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Former Somali Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo returned to Mogadishu on Thursday (August 9th), a year after resigning from his post, to launch his presidential campaign.

Residents of Mogadishu gathered in large numbers near the Mogadishu airport and Maka al-Mukarama Road to welcome the presidential candidate.

However, unidentified gunmen opened fire at demonstrators, killing two people and wounding several others at the Sayid Mohamed Abdullahi Hassan intersection, close to the parliament building.

Farmajo has demanded a full investigation into the incident.

Supporter Siham Yunis, who was at the scene, told Sabahi that the rally started from the airport, and as it reached the Sayid roundabout, gunmen started shooting in their direction, killing and wounding several supporters. She said some of the demonstrators died on their way to hospital.

Following the incident, armed units from the police and intelligence services sealed off the area to control the situation.

No group has claimed responsibility for targeting the demonstrators, and no one has yet been arrested in connection to the incident. The Somali cabinet has ordered security forces to investigate the incident and to end such transgressions by armed factions that seek to destabilise the security of the capital.

Farmajo was the prime minister of Somalia from October 2010 to June 2011, when he resigned as part of the Kampala Accord that extended the transitional government through August 2012.