Some War-Weary Somalis Find Respite at the Beach

Over the weekend, an unexpected sight could be seen along the shores of the capital, Mogadishu. In a city known for shelling, suicide bombs, Shariah law and public executions — and in a country where famine is widespread in the south — hundreds were out enjoying the scenery and sunning themselves at the beach.

“For the first time in years,” said Mohamoud Abdi, who came to Mogadishu’s Lido Beach on Friday with his two sons. “People are feeling delightful.”

In a city torn by fundamentalism and fighting, a return to the beach is a symbol of how far peace seems to have come, as government forces and African peacekeepers have pushed Islamist rebels out of the capital over the last several months.

Mogadishu is a museum of war. Its buildings look like old ruins, except that the city has not eroded slowly over millennia, but in 20 bullet-packed years. For many residents, the last five have been spent under a particularly oppressive regime, the militant Islamist group known as the Shabab, which rose up in 2006 as a popular nationalist movement to kick troops from Ethiopia out of the country.