I was in the Somali capital two years ago and every night, just before the call to prayer signaled the breaking of the fast, we'd hear a cacophony of mortar rounds and gunfights.
Somali friends told me back then the militants believed dying in battle while still fasting would ensure they "entered heaven without even taking their shoes off."
This year Al-Shabaab's grip on the capital and the loyalty of Somalis feels more tenuous. Since I was last here in 2009 the rains have failed and the drought has spread bringing with it famine and desperation.
Ramadan strike launched in Somalia
Al-Shabaab insists that the famine crippling their families and communities is a "crusader" invention -- an excuse for occupation. For al-Shabaab, the crusader term can apply to anyone opposing them and can include the U.N., international aid groups and the African Union.
Even as crops withered and livestock starved, Al-Shabaab kept its ban on aid groups operating in territory it controls in Southern and Central Somalia, and parts of the capital.
Crisis in East Africa
Somalia refugees await relief Explain it to me: Ramadan
That's when people began defying them and making their way -- many walking for days -- to the capital, Mogadishu.
The drought is Somalia's worst in 60 years and the U.N. refugee agency estimates 1.5 million Somalis have arrived in the capital.
Meanwhile, African Union intelligence sources say Al-Shabaab is massing hundreds of troops in the parts of Mogadishu it controls for a show of force during Ramadan, which began Monday.
The migrants have made their way to the areas of the capital controlled by the African Union forces supporting the fragile Somali Transitional Federal Government.
Even that is not enough to guarantee their safety.
We met Faiza and her three-year-old daughter, Hanim, in the ward of an AU clinic.
After Hanim recovered from the malnutrition that first brought her to the clinic a month ago, her mother told us, she was readmitted a week later for surgery to remove a stray bullet.
But Al-Shabaab, which has regularly operated from civilian areas, has been left militarily exposed as the civilians flee from them. Without the civilians for cover Al-Shabaab is more at risk from a military offensive.
Perhaps realizing that, they've tried to target the displacement camps in the capital -- an attempt to scare people into returning home.
For now that tactic isn't working but it has raised concern among U.N. agencies at the potential risk posed by Al-Shabaab to jeopardize aid deliveries.
Some people here now see Al-Shabaab as the architects of this famine. One man we met in a camp said: "Nature is always cruel but Al-Shabaab are the real killers."
The last time I was here, the AU controlled just the sea port, airport and State House. Today it also controls eight of the 17 districts that make up Mogadishu.
COMMENT:
They're hoping these successes will convince the world that Somalia is not a lost cause. Most importantly Finally secure some much needed support before it's too late. Let´s pray for them.
NEWS 2 Report: Venezuela could release up to 40% of its prisoners
(CNN) -- Venezuela's new prisons minister believes that 40% of the country's inmates do not belong behind bars, the El Nacional newspaper reported.
The newspaper published an interview with Iris Varela on Sunday, in which she outlined her vision to fix the country's overcrowded prison system.
"Of the country's 50,000 prisoners, 20,000 should be out of jail," she told El Nacional.
"There are people in prisons who do not pose a danger to society," she said. "(They) can pay for their crimes outside of prison."
Officials will begin work this week determining which of the country's inmates should be allowed to go, though residents can be sure authorities will not let "wolves loose on the streets," the newspaper reported Varela as saying.
Varela became head of the country's correctional services last month, partly in response to a prison standoff that garnered worldwide attention.
Inmates at the Rodeo II prison in Venezuela, who had been in a 27-day standoff with the national guard, abandoned the building and turned themselves over to authorities July 13.
The government claimed that a small group of prisoners at the Rodeo II prison -- about 50 out of 1,000 -- were hostile to the national guard and gave resistance to any raid, basically keeping the other inmates captive. Authorities successfully raided the neighboring Rodeo I prison, where they seized dozens of weapons, as well as drugs and cell phones.
At least 25 people died at the prison complex, located in the northern state of Miranda.
Violence in overcrowded Venezuelan prisons is not uncommon.
According to the Venezuelan Prisons Observatory, a watchdog group, 124 people died in Venezuelan prisons during the first three months of this year. That figure does not include the latest outbreak of violence and represents a 22% increase over the 102 people who died during the same period a year ago, the group said.
"You have a jail made for 600 people, but 2,000 people are there. And on visiting day, another 2,000 people arrive," Varela told El Nacional. "It's crazy and we're going to fix it."
COMMENT: THIS SHOULD BE SOMETHING RELATED WITH THE CORRUPCY IN THE COUNTRY OF THE PRESIDENT HUGO CHAVEZ, I THINK HE MIGHT
(CNN) -- Venezuela's new prisons minister believes that 40% of the country's inmates do not belong behind bars, the El Nacional newspaper reported.
The newspaper published an interview with Iris Varela on Sunday, in which she outlined her vision to fix the country's overcrowded prison system.
"Of the country's 50,000 prisoners, 20,000 should be out of jail," she told El Nacional.
"There are people in prisons who do not pose a danger to society," she said. "(They) can pay for their crimes outside of prison."
Officials will begin work this week determining which of the country's inmates should be allowed to go, though residents can be sure authorities will not let "wolves loose on the streets," the newspaper reported Varela as saying.
Varela became head of the country's correctional services last month, partly in response to a prison standoff that garnered worldwide attention.
Inmates at the Rodeo II prison in Venezuela, who had been in a 27-day standoff with the national guard, abandoned the building and turned themselves over to authorities July 13.
The government claimed that a small group of prisoners at the Rodeo II prison -- about 50 out of 1,000 -- were hostile to the national guard and gave resistance to any raid, basically keeping the other inmates captive. Authorities successfully raided the neighboring Rodeo I prison, where they seized dozens of weapons, as well as drugs and cell phones.
At least 25 people died at the prison complex, located in the northern state of Miranda.
Violence in overcrowded Venezuelan prisons is not uncommon.
According to the Venezuelan Prisons Observatory, a watchdog group, 124 people died in Venezuelan prisons during the first three months of this year. That figure does not include the latest outbreak of violence and represents a 22% increase over the 102 people who died during the same period a year ago, the group said.
"You have a jail made for 600 people, but 2,000 people are there. And on visiting day, another 2,000 people arrive," Varela told El Nacional. "It's crazy and we're going to fix it."
COMMENT: THIS SHOULD BE SOMETHING RELATED WITH THE CORRUPCY IN THE COUNTRY OF THE PRESIDENT HUGO CHAVEZ, I THINK HE MIGHT
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