Mogadishu, Oct 20, 2025 – Somali government forces arrested Samsam Omar Ali on Sunday evening in Mogadishu, drawing strong criticism from opposition figures who say the move is part of an ongoing campaign of intimidation against displaced civilians and critics of the government.
Ali, a civilian who was previously displaced from the Siinaay neighborhood of the capital, had been vocal in media appearances condemning the government’s forced evictions of residents from informal settlements. She had also participated in opposition-organized meetings focused on social justice and housing rights.
Her arrest was sharply condemned by former Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire, who described Ali as a victim of both terrorism and state repression.
“Samsam Omar has already suffered deeply — her mother, father, and husband were all killed by Al-Shabaab in Siinaay market,” Khaire said in a statement on Tuesday. “It is a tragedy that she now finds herself imprisoned by the very government that should have protected her and her children.”
Khaire also claimed that Ali had previously been forced by the authorities to exhume her mother’s body from the Afisyooni cemetery, where she had been buried following an Al-Shabaab attack.
The former prime minister urged President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud to order Ali’s immediate and unconditional release, calling for an end to what he described as “the arrest of mothers, the displacement of the poor, and the illegal seizure of public land.”
“These actions are crippling the country’s development and undermining the social fabric of our nation,” he added.
Government officials have not yet issued a statement regarding the arrest.
Rights advocates have warned that the government’s increasing use of force against displaced persons and dissenters may further inflame tensions in Mogadishu, where evictions and demolitions have intensified in recent months.
