Awdheegle (Somalia) (AFP) – Roughly 35 kilometres outside Mogadishu, the Somalian capital, the strategic town of Awdheegle — or what’s left of it — is symbolic of the country’s ongoing battle with Al-Shabaab, an Al-Qaeda-linked militant group. Awdheegle was recaptured from the group less than seven weeks ago and, like many other settlements in the area, lies in ruins. Hundreds of towns and villages have changed hands during years of fighting, passing between army control and militant occupation. “Our houses were destroyed, our rations burnt,” says Ruqiya Cumar, a resident of one such town. “Everything we had was destroyed.”
