Mogadishu (Raxanreeb Online) – Tensions are running high this morning in the Dab-damiska neighbourhood of Mogadishu, where Somali police forces and civilians previously evicted from the area are facing off.

According to reports from the scene, the civilians, many of them from low-income families, say they reject what they describe as the improper use of the land from which they were displaced. They allege that an understanding they had with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud regarding the status of the land has not been honoured.

Some of the residents who spoke to the media claimed that police officers deployed to the area have beaten and arrested several people, mostly women, since last night.

The Dab-damiska neighbourhood has witnessed recurring tension since the Federal Government of Somalia forcibly removed poor households from public land they had occupied for years.

In recent months, the government has demolished informal settlements on public land inhabited by low-income residents and, according to local accounts, has handed some of these plots over to business interests. Many citizens have criticised these actions as a major error by the government and harmful to the rights and livelihoods of vulnerable communities.