Somalia - caught between peace and anarchy

War-torn Somalia in the Horn of Africa has not experienced peace since the fall of President Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. The often drought stricken country later became a haven for pirates and Islamists. The al-Shabab extremists had banned all sorts of entertainments including playing football. Today, this boy can play with soldiers from the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM).

AMISOM forces together with Ethiopian and Somalia troops have pushed al-Shabab militants from Mogadishu and other major towns. In August 2012, Somalia's new parliament was sworn in after eight years of a transitional government. For safety reasons the ceremony was conducted on the better guarded city airport.

For the first time in 20 years, Somalia’s Parliament elected a new President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in September 2012. Just two days after taking office, Sheikh Mohamud escaped a suicide bombing. The 56-year-old university professor and moderate Muslim has since become a target of several attacks.

Somali fishermen in the coastal town of Marka, located around 100 kilometers from Mogadishu watch the arrival of AU troops in September 2012. The city on the Indian Ocean had long been an al-Shabab stronghold. At the end of September, the rebels were driven out by Kenyan AU soldiers from their last major bastion in the coastal town of Kismayu.

A family on the run. Fearing Islamists many civilians fled from areas controlled by al-Shabab. Famine, drought and war have caused suffering to hundreds of thousands of Somalis. Between 2010 and 2012, nearly 260,000 people died of starvation, according to UN figures.

The presence of AU troops in Somalia has become a usual occurrence. The first troops arrived in 2007 following a decision by the AU Security Council. Part of their mandate was to protect the former transitional government. In this picture AU troops secure the inhabitants of Afgoye, located west of Mogadishu.

December 2012, AU troops move further inland on Islamist strongholds. A total of 17,000 soldiers are battling against al-Qaeda linked al-Shabab militants. Though more and more rural areas have been recaptured by the troops, and the security situation has generally improved in Somalia, the extremists still carry out attacks and bombings in Mogadishu.

Just when normalcy and calm were slowly returning in Mogadishu, two coordinated suicide bomb attacks next to the country’s court house killed 16 people in April 2013. Just two weeks later, a senior Somali judicial officer and a radio journalist were shot dead in the street.

Despite the setbacks, Somalia is on the road to recovery. Since the beginning of 2013, many Somalis have returned back from exile. After 22 years of absence, the United Kingdom has opened a new embassy in Mogadishu. In early May, the UN decided to deploy civilian experts to Somalia. Even the pirate attacks off the Horn of Africa have sharply decreased.