Young Somalis in Mogadishu seek normality despite Al-Shabaab threat
A report from Mogadishu shows young Somalis reclaiming beaches and cultural spaces, with residents saying the city feels safer even as Al-Shabaab remains a threat.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
Mogadishu, Somalia - Young Somalis in Mogadishu are trying to reclaim ordinary life in a city long shaped by war, hunger and militant attacks. A rare look inside the Somali capital shows artists, photographers and residents taking back public spaces and reviving the country's musical and artistic heritage. The push for normality comes as Al-Shabaab remains a serious security threat and the city stays deeply divided.
About 70% of Somalia's population is under 24, and young people are driving a rebrand. Somali Kenyan photographer Ferdowsa Hessen moved to Mogadishu nine years ago and built a creative space with other artists who want to reimagine their country. She said Western media coverage of Somalia is skewed.
The capital is a historic port town that has endured cycles of civil war and countless terror attacks. Its streets hold crumbling buildings punctured by bullets and battered by bombs, standing next to new structures from a building boom. Residents say the city has never felt safer. This year, the conflict monitoring group ACLED recorded the lowest number of fatalities from Al-Shabaab attacks since the group formed in 2006.
Al-Shabaab can still move in and out of areas on the edges of Mogadishu. The group has operated in Somalia for 20 years and pledged allegiance to Al-Qaeda in 2012. Its name means "the youth", reflecting its mass recruitment of boys and young men drawn in by jihadist ideology and the presence of foreign troops. A former commander called Ali said he left the group three months ago, 18 years after he was recruited at 15. He described operations targeting the government and its partners. Civilians may be killed, he said, but the stated objective was not them. Al-Shabaab believes civilians killed as collateral damage will go to heaven, he added.
Lido Beach, the most famous beach in Somalia and a beloved landmark on the eastern coast, shows both the threat and the refusal to surrender normal life. Al-Shabaab has attacked the beach at least five times in the last ten years. The most recent incident, in August 2024, was a suicide bombing that killed at least 32 people and wounded more than 60. The beach is now full again with young and old people. One swimmer said swimming was a remedy and brought a lot of happiness.
Taken together, the picture is of a city with many layers: calm and chaos, fear and everyday pleasure. For many residents, Mogadishu remains a place they lovingly call home.
On screen
Stills are sampled automatically at 60-second intervals. Where shown, the still is the nearest available frame from the relevant broadcast segment and is included to show what was on screen during that part of the broadcast. A still may not correspond to the exact second of a quoted phrase.
Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, grouped by how many channels reported each one. Select a dot to see the source excerpt.
| Claim |  |
|---|---|
| Only on one channel | |
| A suicide bombing at Lido Beach in August 2024 killed at least 32 people and wounded more than 60. | |
| ACLED recorded the lowest number of fatalities from Al-Shabaab attacks since the group formed in 2006. | |
| Around 70% of Somalia's population is estimated to be under 24 years old. | |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
Sky News gave the story a rare-access, human-centred treatment. It led with young Somalis reclaiming public life and cultural heritage, but balanced the optimism with detailed security reporting, including a former Al-Shabaab commander and the Lido Beach attack. The tone was hopeful but cautious, stressing that Mogadishu remains divided and dangerous.
- “To be very honest, the Western media has a very skewed picture of Somalia specifically.”
- “Civilians are killed in hotels like Lido. Before you do an operation, you make intelligence, you gather information, then when the operations become active, the target is the government and its partners.”
- “This is Mogadishu, with all its layers and all its phases, in calm and in chaos, a place people lovingly call home.”
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.