UN reopens Mogadishu office

The United Nations on Tuesday re-opened its political office in Somalia's capital Mogadishu after a 17-year absence - a move that reflects gains made against Islamist insurgent group al-Shabaab. “I sincerely hope that the arrival of the UN Political Office will mark the start of renewed hope for the future of Somalia,” said the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Augustine P Mahiga. “Being in Mogadishu will allow us to work far more closely with the Transitional Federal Institutions, the UN agencies and NGOs already based here, civil society and ordinary Somalis,” he added. The Somali government has been lobbying for the UN to begin relocating operations from the Kenyan capital Nairobi, where Mahiga and his office were based. The last special representative left Mogadishu in 1995 as the country headed deeper into chaos prompted by the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre. Conflicts between warlords blighted the city until early 2007, when al-Shabaab, which is linked to al-Qaeda, began a concerted insurgency in response to an Ethiopia occupation. Tens of thousands of people have died in a conflict that turned Mogadishu into one of the world's most dangerous cities. However, the African Union peacekeeping mission, known as AMISOM, in August succeeded in driving al-Shabaab's forces out of most of Mogadishu. “Without the incredible efforts and sacrifice of the troops from Somalia and other African countries, we would not be here today,” Mahiga said. The insurgents have continued to launch hit-and-run attacks on the Ugandan and Burundian forces, and have also conducted a campaign of bombings and assassinations, but the daily diet of bullets and mortar shells has faded. Al-Shabaab is also facing pressure from Kenyan, Ethiopian and pro-government forces in the areas it controls outside the city. Yet the group is battling fiercely the forces ranged against it. On Tuesday, al-Shabaab said it had launched a suicide attack against an Ethiopian base in Beledweyne, claiming it killed 33. There was no independent confirmation of the casualties, and all sides in the conflict are renowned for issuing inflated figures in their favour.