Armed clashes and heavy gunfire erupted overnight in several districts of Mogadishu, Somalia, on June 3-4 as tensions over delayed elections escalated into violence between federal government forces and opposition-aligned fighters, BBC reported on June 4. Defense Minister Ahmed Moalim Fiqi accused former Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire and former President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed — both key opposition figures — of attempting to stage an armed coup by mobilizing militia fighters under the cover of planned demonstrations against President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud's disputed one-year term extension following the expiry of his mandate on May 15.