'The fear was immense' Al-Shabaab exploits weak state in Somalia advance

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

- Mohamed Gabobe Mogadishu Jason Burke

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. “Just like how the rain comes and goes, so does control over Moqokori, but this time it was different,” Geedi said.

Since launching their offensive in February, al-Shabaab has swept through a swath of Somalia, taking back all the territory it lost to a coalition of government forces and allied tribal militias backed by US and Turkish air support in 2023, and adding more. In July, fighting was within 25 miles of Mogadishu. Some observers predicted the capital might fall.