Liibaan Posted November 13, 2011 The Guardian: Somalis revel on Mogadishu's safe beaches for first time in three years Roads are being repaired and air and sea traffic has increased after the retreat of the militant group al-Shabaab. Hundreds of residents of the Somalian capital Mogadishu have taken respite from bombs and bullets by flocking to the beaches for the first time in three years. The revellers, who included former president Ali Mahdi Mohamed, converged on the Lido beach where they played football and swam. The African Union Mission in Somalia said the return to Mogadishu beaches on Friday showed a new sense of security since the militant group al-Shabaab, aligned with al-Qaida, retreated from Mogadishu in August. "Roads are being repaired, homes rebuilt and markets reopened," it said. "Real estate prices along Via Moscow have doubled and there are people out in the streets late into the night, despite the ongoing threat of terrorist attack." Thousands of people who had been prevented from returning to their homes in the city are now streaming back, it added. "Traffic at the Aden Abdulleh International Airport has also tripled and the line of ships waiting to dock at the seaport grows ever longer. The city has played host to several high profile visitors, including Turkish prime minister, Recep Erdogan, and a number of countries have reopened their embassies." But normality after 20 years of bloody anarchy that put Somalia bottom of the Ibrahim Index of African Governance apparently comes at a price. Growing traffic jams and rising crime rates are among everyday problems taking hold. Al-Shabaab is still locked in a battle with the weak UN-back interim government for control of parts of the country. Kenya deployed troops inside Somalia three weeks ago to crush the militants it blames for a wave of kidnappings in Kenya and frequent cross-border attacks. Last week the Guardian revealed that men claiming to be al-Qaida operatives are distributing aid and cash to drought victims in southern Somalia in an attempt to win hearts and minds. The Guardian Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Liibaan Posted November 13, 2011 Ciida Mogadishu Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Knight of Wisdom Posted November 13, 2011 "For the first time in 3 years"? Did they meant "21 years" instead of 3 years? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Liibaan Posted November 13, 2011 Masaajidka ISbahaysiga Islaamka XAMAR _____________________________________________________________________ AFP: Somali capital slowly returns to life after rebel retreat ld men sip tea while children kick a football on a dusty street in the Somali capital: ordinary scenes of daily life unthinkable just weeks ago, when Islamist Shebab fighters were in control here. "We came back last month after the Shebab left, because it was not safe before," said Abdulah Abubakr, sitting beside a bullet-scarred building in Mogadishu's northeastern Tawfiq district, a former Shebab stronghold. "The Shebab would beat us, they would even kill people without questioning, and then there was heavy fighting," added the 70-year-old former truck driver. After four years of bitter battles, African Union-backed government troops forced the Al-Qaeda linked Shebab to pull out of key positions in August, leaving die-hard rebel pockets on the edges of the city. "The security is better, because the fighting has mostly stopped," said Sara Adan, a mother of seven, selling camel milk in a small street market. She returned home to Tawfiq a month ago after fleeing to a government-held district, fearing her teenage boys would be taken as child soldiers by the insurgents. "They (the Shebab) wanted my sons to fight for them, and I feared we would all suffer if they did not go with them," Adan said. The Shebab earned a fearsome reputation imposing a hardline version of Sharia Islamic law -- banning Western culture, imposing a dress code on men and women, and restricting the distribution of foreign aid. Improvements are relative. Mogadishu, at civil war since 1991, remains one of the world's most dangerous capitals, and the UN has declared famine in the camps for desperate families seeking aid that have sprung up across the city. "Things are very, very far from good in Mogadishu because we have no jobs, no money, no food," said Mohamed Hassan, an unemployed father of six. Many are fearful of Shebab threats to scale up use of suicide bombers, after the insurgents carried out their worst ever attack in the city last week, killing at least 82 people with a truck loaded with explosives. Shebab leaders said Wednesday they were sending "hundreds" of gunmen to bolster remaining fighters in Mogadishu's outskirts. Empty bullet casings lie scattered on the dust, heavily armed soldiers stand at street corners, while pick-up trucks mounted with machine guns patrol the district. "The Shebab won't stop their attacks, and there is no way to stop people who want to die from exploding themselves," said Ibrahim Kasim, an elderly man. But the pullout of the Shebab has allowed some areas of the city to return to relatively normal life, and off a small side street, the chanting of children in a tin-shack school can be heard, learning Islamic holy verses. "People are still scared, because they fear that the Shebab will return," said Abdirahman Mohamed, a soldier with Somalia's weak Western-backed transitional government, working alongside African Union forces. "But things are getting better, the fighting has calmed down here." At night, the crackle of gunfire and occasional heavier thump of a mortar round can still be heard, but it is a considerable improvement from earlier this year, when fierce gun battles would regularly rage for hours. A final push to drive out Shebab diehards in north-east Mogadishu was launched at the weekend by AU forces, with Ugandan troops seizing strategic positions from the rebels. "Of course there are still problems," said Ugandan Lieutenant-Colonel Kayanja Muhanga, speaking as he led a patrol through the streets without body armour or helmet, something that would have been too dangerous just months ago. "But we are working hard to secure the areas we have taken from the Shebab to allow people to return to everyday life." Business is also slowly returning to Bakara market, Mogadishu's commercial heart and scene of some of the strongest Shebab resistance. Some tower blocks have been left almost unusable after serving as rebel outposts and hit repeatedly by shell and mortar fire, but the market formally reopened last week. "We are here, ready and waiting for business," said Dahir Hassan, a car mechanic running a street stall fixing punctures, waving at workers at a shop plastering over bullet holes dotted into its wall. "Things are still quiet, so life is not easy as the work is little, but this is our first week back, so we hope that things will become busier in future," he added. But while life inside Mogadishu slowly improves, the Shebab are far from beaten -- they still control swathes of southern and central Somalia, and continue to restrict international agencies providing emergency aid. The United Nations has warned that 750,000 people could die by the end of year unless emergency aid is brought into to the worst-hit areas. AFP Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Abdul Posted November 13, 2011 Its nice to see people finally having fun,instead of ducking bullets Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Knight of Wisdom Posted November 13, 2011 burahadeer;757921 wrote: Nice..women too have to throw these ugly sheets left behind by shabab indoctrination ..kab iyo xaarkeed waa la isla tuuraa. The women of Mogadishu, aren't like the women of Hergeisa who, allegedly had their legs wide open for German Porn Producers or any Foreigners, trying to have sex with them over few dollars. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
burahadeer Posted November 13, 2011 Nice..women too have to throw these ugly sheets left behind by shabab indoctrination ..kab iyo xaarkeed waa la isla tuuraa. BTW what the hell r these names..moscow,argentina etc, these need to be changed! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
