| Title | : | Out of Mogadishu: A memoir of the Somali Civil War in 1991 |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | - |
| Publication | : | Published February 8, 2016 |
Out of Mogadishu is a beautifully written memoir about the time when Somalia’ civil war shifted towards large-scale clan-based violence against civilians and regime collapse. It is the story of the decline of Somali nationalism, the rise of tribalism and missed opportunities to avert the 1991 Somali Civil War.
The memoir represents what the author saw and thought during the chaotic time period between 26 December 1990 (just before Somalia’s capital city became completely engulfed in the fighting), and 16 January 1991 (when he, now himself a likely target of the clan-based violence, felt obliged to leave everything behind and embark on a journey “out of Mogadishu” to safety). It was not until 11 days after his departure, on 27 January 1991, that the hated military regime (1969-1991) would fall and that the clan-based violence whose chaotic beginnings the author witnessed would reach new heights in Mogadishu and sweep back out of the capital towards south and south central Somalia.
What makes this book accessible and important to both Somali and non-Somali readers is the way in which the author interweaves his vivid and moving description of daily events – his visit to a neighborhood market, violent events he witnesses at a local mosque, dead bodies he saw in the street, and conversations he held with his brother, the Egyptian ambassador, women selling tomatoes in the market, his wife, friends, and so forth – with important analytical insights into the historical background and political context of these fateful weeks.
The author does not blame only one set of Somali political leaders but holds successive sets of them responsible for the developments that preceded and eventually helped produce the events of January 1991, For those events themselves he blames both the last-ditch defenders of the dying military regime (1969-1991) and the leadership of the armed front that played the leading role in liberating Mogadishu from that regime. However, as the fall of the regime created a long-awaited political opening, the leaders of this armed front, instead of bringing Somalis together and proposing a unity government, incited their followers to attack ordinary Somali people not because of any political involvement with the regime but only because they belonged to a particular set of clan backgrounds. It was this clan-based violence that claimed the author’s own brother and brother’s son. However, other kinds of violence, such as political violence perpetrated by associates of the regime, random looting, and violence by unknown actors are also chronicled in this memoir.
In spite of his personal losses, Yusuf Haid succeeds in writing an account that is both personal and impartial, and both frank and balanced. It impresses with the power of its direct, unadorned, sometimes understated description of daily events at a moment of great uncertainly, political and social disintegration, and ever-increasing and increasingly senseless violence.
Some readers may regret that the story comes to an abrupt end with the author’s departure from Mogadishu, leaving them in the dark about how the author fared as he fled Somalia in the rising flood of other Somalis fleeing for their lives. However, one may argue that this memoir’s power lies precisely in the sharpness of focus and the emotional restraint with which its depicts the enormous sense of devastation that dawned on the author and many other Somalis in January 1991.
Written for Somalis who are growing up far removed in time (and often place) from the events of January 1991, as well as the general non-Somali reader, this is a book that is as accessible as it is informative. It is a must read for anyone who wants to understand the historical trauma Somalis are working so hard to overcome.
The memoir represents what the author saw and thought during the chaotic time period between 26 December 1990 (just before Somalia’s capital city became completely engulfed in the fighting), and 16 January 1991 (when he, now himself a likely target of the clan-based violence, felt obliged to leave everything behind and embark on a journey “out of Mogadishu” to safety). It was not until 11 days after his departure, on 27 January 1991, that the hated military regime (1969-1991) would fall and that the clan-based violence whose chaotic beginnings the author witnessed would reach new heights in Mogadishu and sweep back out of the capital towards south and south central Somalia.
What makes this book accessible and important to both Somali and non-Somali readers is the way in which the author interweaves his vivid and moving description of daily events – his visit to a neighborhood market, violent events he witnesses at a local mosque, dead bodies he saw in the street, and conversations he held with his brother, the Egyptian ambassador, women selling tomatoes in the market, his wife, friends, and so forth – with important analytical insights into the historical background and political context of these fateful weeks.
The author does not blame only one set of Somali political leaders but holds successive sets of them responsible for the developments that preceded and eventually helped produce the events of January 1991, For those events themselves he blames both the last-ditch defenders of the dying military regime (1969-1991) and the leadership of the armed front that played the leading role in liberating Mogadishu from that regime. However, as the fall of the regime created a long-awaited political opening, the leaders of this armed front, instead of bringing Somalis together and proposing a unity government, incited their followers to attack ordinary Somali people not because of any political involvement with the regime but only because they belonged to a particular set of clan backgrounds. It was this clan-based violence that claimed the author’s own brother and brother’s son. However, other kinds of violence, such as political violence perpetrated by associates of the regime, random looting, and violence by unknown actors are also chronicled in this memoir.
In spite of his personal losses, Yusuf Haid succeeds in writing an account that is both personal and impartial, and both frank and balanced. It impresses with the power of its direct, unadorned, sometimes understated description of daily events at a moment of great uncertainly, political and social disintegration, and ever-increasing and increasingly senseless violence.
Some readers may regret that the story comes to an abrupt end with the author’s departure from Mogadishu, leaving them in the dark about how the author fared as he fled Somalia in the rising flood of other Somalis fleeing for their lives. However, one may argue that this memoir’s power lies precisely in the sharpness of focus and the emotional restraint with which its depicts the enormous sense of devastation that dawned on the author and many other Somalis in January 1991.
Written for Somalis who are growing up far removed in time (and often place) from the events of January 1991, as well as the general non-Somali reader, this is a book that is as accessible as it is informative. It is a must read for anyone who wants to understand the historical trauma Somalis are working so hard to overcome.
