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. Thousands of people who had been prevented from returning to their homes in the city are now streaming back, it added.
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.
