{"id":292112,"date":"2017-02-08T07:21:42","date_gmt":"2017-02-08T07:21:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=292112"},"modified":"2017-02-08T07:21:42","modified_gmt":"2017-02-08T07:21:42","slug":"traffic-banned-ahead-of-somali-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/02\/traffic-banned-ahead-of-somali-election\/","title":{"rendered":"Traffic banned ahead of Somali election"},"content":{"rendered":"
A traffic ban has been imposed and major roads sealed off in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, ahead of a presidential vote.<\/p>\n
MPs will gather at the airport to elect a new head of state.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday evening, suspected Al-Shabab militants launched a series of attacks, with two mortar rounds fired close to the venue where the vote will be held.<\/p>\n
Residents in Arbacow village outside Mogadishu say jihadists attacked an African Union military base there.<\/p>\n
More than 20 candidates are vying to become Somali president, with the top three proceeding to a second round of voting and the top two from that round going forward to a third and final vote.<\/p>\n
Incumbent President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud is standing for re-election and analysts say he is likely to be one of those who goes forward to the later rounds.<\/p>\n
Results are expected later on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The airport is viewed as the most secure site in the Somali capital and voting was moved there from a police academy because of growing security concerns.<\/p>\n
Wednesday’s security measures will include a ban on flights to and from Mogadishu airport.<\/p>\n
Correspondents said most schools and offices remained open on Tuesday but people had had to walk to reach their destination.<\/p>\n
Analysts say holding the election in the airport environment may also reduce the possibility of vote buying or other corruption in the election process.<\/p>\n
Somalia has not had an effective central government since the fall of the Siad Barre regime in 1991. The Mogadishu-based government is backed by an African Union force, Amisom, made up of more than 22,000 troops and police, as well as civilian staff.<\/p>\n
Al-Shabab has a presence in much of the southern third of the country and has carried out many attacks in Mogadishu.<\/p>\n
It has previously attacked the Somali parliament, presidential palace, courts, hotels and the fortified airport zone.<\/p>\n
At least 19 politicians, as well as civilians and soldiers have been killed in its assaults.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Credit: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A traffic ban has been imposed and major roads sealed off in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, ahead of a presidential vote. MPs will gather at the airport to elect a new head of state. On Tuesday evening, suspected Al-Shabab militants launched a series of attacks, with two mortar rounds fired close to the venue where […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[107],"tags":[3833,1777,3834,1018,3835],"yoast_head":"\n