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Liibaan

Our National Capital of Somalia, Mogadishu Slowly Reawakens

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Liibaan   

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Scores of Mogadishans take to Lido beach for the first time in years as security in the city improves following ouster of extremist rebels in August

 

 

Mogadishans Take to Beaches as City Reawakens

 

Hundreds of Mogadishu residents last week took to the beaches for the first time in three years in a dramatic display of a new found sense of security following the forcing out from the city of Al Qaeda-linked terrorists.

 

The revelers, who included former President, Ali Mahdi Mohamed, converged on the scenic Lido beach on Friday where they enjoyed a game of football and took a dip in the waters.

 

Ever since the Somali National Army, with the support of the African Union Mission in Somalia, forced the extremists’ retreat in August, the capital has been experiencing something of a resurgence. Roads are being repaired, homes rebuilt and markets reopened. 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.

 

Following a successful operation to secure parts the vast outlying district of Deynile, hundreds of thousands of people in the Afgoye corridor who had previously been prevented by the extremists from returning to their homes in the city are now streaming back.

 

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.

 

However, as the city reawakens, it is also experiencing problems common to other capitals around the world. Traffic jams along the busy streets are a perennial headache and crime rates are up, according to Mayor Mohammed Nur “Tarsan.” The AMISOM Police Component is helping to train the Somali police force, now numbering over 5000, to manage these challenges and the AU has appealed to the UN Security Council for help in deploying formed up police units to aid the effort.

 

Last week, the city’s business community presented a gift of thirty animals to AMISOM in appreciation of the Mission’s effort in helping secure the capital.

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Liibaan   

The sea is a source of pleasure as well as survival for the people of Somalia.

 

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Somalis play in the Indian Ocean, near the port of Mogadishu.

 

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Somalis swim at Lido Beach, Mogadishu.

 

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Somali women take a stroll along Lido Beach, Mogadishu

 

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Somali children play near the port of Mogadishu.

 

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A Somali fisherman carries his catch near the port of Mogadishu.

 

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A Somali fisherman carries his catch near the port of Mogadishu.

 

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A Somali fisherman carries his catch near the port of Mogadishu.

 

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Somali fishermen carry a hammerhead shark near the port of Mogadishu.

 

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A Somali fisherman carries his catch near the port of Mogadishu.

 

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Porters carry humanitarian food supplies off a ship that arrived from Saudi Arabia at the port of Mogadishu.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Mogadishu it's safe to go to the beach again

 

MOGADISHU: An unexpected sight has been seen along the shores of Somalia's capital, Mogadishu. In a city known for shelling, suicide bombs, sharia and public executions, and in a country where famine is widespread in the south, last weekend hundreds were out enjoying the scenery and sunning themselves at the beach.

 

''For the first time in years,'' said Mohamoud Abdi, who came to Mogadishu's Lido beach with his two sons. ''People are feeling delightful.''

 

In a city torn by fundamentalism and fighting, a return to the beach is a symbol of how far peace seems to have come, as government forces and African peacekeepers have pushed Islamist rebels out of the capital over the past several months.

 

For many residents, the past five years have been spent under a particularly oppressive regime, the militant Islamist group known as al-Shabab, which rose up in 2006 as a popular nationalist movement to kick Ethiopian troops out of the country.

 

But al-Shabab soon turned against Somalis themselves and it became evident that its brand of Islam was not congruent with Somali culture.

 

The group banned music, soccer and even bras; it swore allegiance to al-Qaeda. As for going to Mogadishu's idyllic beaches - between radical Islamist laws (women were banned from swimming in 2006) and constant fighting, such an outing was akin to a death wish.

 

No more. Since al-Shabab largely retreated from Mogadishu in early August, the city has cautiously been stirring to life. Vendors are moving back into the central market. People dine in outdoor cafes.

 

Maybe most cat*****cally, they are going back to the beach, men and women alike.

 

''I had never thought of coming here,'' Said Yare, rolling in the sand at Lido, said.

 

Going to Lido beach on a Friday used to be a weekly pastime for Somalis. Before the fall of President Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991, Lido beach was packed with clubs and cafes.

 

Somalia has the longest coastline on the continent of Africa, and Mogadishu was known as the ''pearl of the Indian Ocean''.

 

But civil war gutted leisure activities and, by 2005, with Mogadishu carved up under the control of competing warlords, Lido beach was a veritable ghost of its former self.

 

The African Union operation in the country has taken the opportunity to promote Lido beach's resurgence as a testament to the peacekeeper's triumphs over al-Shabab.

 

But in a country used to war, it is unclear how long the respite will last. ''Al-Shabab is down but not out,'' says E.J. Hogendoorn, a Horn of Africa analyst for the International Crisis Group.

 

Mogadishu still is not safe. Two suicide bombers, one believed to be an American citizen, blew themselves up at an African Union peacekeeping base last month, killing an untold number. Early last month, a suicide bomber killed about 100, many students, at the Ministry of Education.

 

As for going to the beach, some still profess caution.

 

''We are finally back to our homes; now we are trying to test the delicacy of peace,'' said Shankaron Mohamoud, a young woman at Lido.

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