africa nation. The estimated hundreds of mutinous soldiers, still in uniform, took up key positions in northern Mogadishu as some residents hid. There was no immediate comment from the government. Somalia’s president faces growing opposition in the country and abroad after the lower house of parliament approved a two-year extension of his mandate and that of the federal government and he OKed it, to the fury of Senate leaders and vocal criticism of the international community. The African Union was the latest to condemn the actions.