MOGADISHU: Strolling along the beach northeast of the Somali capital Mogadishu, Mudey Mohamed cannot recall enjoying the Eidul Fitr festival so much.
For the past 15 years, Mohamed and his family would celebrate the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramazan indoors, too scared of warlord militiamen to go outside.
But the gunmen who used to extort money from terrified residents at checkpoints, sometimes killing them, have disappeared — chased away by Islamist forces who seized Mogadishu in June.
While some Somalis criticise the capital’s new rulers for being too strict, many credit them for using sharia law to bring a degree of stability to a city, once a byword for anarchy.
“We would celebrate Eid indoors during the warlords’ time. It was impossible to go out and enjoy the holiday,” Mohamed said while walking on Lido beach with his three children.
“Life was hell on earth under the warlords’ reign. You cannot compare it to the Islamists’ rule now,” the sailor added. “Before we could not come to the beach with our children clad in new clothes for fear of the militia stripping them naked.”
Hundreds of Somalis quietly shopped in Mogadishu’s battle-scarred streets on Monday, buying presents and biscuits, saying they had never celebrated Eid in such tranquility.
Like Mohamed, many flocked to Lido beach to swim and play soccer on its powdery white sand. Children pretended to shoot one another with toy pistols.
“This is the first time that me and my family have come to the beach and yet we live in Mogadishu,” said Abdikadir Osman.
Holding his baby girl as his wife and two other children splashed in the warm Indian Ocean waters, Osman said petty offences had become increasingly rare under Islamist rule.
“I have parked my car far and left it, but no one will touch it,” he said. “We’ve really enjoyed this Eid. Peace is really good.”
However, a few Somalis complained that the Islamists were encroaching on their liberty, saying the group’s troops could often be found patrolling the long beach, whipping people judged to be behaving immorally.
“The Islamic troops occasionally lash people found misbehaving on the beach. They don’t want to see a man and woman making love here,” 15 year-old Ifrah Mohamed said.—Reuters
