‘The fear was immense’: al-Shabaab exploits fragmented politics to reclaim land in Somalia

With Islamist militant group 40km from Mogadishu, a ‘strategic stalemate’ has been reached, but some fear worst is yet to come

One night in early July, Maryan Abdikadir Geedi decided it was finally time to abandon her small shop in the town of Moqokori in the Hiiraan region of Somalia.

Though she had heard of the rapid recent gains made by al-Shabaab, the Islamist militant movement, the 46-year-old had hoped to stay. Since getting married in 2013, Geedi had seen control over Moqokori change hands repeatedly.

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