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Nov 2014 back issue
by Phil Moore
Mogadishu is on the up. In the years that followed African Union forces having ousted al-Shebab militants in late 2011,
the city saw members of the diaspora return, and investment in domains as varied as banking, telecommunications
and restaurants. Hotels were being built, coffee shops opened, and people were out on the streets until after dark,
something inconceivable on my first trip there in May 2011.
The port is lined with containers from big ships. Fishermen haul in big catches of fish and sharks. In one street in what
was the heartland of al-Shebab control, youths gather to play video games in the Mogadishu equivalent of an
amusement arcade: two televisions hooked up to a Play-Stations each. People have flooded to the Lido beach, playing
football on the white sands.
Mogadishu is, however, a violent city. From what was a more conventional war, the Islamic militants have shifted to
insurgency-style attacks, with major assaults on government buildings, and even the heavily fortified compounds of the
United Nations. Assassinations are a regular occurrence, and hotels and restaurants are a surrounded by barbed-wire
and armed security guards.
Mogadishu has been ravaged by over 20 years of civil war. The Aruba Hotel was formally host to a night-club which
rocked the city's nightlife. It is now just a carcass and home to African Union forces, after two decades of bombardments.
A man repaints the wall at the Lido Seafood Restaurant, on the beach of the Indian Ocean.
Abdul Rahman (20), a soldier with the Somali National Army, enrolled in the army when he was 17 years old. He was
born during the civil war and grew-up surrounded by fighting in the capital.
A view of the "Peace Apartments" in Mogadishu on March 9, 2012, a new complex being built in response to increased
interest by international tourists and business partners coming to the Somali capital.
A Somali fisherman pushes out his boat from Mogadishu's Old Port in the Somali capital on July 24, 2013. Following
an increase in security in the Somali capital, and a decrease in piracy, a resurgency in the number of vessels leaving
Mogadishu for the Indian Ocean has been seen.
A Somali fish vendor holds up a fresh catch in the Mogadishu Fish Market in Somalia's capital on July 24, 2013. After
years of piracy threatening international vessels, fish stocks have improved in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Somalia.
Men run with their camels through the streets of Mogadishu at dusk on March 25, 2013. Livestock is an important part
of Somalia's economy.
A Somali man washes in the waters of the Indian Ocean at Mogadishu's Port in Somalia on July 24, 2013. Following an
increase in security in the Somali capital, and a decrease in piracy, a resurgency in the number of vessels docking in
Mogadishu from the Indian Ocean has been seen.
A Somali man sits in front of shipping containers at Mogadishu's Port in Somalia on July 24, 2013. Following an
increase in security in the Somali capital, and a decrease in piracy, a resurgency in the number of vessels docking in
Mogadishu from the Indian Ocean has been seen.
A Ugandan soldier as part of the African Union Mission for Somalia (AMISOM) stands in front of the maiden
commercial flight for Turkish Airlines into Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, on March 6, 2012. The first long-distance
international commercial airliner in some two decades to fly to Somalia's war-torn capital landed on its maiden flight at
Mogadishu airport Tuesday. The Turkish Airlines flight, with a high level delegation from Ankara led by Turkish deputy
prime minister Bekir Bosdag, was welcomed on landing in the anarchic seaside capital by Somali President Sharif
Sheikh Ahmed.
A boy sits on rocks overlooking Lido beach, the busiest stretch of Mogadishu's coastline, on March 9, 2012. Somalia
has the longest coastline in Africa, with vast stretches of untouched, white sands. Yet from two decades of conflict, few
people are in a position to enjoy the beach, and much of the city's buildings have been decimated by shelling and
gunfire.
Private security guard the beach-side entrance to the Lido Seafood Restaurant in Mogadishu on March 26, 2013. The
restaurant has been the target of several attacks by insurgents.
Somali men stand on the roadside at sunset on March 10, 2012. A year previously, there was an informal curfew by
mid-afternoon, and the streets were empty, due to the insecurity.
A Somali policeman stands at a night checkpoint in Mogadishu. The police mount checkpoints every evening,
searching cars and people for weapons as they move around the city.
A Somali policeman searches a motorist at a night-time checkpoint in central Mogadishu on March 26, 2013. The
police, backed by African Union police, search cars after night-fall in an attempt to prevent the circulation of weapons
and car-bombs which still plague the capital.
Somali youths play on a PlayStation in a small "arcade"--a single rented room--during the nighttime in Bakara market
on March 26, 2013. After the ousting of al-Shebab, life has begun to return and activities that were previously outlawed
by the group are once again enjoyed. Bakara Market was a strong hold for the Islamists, and twenty years previously,
the scene of the infamous "Black Hawk Down" incident involving U.S. troops.
In spite of the relative peace, many people still live in camps for the internally displaced, such as this one in the ruins
of the Italian cathedral in Mogadishu.
Somali women wave the national flag at Mogadishu's international airport, prior to the arrival of the Prime Minister, on
March 11, 2012. During al-Shabaab's reign in much of the capital, women were forced to wear full islamic robes.
The camps sprawl across much of the city, made up of improvised shelters, with very little security within them.
