Witnesses told media that several hundred people gathered outside the former Somali Theater when government troops in uniform on battle wagons approached and opened fire. The motive is not yet clear. The Mayor of Mogadishu Mohamoud Ahmed Tarzan who organized the event said the gathering was non-political.
“It was festival of happiness for the people of the city who did not have much to cheer for so long,” Tarzan told VOA Somali Service.
The Mayor said he would ask the government to investigate why its own troops attacked a peaceful demonstration.
In the interviewed audio-attached, the mayor started answering a question as to why the the gathering was organized in the first place