Mogadishu
Demonstrations against the Dollar
11am Somali time: Central and southern Mogadishu are currently awash with demonstrators protesting the massive inflation of the Somali national currency (Somali shilling) as well as shopkeepers who have started only accepting dollars on account of the near worthlessness of Somali bank notes. Previously there were denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500 […]
Tipping Point
“Every individual Somali fights to stay himself, a person.” (Gerard Hanley in ‘Warriors’) The atmosphere can change in a matter of seconds while working in Somalia. Today we were traveling with a militia south of Mogadishu in part so that Philip could take some photos of a ‘technical’, the well-known battlewagon in Somalia popularized in […]
Mogadishu Day Four
Today was a burst of activity following a very slow day yesterday – to ensure our security following the assassination of a senior al-Shabab leader (Aden Hashi ‘Ayrow) we spent most of the day inside the hotel conducting interviews there. This morning, however, we began with an interview with Somalia’s TFG (transitional federal government) deputy […]
Ayrow: UPDATE 2
UPDATE 2: Al-Shabab official website has issued a statement on the death of Ayrow in Somali. “Airplanes of the enemy of Allah”, the text reads, have caused the “martyrdom of the mujahid and leader” Aden Ayrow as well as Sheikh Muhiyuddin Mohammad Omar (former Health Minister for the Islamic Courts). The statement said that a […]
Ayrow: UPDATE 1
UPDATE 1: Death toll from the attack seems to be 10. We have been speaking to people in Dhusa Mareb, including people digging in the rubble, and haven’t been able to confirm or find information on the speculated death toll of 30. Bakara Market area – stronghold of sorts of al-Shabab these days – in […]
Al-Shabab Leader Killed
Just a short note to confirm that Al-Shabab’s leader does seem to have died in an explosion (one presumes a missile) in Dhusa Mareb, central Somalia. Al-Shabab spokesperson held and press conference over the phone this morning with local radio stations in which they vowed they would retaliate against the attack. It makes working in […]
Ground Zero
“It is wonderful how little we have yet managed to impress the Somalis with our superior firepower.” (British officer following attempts to put down the ‘Mad Mullah’ in 1920s with R.A.F. bombers) Today was spent in a time capsule of sorts – visiting the destruction wreaked on the buildings of Mogadishu’s seafront at the end […]
“Life and death are cheap”
In the words of Smith Hempstone, the former US ambassador to Kenya: “If you liked Beirut, you’ll love Mogadishu…” And so it is. Arriving in a delayed Daallo Airways plane, fellow travellers flying on to the north of the country wish us well. “Life and death are cheap in this city…take care,” said one, patting […]
Leaving Nairobi
MGQ. A complex grouping of consonants represents Mogadishu in its airport 3-letter code. Mogadoxo to the Portuguese, Hamar to the Somalis, the city represents so much of the dashed dreams of the 1990s. Ticket in hand, I’m a little apprehensive about a place that exists more in rumour and myth than in reality. Journalist colleagues […]
Outwardbound
A sigh down the telephone line. “Somalia is not so much a failed state, as a state that never became a state,” a very wise and English-tinted voice tells me. I’m speaking to Professor I.M. Lewis on the phone about the country where I’m due to spend the next month and am momentarily overcome by […]
