• Somalia marks one year since Islamist militants were driven out of Mogadishu

    Abdurashid Abdulle Abikar / AFP - Getty Images

    Somalis celebrate during a ceremony to mark the first anniversary of terror group Al-Shabab's withdrawal from Mogadishu at Konis Stadium in the north of the capital on Aug. 6, 2012. Somali president Sheikh Shrif Sheikh Ahmed attended the ceremony and declared the day a national day to be called 'Peace day' and marked each year.

    Dai Kurokawa / EPA reports — On Aug. 6 Somalia marked one year since African Union and Somali government forces drove out the hardline Islamist militants al-Shabab from the capital Mogadishu. Life has been returning to normal for many Mogadishu residents since al-Shabab left the city. However, the change is fragile and the Islamist fighters, who control much of the country's southern area, remain a great threat to the stability of the capital. The population of Somali refugees reached more than one million last month according to The United Nations Refugee Agency. Read More

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    Dai Kurokawa / EPA

    Dock workers carry bags of imported cement at a seaport in Mogadishu, Somalia on Aug. 6.

    Dai Kurokawa / EPA

    Twelve-year-old Yusuf Abdrahaman lies on a stretcher as he waits to be transported to another clinic in Mogadishu, Somalia on Aug. 6. Abdrahaman was injured when a wall collapsed on him while playing outside.

    Reuters

    A Burundian soldier serving with the African Union Mission in Somalia patrols in an armed personnel carrier in Mogadishu on Aug. 6.

    Stuart Price / EPA

    The Mogadishu fishing harbor stands in Somalia on Aug. 6.

    Dai Kurokawa / EPA

    Somali women wait to receive treatment at the outpatient clinic run by the African Union in Mogadishu on Aug. 6.

    Dai Kurokawa / EPA

    African Union soldiers from Uganda play a board game as they rest at their camp in Mogadishu, Somalia on Aug. 6.

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  • African Union forces intensify attack on al Shabaab rebels in Somalia

    Stuart Price / African Union-United Nations Support Team via Reuters

    A tank with the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) advances as a battle group prepares to cross an area of bushland in the west of Deynile, north-west of the Somali capital Mogadishu on May 23, 2012.

    Stuart Price / African Union-United Nations Support Team via EPA

    Ugandan soldiers serving with AMISOM walk through a thicket on May 23, 2012 as a battle group crosses bushland west of Deynile.

    Reuters reports — African Union and Somali government troops stepped up their assault on al Shabaab militants in the northern outskirts of Mogadishu on Wednesday, forcing hundreds of families to flee their makeshift homes and head for the city center.

    The AU force, which already controls most of the capital, is trying to advance through the Afgoye corridor, once a rural area northwest of Mogadishu but now home to hundreds of thousands of Somalis uprooted from their homes.

    Al Shabaab still controls swathes of central and southern Somalia but is being gradually squeezed out of its strongholds by Kenyan and Ethiopian troops who have launched their own incursions into Somalia, and is being pushed out of Mogadishu by AU forces. Read the full story.

    Stuart Price / African Union-United Nations Support Team via AFP - Getty Images

    A Ugandan soldier serving with AMISOM runs for cover during a firefight on May 23, 2012 west of Deynile.

    Mohamed Abdiwahab / AFP - Getty Images

    Civilians flee Afgoye, site of the world's largest displaced people's camp, as African Union and Somali government troops pushed forward their assault on al Shabaab on May 23, 2012.

    Stuart Price / African Union-United Nations Support Team via AFP - Getty Images

    AMISOM soldiers stand in front of an armored personel carrier on May 22, 2012, during a joint AMISOM and Somali National Army (SNA) operation to seize and liberate territory from al Shabaab in the Afgoye region west of Mogadishu.