Freelance journalist Hamza Mohamed recounts the day he was able to put a human face to the Somali Islamist insurgent group al-Shabab, in this article published in the latest issue of the BBC’s Focus on Africa magazine.
There is shelling not far from the hotel where I am staying. At the break of dawn I will be making my way out of Mogadishu and into al-Shabab-controlled Elasha Biyaha, to meet the group’s media coordinator.
There I will request access to report from areas under al-Shabab’s control.
Earlier in the day I made a call to see if the coordinator could meet me the next day. Surprisingly, he agreed to a 09:00 meeting.
Al-Shabab are notorious for denying access to foreign media – let alone granting a meeting at such short notice.
It is just after 06:00 when Nur, my driver, turns up at the hotel, but there is no sight of Awiil, my fixer.
Nur tells me that Awiil, who has a young family, did not want to risk being caught in Somalia’s ever-changing front lines.
After about 15 minutes of driving at break-neck speed and negotiating two chaotic government checkpoints manned by nervous-looking skinny soldiers, we reach Elasha Biyaha.
This is a “pop-up” town that came into being when Mogadishu’s residents left the anarchy of the city for the relative calm of its outskirts.
News
Comments are closed.