Earlier this year, President Trump declared parts of Somalia a warzone. Since then, the U.S. has conducted dozens of drone strikes trying to stop a ruthless terrorist group that’s killed hundreds.
A brutal civil war followed by al-Shabab’s bombing campaign has left a city in ruins. Despite this, there is a semblance of normality in parts of Somalia’s capital Mogadishu.
because CBS News was not allowed to film there — are the roadblocks on almost every street manned either by government security forces, clan militia or private guards.
Filming in Mogadishu is still difficult: There are roadblocks everywhere, and CBS News crews were always surrounded by armed police and even arrested on one occasion.
The arrest lasted only five hours but underscores the point that even with official permission and all the right documentation – Somalia is unpredictable.
Even in a city that is no stranger to death and destruction, the most recently October 14 vehicle bomb killed over 500 people was on a scale never before seen here.
And now there is a new security nightmare: The laptop bomb that al-Shabab continues to try and perfect.
In CCTV footage, two men are shown entering the airport. One is carrying a laptop, and he slips the computer to the bomber. The man was the head of Mogadishu’s airport security at the time.