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For a generation, Somalia has been a byword for the suffering of a failed state. It has lurched from disaster to disaster in the last 21 years, since the central government was toppled by clan militias that later turned on each other. Year after year, Somalia has been ranked as one of the world’s poorest, most violent countries, plagued by warring militias, bandits, warlords and pirates.

Since 2006, the country has faced an insurgency led by Al Shabab, one of Africa’s most fearsome militant Islamist groups. Al Shabab controls parts of southern Somalia and has claimed affiliation with Al Qaeda since 2007.

In August 2011, the Shabab receded from several areas at once, handing the Transitional Federal Government an enormous opportunity to finally step outside the capital and begin uniting this fractious country after two decades of war. But the government was too weak, corrupt, divided and disorganized to mount a claim beyond Mogadishu, the capital, leaving clan warlords, Islamist militias and proxy forces armed by foreign governments to battle it out for the regions the Shabab was losing.

Starting in September, militants from Somalia carried out numerous kidnappings across the border in Kenya, apparently targeting Westerners and those affiliated with Western organizations there. Some analysts believed that the Shabab were involved because the militants controlled much of the area along the Kenya-Somalia border. In October, Kenyan forces crossed into Somalia to fight the militants.

Many kidnappings have also been conducted by pirates, who operate with total impunity in many parts of Somalia. And as naval efforts have intensified on the high seas, stymieing hijackings, Somali pirates seemed to be increasingly snatching foreigners on land.

The backdrop this all played out against in 2011 was a punishing drought that caused famine, killed livestock, destroyed crops and displaced hundreds of thousands of people. Epidemics of cholera and measles then preyed on the malnourished and vulnerable populations huddled in camps.

Amid Somalia’s Suffering, Signs of Hope

The famine eased, the violence ebbed and, in 2012, Somalia began showing signs of hope.

Mogadishu, the capital, which had been reduced to rubble during years of civil war, started to make a remarkable comeback. With the Shabab having withdrawn from the city in August, the only superpower left in the capital was the African Union, with 10,000 troops (soon to be 17,000), as well as tanks, artillery and armored personnel carriers chugging up and down the streets.

In early April 2012, the city was enjoying its longest epoch of relative peace since 1991: eight months and counting.

Clearly, the city and the rest of Somalia still had a long way to go. On April 4, a bomb exploded during a ceremony at the newly reopened National Theater in Mogadishu as the prime minister was addressing the guests. Somalia’s Ministry of Information said that four people, including two prominent sports officials, were killed, though officials said the prime minister, Abdiweli Mohamed Ali, was unhurt. Several journalists and a lawmaker were wounded.

The Shabab claimed responsibility for the bombing. “Everything was carefully planned and orchestrated,” the organization said in a Twitter message.

atosh-somali
For a generation, Somalia has been a byword for the suffering of a failed state. It has lurched from disaster to disaster in the last 21 years, since the central government was toppled by clan militias that later turned on each other. Year after year, Somalia has been ranked as one of the world’s poorest, most violent countries, plagued by warring militias, bandits, warlords and pirates.

Since 2006, the country has faced an insurgency led by Al Shabab, one of Africa’s most fearsome militant Islamist groups. Al Shabab controls parts of southern Somalia and has claimed affiliation with Al Qaeda since 2007.

In August 2011, the Shabab receded from several areas at once, handing the Transitional Federal Government an enormous opportunity to finally step outside the capital and begin uniting this fractious country after two decades of war. But the government was too weak, corrupt, divided and disorganized to mount a claim beyond Mogadishu, the capital, leaving clan warlords, Islamist militias and proxy forces armed by foreign governments to battle it out for the regions the Shabab was losing.

Starting in September, militants from Somalia carried out numerous kidnappings across the border in Kenya, apparently targeting Westerners and those affiliated with Western organizations there. Some analysts believed that the Shabab were involved because the militants controlled much of the area along the Kenya-Somalia border. In October, Kenyan forces crossed into Somalia to fight the militants.

Many kidnappings have also been conducted by pirates, who operate with total impunity in many parts of Somalia. And as naval efforts have intensified on the high seas, stymieing hijackings, Somali pirates seemed to be increasingly snatching foreigners on land.

The backdrop this all played out against in 2011 was a punishing drought that caused famine, killed livestock, destroyed crops and displaced hundreds of thousands of people. Epidemics of cholera and measles then preyed on the malnourished and vulnerable populations huddled in camps.

Amid Somalia’s Suffering, Signs of Hope

The famine eased, the violence ebbed and, in 2012, Somalia began showing signs of hope.

Mogadishu, the capital, which had been reduced to rubble during years of civil war, started to make a remarkable comeback. With the Shabab having withdrawn from the city in August, the only superpower left in the capital was the African Union, with 10,000 troops (soon to be 17,000), as well as tanks, artillery and armored personnel carriers chugging up and down the streets.

In early April 2012, the city was enjoying its longest epoch of relative peace since 1991: eight months and counting.

Clearly, the city and the rest of Somalia still had a long way to go. On April 4, a bomb exploded during a ceremony at the newly reopened National Theater in Mogadishu as the prime minister was addressing the guests. Somalia’s Ministry of Information said that four people, including two prominent sports officials, were killed, though officials said the prime minister, Abdiweli Mohamed Ali, was unhurt. Several journalists and a lawmaker were wounded.

The Shabab claimed responsibility for the bombing. “Everything was carefully planned and orchestrated,” the organization said in a Twitter message.