Somalia On The Brink - Living With Terror And Violence

Somalia is one of the countries the most dangerous in the world. As soon as we arrived at Mogadishu airport, we are taken care of by Yuke. This ex-soldier of the forces Somali specials, works for a company private security.

He will ensure our protection. This car is armored. It's a B6 model.

When it is closed, locked, nothing can reach it. The bullets, the explosions. .

. She resists everything. We ride escorted by a procession of eight armed guards.

The country has been relatively spared by Covid 19. Only 130 deaths were recorded since the start of the pandemic. The attacks, on the other hand, are almost daily in the capital.

We are stopped at this checkpoint. - Did something happen in the city? - Yes.

There's just been an explosion. An attack has just occurred place at the end of this street. The plume of smoke is still visible.

The city is sealed off, but we we manage to reach our hotel, a real fortress. It is protected by bomb-proof walls, and each vehicle is scrupulously searched by armed guards. In the hotel, Yuke's company made set up a special room in the event of an attack, a panic room.

If something happens, you must come here. This is our bunker. In the event of an attack, you must take refuge there.

It's safe. There is a water reserve to last several days. And the door is bulletproof.

This hotel does not accommodate any tourists. There are no more in Mogadishu. Residents are for most Somali officials, who left their home in town to find refuge, and security with their families.

Like the police chief for example. On the other side of the hotel, Yuke had a security PC installed. This is our operations room.

From his screens, he can monitor the entire perimeter of the hotel, but also track his company's armored cars, equipped with GPS chips. In the absence of service official information, it's from social networks that the latest news reaches them, of today's attack. We have Twitter which allows us to follow the latest international news, but also local.

Zakia Hussen is the deputy of the police chief. She just confirmed on Twitter that the attack which took place, is a car bomb attack. It took place at a dam.

It's barely 100 meters from here. The same evening, we recover this amateur video. The attack left twelve dead and around thirty injured.

These dramas have become almost routine, in this city of fire and blood. Located on the Horn of Africa, Somalia has been eaten away since 1991 by the civil war, piracy, Islamist terrorism, and famine. More than 500,000 deaths in 30 years.

Remember by Bernard Kouchner in 1992, who landed in Mogadishu with bags of rice donated by French schoolchildren. Doctors and equipment must be sent. They don't have a burial sheet.

They have no food to survive. Since 2006, Somalia has been under the cut of an Islamist movement, the Shebabs who are terrorizing the country. Their fighters occupy near two thirds of the territory, and threaten Mogadishu.

They multiply bomb attacks. For two years, these attacks left more than 200 dead. The Shebabs act even as far as neighboring Kenya.

In 2013, 68 people found death, in the attack of a center commercial in Nairobi, the capital. Every day, hundreds of police officers try by all means, to protect Mogadishu terrorist attacks. I have just been informed that he is part of the Shebabs.

We're going to question him to find out more. Exceptionally, we were able to enter in the central prison of Mogadishu. Islamist terrorists pile up there at 50 per cell.

Most of the prisoners who are here are murderers. It is not safe to approach them. Cleared !

Go back to your cell, you boring guy! A new generation politicians, like the mayor of Mogadishu, attempts to restore an administration effective at the risk of their lives. Politicians like me are the main targets of terrorists.

The emergency services did not ways to respond to emergencies, with often dramatic consequences. We take him to the hospital. We pray to God for her to heal.

Somalia is the country with the most corrupted world. Part of the billions in aid international never arrives at its destination. We are faced with a dilemma.

We could apply zero tolerance, in this case, nothing more could not be done on the ground, and people were dying. After 30 years of conflict and despite the commitment of the rest of the world, the inhabitants of Mogadishu are trying to survive in this city, on the verge of chaos. In the city center, the stigmata of the war are still visible, on each facade.

The historic center is strewn with ruins. Public services are almost non-existent, and the economy is at a standstill. The 2 and a half million inhabitants of Mogadishu survive from day to day.

Small businesses or breeding in the city. The average wage is $2 per day. The country still experiences famines.

More than two thirds of the population are under 25 years old. For the most part, these young people live on odd jobs, and dream of leaving the country. Mohamed is 22 years old.

He is a tuk-tuk driver. These thousands of little taxis sneak around all over the streets of the city. They sometimes work more than 20 hours a day.

The tuk-tuk is a job accessible to the poor. It's true that I didn't go at school and I regret it, because I could have found better work. To get around town, there is no no public transportation.

How much is it to go to the Waaberi district? It's $2. $2 is a bit expensive.

Can you give me a price? - $1. 50.

- OK. A 20 minute run costs around €1. In Somalia, the local currency, the shilling, is no longer used and transactions are made in US dollars.

I'll give you my number for so you can pay me. There is almost no money circulating liquid. Everyday transactions are done by a simple SMS.

This system is called EVC. This is how I get paid. I never take cash, I don't have a bank account.

But with this system, my savings are safe. Mohamed does not have the means to pass his driving license. So at each roadblock, he is at the mercy corrupt police officers.

Checkpoints are often racketeering points. When someone asks me for my papers, I have to pay $5 so as not to get arrested. And then it starts again a few kilometers further.

Tuk-tuk drivers, are not the only victims, of the greed of the police. We experience it with our own vehicle. - What's up brother ?

- How many people are there? We are 4 police officers today. OK, I understand.

Does $2 work for you? Yes, God willing, that’s fine with us. Our driver pays $8 with his cell phone to be able to get through.

Come on, have a good day! Come on, see you next time. Some days the whole recipe of Mohamed passes there.

Sometimes the police extort me 3 times during the day. In the evening, I go home with a headache, because I lost everything. Mohamed lives in this downtown neighborhood.

He shares this house with his mother, his five brothers who are still teenagers, and her sister. His salary is used to support to the needs of the family. This is the kitchen.

This is where we prepare all our meals. Today we ate rice and vegetables. Here we keep our pancakes.

There we have butter. As the eldest, Mohamed became despite him the head of the family, before he turned 18. My father died in 2011.

We were taking our breakfast together, that's when we have heard gunshots. He came out to see what was happening, and the shebabs shot him in the heart. He is dead.

That day, Mohamed receives childhood friends, all born with the civil war. These young people suffer daily violence. There is no work here.

There are killings all the time. We die for no reason. Life in Mogadishu is really difficult.

It's very hard. Have you ever lost friends? Not just one or two.

I lost a lot of friends. We lost friends in explosions. This is why some decided to go to Europe.

I too wanted to leave. All tried to flee the country in 2016, with the hope of reaching Europe. Me, I wanted to go to France because I have friends there.

One in Paris and one in another city. Me, in Denmark. Me, in Germany.

For their trip, they called on smugglers who paid them €7,000. They all took different paths, and everyone went through hell. When leaving Somalia, I first went through Kenya.

They imprisoned me there. They kept me for seven days. I had no one to pay my ransom.

Finally I succeeded to reach South Sudan. I got on a bus, but there was an ambush. There were gunshots and an accident.

I broke my arm. My hand is no longer straight. Look.

And I even took myself a bullet in the back. Look, the ball is still there the interior. You can feel it.

Despite everything they endured, They only have one desire, leave Somalia and go back on this road of horror. Who still wants to go to Europe? Me !

For Mohamed, the trip turned runs in Sudan. Detained for several days in an oil tank by bandits, he managed to prevent the leaders of his clan. He introduced them to us, in Somalia, they are called sultans.

We learned his conditions of detention. He was very ill and he had water in the lungs. We sent money so he could go to the hospital and come home, Did you agree that he leaves, like that, for Europe?

No not at all. Our youth are losing his life wanting to go to Europe. There they will not find than misfortune.

You understand that he is afraid of living here? What matters is not what he wants, but what we want. It's 1000 times better to live in his country, with his family, and work here instead than to suffer elsewhere.

To encourage him to stay, the sultans lent him €3000 so that he can buy a tuk-tuk. He pays them back when he can. When the state fails, traditional authorities take power.

In Somalia, these are the 2000 chiefs of clans who act as authorities. North of Mogadishu, The sheik, the sultan of the clan, all from the same village. His red beard is a sign of wisdom.

He was elected by the 50,000 members of his clan. He acts as judge, policeman, and even in some cases, marriage counselor. The sultanate is not something which we choose by chance.

It comes from God. You don't learn that at school. Only an in-depth study of religion can give us this knowledge.

I didn't have any training, but if you know religion by heart, you can solve a lot of problems. But you're still worried by the worries of your whole clan, and I don't sleep much. Sultans are not paid.

To earn his living, the sheik, is a teacher in a Koranic school. He is paid €180 per month. In Somalia, schools are fee-paying.

So for the poorest, the only alternative, to learn to read are the schools nuns, who are free. We study there exclusively the Koran. Children learn it by heart from of extracts painted on these wooden tablets.

What are you learning here? I am obliged to learn the Koran. Why couldn't you go in a general school?

Because we don't have the means. Would you have gone there if you could? Yes, I would have liked.

This religious school welcomes children aged 6 to 15 years old. Girls are separated from boys by a sheet metal panel. Today is the weekend.

Go get some rest. Do you know what I expect from you? First of all, we must fear the Lord.

That's my advice. Come on ! Your master frees you.

May peace be with you. For the Sultan, no days of rest. As soon as class finished, he has to manage an important matter.

One of his clan members is accused of murder. This problem must be resolved. We will get in touch very soon with the victim's family.

Here is the accused. Abderrazak and policeman. He was tried for killing a civilian at a checkpoint.

Recently, the Somali authorities harshly punish the police, often accused of abuses. Abderrazak Youssouf Gouré, the court sentenced you to death by shooting. Those who oppose this judgment can appeal.

For the Sultan, there is no question of letting one of his own on death row. A meeting is being organized in a hotel in Mogadishu. Around the representative table of the clan coming from several regions of the country.

One of our sons who is a police officer, arrested a tuk-tuk driver. They didn't understand each other well. So he pulled out his gun and he killed him!

Our religion gives us 3 options in this kind of case, either we kill one of our own, either the victims forgive us, or we pay a certain amount of money. This is what we chose. Our tradition provides that we must pay the equivalent of 100 camels, to the victim's family.

This will wipe out our debt. 100 camels are worth around €45,000, almost 500 times the average monthly salary. An amount that they will try to gather with members of the clan.

Everyone must pay according to their means. Between $5 and $200. Listen to me everyone.

Abderrahmane, you will have to pay $20. What do you do if some refuse to pay? If someone refuses to pay, we imprison him and punish him.

We are the ones who give the orders. If the clans come to an agreement among themselves, the judicial authorities, will no longer have a say. The clans prefer arrange things between them, since the start of the civil war.

As long as we don't have a true national government, we can't count on the justice of this country. The killer policeman will be released when the victim's family, will have received the promised €45,000. The process may take several months.

To try to restore confidence Somalis for justice, a new generation of leaders engages in political life, risking their lives. In this house that looks like a stronghold lives one of the most powerful men in the country, Abdirahman Omar Osman is the mayor of Mogadishu. For the Shebab terrorists, he is a man to be taken down.

He invites us to share his day. It's breakfast traditional Somali. It's goat's liver that we let's eat with a kind of pancake.

We eat with our hands. It's that that makes our food so delicious. What is your role as as mayor of Mogadishu?

I have to provide clean drinking water, provide a first aid service, as well as education. But the biggest challenge, it's security in the city, that we are trying to improve. The mayor travels in an armored car.

And has an escort about ten police officers. Despite the ever-present danger, Abdirahman Osman chose to leave a peaceful life in Europe, to return to Somalia. I returned from the UK eleven years ago.

I was a civil servant in a local government in north London. I decided to quit my job, my wife and children, to come and help my country and my people. How did you become mayor?

It was the president who appointed me. There are no municipal elections in Somalia? Not at the moment, but we are working to the organization of elections, in the near future.

Upon his arrival at the town hall, he is entitled to a little ritual, of the head of his personal guard, in a legacy style of the British army. The mayor has a of the highest salaries in the country. $15,000 per month, risk premiums included.

He heads one of the largest administrations of Somalia. 2600 civil servants work for the city. In his office, its citizens are waiting in line.

He receives them one by one to listen to their grievances. Mr Mayor, I am still waiting a response to the file, that I dropped off for you. Wait please.

This man has a neighborhood problem. This story has been going on for a week. We need to resolve this issue quickly.

Mr Mayor, you know that the employees still have not received their salaries? With €30 million annually, the budget of the city is barely enough to pay salaries. However, it would take a lot of money to attempt to restore security in Mogadishu.

The subject occupies the majority mayor's days, sometimes until late at night. In the evening, its security personal is doubled. 20 police officers escort his convoy.

Politicians like me are the main targets of terrorists. The Shebabs have changed tactics. They are waging an asymmetrical war.

So we must be ready and ensure that we are able, to accomplish our mission for our people. Every evening, he brings together the Security Committee from a different part of the city. Good evening everyone.

On this day, this outdoor gymnasium serves as a municipal hall. By choosing this open place, the mayor wants to show that he does not fear terrorists. Around the table a representative for each district.

The head of the national police made the trip. The day was particularly turbulent with five violent deaths, including a man found dead, tied up in a burned house. Did anything happen today?

Yes, there were serious events, notably a police officer, who started shooting at civilians. Nearly 2 million weapons of war circulate in the city. That evening, faced with insecurity, the mayor and the police chief decided to make a publicity stunt.

We want to show the public that the mayor is the police chief, can walk in the street without fear. We are going to talk with young people, you'll see. - Are you doing well ?

- Hello mister mayor. Good morning. The mayor wants to give the impression let him walk without fear, but it is still framed by around fifty soldiers and police officers.

We are blocking the intersections. We seek to avoid that a vehicle, or that a tuk-tuk which would be trapped can pass. Is the threat constant?

Yes but I doubt they will anything tonight. We are numerous. It's a show of force.

They are no match. The delegation ends the evening in a downtown restaurant. - Good evening.

How are you ? - Good morning. Good evening.

This seemingly innocuous outing is actually a first. We have never seen a member of the government. The Mayor of Mogadishu or police officials, walk around the city at night.

It's been 27 years since this happened. For us today, see all these officials walking around at night, it is a first step towards peace. But this enthusiasm will be short-lived.

Three weeks after our shoot, the mayor will be the victim of an attack. That day, he received at the town hall, the Haut representative of the United Nations, for Somalia, James Swan. The Shebab terrorists are taking advantage of this ceremony to launch a kamikaze attack.

A bomb explodes in the party room. The attack leaves six people dead. The United Nations representative narrowly escapes the attack, but the mayor, seriously injured, is evacuated to Qatar to be treated there.

He died from his injuries a week later. National funerals are organized. The person responsible for the attack is this blind woman.

For more than two years, Mariam was one of the collaborators, closest to the city mayor. But from the Shebab territories, she was also a sleeper agent infiltrator of the terrorist organization. She was the one who wore the explosive vest.

She died in the attack. After weeks of negotiations, we managed to enter in contact with a former Shebab. Appointment is made in an anonymous house in the city center.

Good morning. I am happy to meet you. Married and father of two children, he tells us he was enlisted by force in the ranks of the d****, when they took control of his region.

According to him, the Shebabs infiltrated all strata of society. They live in town. We cannot recognize them but some are armed with pistols.

Are they everywhere in Mogadishu? Yes, they are everywhere in Mogadishu. There are spies who collect important information.

There are also those who collect racketeering money. Even ministers and deputies must pay them. They are stronger than the government?

Of course they are stronger. They have suicide bombers, and a person ready to die is stronger than anyone. In 2015, he left the Shebabs and is became an informant for the government.

Since then, his life has been under constant threat. To prevent the Shebabs from acting Mogadishu, the police forces must, lock permanently access to the city. Mohamed J**** is at the head of an elite unit.

He leads a hundred men trained by the US Army. Our objective is to go and control, entry points and exit from Mogadishu. There are also checkpoints on the road to be inspected.

Come on, get out! Head to the south of the city. According to intelligence services, the Shebabs are said to be active there.

In working-class neighborhoods, police checks are less frequent, then they are regularly the target of deadly attacks. Posted at a crossroads, the police control each vehicle. We are looking for weapons and explosives in cars, and we search the passengers.

The searches are carried out with bare hands, at the risk of triggering explosive devices. We carry out excavations surprises in the neighborhoods. But we lack equipment to be able to detect explosives.

That reassures me that there are all these controls. Just yesterday, there was an attack here. It is important to be able to secure the neighborhood.

The patrol leaves. On the road, the police pay attention. As seen in this video, law enforcement officers are regularly the target of car bomb attacks.

When our convoy cross this suburb, the police spot a car parked on the side of the road. She has no business being there. The police immediately put the driver plays.

False alarm this time. We are heading towards the zone the most dangerous in the region. Fifteen kilometers away south of Mogadishu, there is no front line, but we enter Shebab territory.

This road is the door entry to Mogadishu. The security services installed there the most protected checkpoint in the city. Most people passing this way, come from the Shebab areas.

We search everyone because there are inevitably Shebabs among them. If we find weapons or bombs, the holders are arrested. This is the first checkpoint at the entrance to the city of Mogadishu.

Here, danger is omnipresent, and attacks can occur at any time. This truck hid weapons and explosives. It was spotted and destroyed a few weeks ago.

More recently, it's a car bomb who tried to force their way. He was stopped at the checkpoint, when we approached to control the driver, the car exploded. The pulverized carcass of the car is still there, like a symbol.

The police chose to keep the traces of this attack. Look, This is the policeman's bulletproof vest who tried to stop him. It's all that's left of him.

We will never forget it. A little away, a bunker was improvised based cement blocks and sheet metal. Inside, an agent intelligence services.

His only weapon, a laptop, which contains photos of suspects transmitted by informants. Everyone who passes through here is registered. We record everything.

We have the identities of individuals and car registrations. That day, the computer speaks. During a search at the checkpoint, a young man is recognized by the police.

Chief, he looks to someone who is on file. I am told that he is known to our services because we have a report concerning him. We will investigate him.

We think he is part of the Shebab. So we take him away from the crowd and we will lead a series of checks. The young man will be transferred directly at Mogadishu central prison.

In the heart of the city. This building is more than two centuries old. It houses one of the oldest African prisons.

It locks up criminals and terrorists the most dangerous in the country. Mainly shebabs. For the first time, a camera television is allowed, in this prison complex.

700 prisoners are incarcerated there. The director gives us a tour. Most of the prisoners who are here are murderers.

It is not safe to go see them. Some of the detainees are barely twelve years old. Get out of here !

Return to your cell, you dog! Back off! Hide at the back of the cell.

How many is there prisoners per cell? It depends. 30, 40, 50.

It depends on the number of beds that is in each cell. The director finally accepts to open one of the cells for us. Go to your beds.

That each of prisoners go to their bed. An inmate addresses us, all smiles. We will learn later that he just threatened us with death, if we enter the cell.

A supervisor leads the way. He doesn't carry a weapon to avoid theft, and reduce the risk of mutiny. Most prisoners are sentenced to sentences exceeding fifteen years.

It's over 40 degrees in the cell. There is only one toilet for more than 30 prisoners. We won't have time to ask questions.

You have to leave quickly. Crowded cells, no running water. A United Nations report denounces conditions of detention in this prison.

The director takes advantage of our coming, to show us the new programs of reintegration that he put in place. In this part of the prison, voluntary prisoners can work in different workshops. There are ironworkers who repair the prison beds.

In the carpentry workshop, prisoners build windows, but also rifles made of fake wood. They serve for military parades. Most people did part of the shebabs.

There are also thieves and rapists. And there are those who don't have did not respect their parents. Some of them work here for several years.

They earn $2 a day, that they can touch upon their release from prison. I was a Shebab militiaman. I've been in prison for ten years and I still have three left.

But today I am a specialist zigzag stitching. And I would like to do this job leaving prison. This classroom is integrated into the prison.

These ex-militiamen passed this year at the equivalent of CM1 level. Sarah and Mariam are two friends. They are enrolled in a school of their neighborhood.

But this morning, Maryam is worried because Sarah didn't come to school. Did you know how to read before prison? No.

No way. Never school? No, no school.

I want to learn English to become a translator, If God wills. The pride of the director, it’s the big orchestra. Police officers and prisoners play music together, under the leadership from a chef from Kenya.

On the xylophone, a veteran d**** in prison for five years. It was my dream to become a musician. So I took this opportunity as soon as I had the chance.

Our goal is to change the mentality of the prisoners. We want to make them different people so that they can reintegrate. These reintegration programs are funded by donors from all over the world.

The international community pays nearly 2 billion euros each year, in humanitarian aid. But almost half of this money does not arrive at its destination. For safety reasons, major international organizations, are grouped around from Mogadishu airport, by the seaside.

An ultra-secure area looking like an impregnable fortress, very difficult to access, and that expatriates almost never leave. We have a rendez vous in this UN camp, which houses 2000 civil servants international. Justin Brady is responsible for helping humanitarian for more than ten years.

Each building is reinforced to be able to withstand mortar fire. If shots came now, we have provided concrete shelters reinforced to protect us. This base was attacked several times in recent months, so the UN must invest a lot for the protection of its employees.

Almost half of its budget. The first expense is security. This is why our operating costs are among the highest in the world.

An armored vehicle is good more expensive than a normal car. I have to provide my staff with headsets and bulletproof vests. Our expenses in Somalia are much higher than elsewhere.

How much does that represent? 30, 40% of the budget? I do not know exactly, but it is very expensive.

Expatriates who live in these entrenched camps all win, more than €8,000 per month. To attract them, you have to offer them a minimum of comfort. They travel in armored cars, they fly in a private plane.

Operating costs which cut by more than 60%, the amounts available for the Somalis. So on the ground, the results don't see each other much, like in this maternity from the center of Mogadishu, for thousands of women, it is the only free solution for give birth in a medical facility. It is financed by Action Against Hunger, a French NGO presents in Somalia since 1992.

There are only three midwives only for 140 consultations, and around ten deliveries per day, performed in an unsanitary room. For childbirth, we have sterile gloves, protective glasses and also masks. No epidurals here.

The rooms are overcrowded, and women leave maternity ward Just 24 hours after giving birth. The association does not have the means to afford the services of a doctor. Consultations are guaranteed by nurses.

In the most complicated cases, Their only help is than this little medical manual. This is the Somali guide medical treatment. He helps us when needed.

For example, he explains to us how to prescribe medication, but also the support pregnant women, cholera, or how to make vaccines. There is also the description of certain STDs. In Somalia, one in ten babies dies at birth.

The lack of resources of medical NGOs, often has dramatic consequences. When the Somalis call help is often too late. Abdelkader Haden is a trained dentist.

He created this association ambulances more than 30 years ago, at the start of the civil war. It's the only one in town. We have around twenty ambulances.

They are old. They date from 98-99. The vehicles come from abroad.

Their equipment is very basic. There is oxygen. And a first aid kit.

This is really basic equipment. It's old, but it's better than nothing. The association employs drivers, nurses, but again, no doctors.

It is the dentist who trains his employees the basics of first aid. This is our campus in which we train future nurses. This Friday morning, there are no classes.

There's someone sleeping here. Aamin Ambulance leads twenty interventions per day. Every time a question of life or death.

We have an emergency in the north of the city. We need to transfer a patient to a clinic. We have no further information.

We'll see once we get there. They were called in a small dispensary to take care of, a little girl of four years old. She has been treated for a week and his condition worsened.

The employees are completely overwhelmed. The little girl is taken away towards the only hospital in the city, which has a pediatric department. His mother and uncle accompany him.

We don't know what she's suffering from. The doctors didn't tell us anything. No one at the dispensary made it to make a diagnosis.

We can't wait to arrive to the hospital so that she could finally be treated. We pray to God for that she heals, but we know that she is in great pain. In the ambulance, no care is provided.

On arrival, it is too late. The girl died during the journey. The mother, overcome by shock, is unconscious.

Later, the family will be taken home, outside Mogadishu, in this refugee camp looking like a shantytown, where millions of Somalis live who fled the Shebab territories. The child will be buried the same day, as tradition dictates. It was God who wanted that I lose my child.

May God ease my pain. I did everything for my child. I tried everything to keep him alive.

But unfortunately its time had arrived. I thank God in moments of misfortune as in moments of happiness. Diseases, poverty, malnutrition, unsanitary conditions.

Billions in international aid seem to change nothing, partly because of widespread corruption. Since 2008, the NGO Transparency International, has always classified Somalia as the most corrupt country in the world. According to a Somali minister, Only 30% of aid arrives on the ground, and no controls are put in place.

Presidential elections take place this month of February 2021. The future president will be elected by parliamentarians from the clans. The Somali people will not have still not have a say.