• Hacked arms and legs display the despair of Somalia

    As world leaders meet to discuss Somalia, there is evidence of a growing threat to the U.K. from the war torn country's militant group al-Shabab. NBC's  Rohit Kachroo reports. 

    By Rohit Kachroo , NBC News correspondent

    NAIROBI, Kenya – Staring directly at me with glazed eyes were two young men whose anguish says so much about the pure evil of al-Shabab, the Somali Islamic militant group.

    The pair had escaped from Mogadishu, the Somali capital. One of them was a 19-year-old who, as a boy, was accused of stealing a piece of bread. He lifted the dangling sleeve of his shirt to reveal the punishment dealt out by his accusers, a group of al-Shabab fighters: His hand had been cut off. Not only that, but one foot had been cut away, too.

    Sitting next to him was a baby-faced 21-year-old. He was a lowly laborer who was accused of being a senior government spy. He was told that he had “spoken too much,” so a militant henchman sliced away part of his tongue. Today he struggles to speak. To shield another wound, on his neck, he wears a dirty bandage which hasn’t been changed for the past week because his family cannot afford medical treatment. Without such help, his father told me, he is unlikely to live for more than two months. (The names of the two men are being withheld to prevent reprisals against them.)

    Sadly, these types of atrocities are typical of al-Shabab. It is the reality faced by those unlucky enough to live in the lawless areas of
    Somalia that they control. Somalia has been without a functioning central government since 1991.

    Worryingly, the Somali insurgents formally merged with al-Qaida this month.

    World leaders pledge help
    On Thursday, international leaders, including the U.K.’s Prime Minister David Cameron, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, met in London to try to address the multiple problems faced by Somalia, arguably the planet’s most anarchic state.

    A local attempt at a reproduction of the British flag is pictured flying in the southern area of Mogadishu on Thursday. Hundreds of police and security personnel were deployed in Mogadishu's streets ahead of a high level London conference on Somalia's security situation.

    "For two decades Somalia has been torn apart by famine, bloodshed and some of the worst poverty on earth," Cameron said at the conference. "If the rest of us just sit back and look on, we will pay a price for doing so," he added.

    Cameron warned that Somalia's al-Qaida linked militant group al-Shabab could export terrorism to Europe and the United States, with dozens of British and American citizens traveling to Somalia to train and fight with the Islamists.

    Piracy, kidnappings, extremism, foreign infiltration and hunger. It is difficult to know where to start. Which of these many problems should take priority?

    Biggest threat? Foreign fighters
    I asked the Mayor of Mogadishu, Mohamed Ahmed Noor, a popular and optimistic man who returned to his native land after spending many years running an internet café in north London.

    “It’s the foreign fighters” he said.

    According to estimates, there are as many as 200 foreign nationals fighting with al-Shabab in Somalia. One former insurgent, currently in hiding, recently told me that he was certain that Americans had traveled to Somalia to fight with the militants, and that he personally knew of “six or seven” British fighters in the Mogadishu area who specialize in high explosives.

    Matt Dunham / AP

    British Prime Minister David Cameron, fifth left, leads the Somalia Conference at Lancaster House in London on Thursday.

    Not only do these fighters threaten Somalia. The mayor pointed out the danger of those militants returning to their own countries with terrorist techniques learned in Somalia. He believes that the Western powers need to fix this failed state or risk attacks in their own territories. “It’s a training field here so they may train here and go back…we are in the same boat,” he said. 

    At the London conference, the leaders praised some signs of progress – pirate attacks are down and al-Shabab has been mostly driven out to Mogadishu by the African Union peacekeeping mission. The leaders pledged new funding to support political and military measures to fight al-Shabab militants. They agreed to a seven-point plan vowing more aid, and help fighting terrorism and piracy.

    The people of Somalia, such as the two men I met in Kenya, are hopeful that the plan brings success and peace.

  • American hostage in Somalia rescued by US Navy SEALs in overnight raid

    The Navy SEALs caught the kidnappers by surprise, rescuing Jessica Buchanan and Poul Thisted in Somalia. NBC's Jim Miklaszewski reports.

    By Jim Miklaszewski, NBC News chief Pentagon correspondent

    Updated at 7:15 p.m. ET: Navy SEAL Team 6, the unit that killed Osama bin Laden, also rescued an American and a Dane held hostage in Somalia, U.S. officials said, but the same service members were not involved in both missions, U.S. officials said. Wednesday.

    Updated at 12:30 p.m. ET: The Navy SEALs that rescued the American and Danish hostages in Somalia on Tuesday were not the same individuals who killed Osama bin Laden, U.S. officials told NBC News, contradicting an earlier news service report.

    Published at 1:15 a.m. ET: In a daring nighttime raid Tuesday, U.S. Navy SEALs rescued two hostages, including one American, who were being held by kidnappers in Somalia, U.S. officials tell NBC News.

    American Jessica Buchanan, 32, and a 60-year-old Dane, Poul Thisted, were working for a Danish relief organization in northern Somalia when they were kidnapped last October. U.S. officials described their kidnappers as heavily armed common criminals with no known ties to any organized militant group.

    According to the U.S. officials, two teams of Navy SEALs landed by helicopter near the compound where the two hostages were being held. 

    As the SEALS approached the compound on foot gunfire broke out, the U.S. officials said, and several of the militants were reportedly killed. There is no word that any of the Americans were wounded.

    Danish Refugee Council

    Poul Hagen Thisted, a Danish national who was taken hostage in Somalia alongside American Jessica Buchanan in October 2011. The pair were freed by a U.S. Navy SEALS raid.

    The SEALs gathered up Buchanan and Thisted, loaded them onto the helicopters and flew them to safety at an undisclosed location. The two hostages were not injured during the rescue operation and are reported to be in relatively good condition.

    The two had been working for the Danish Refugee Council on a demining project in northern Somalia. The humanitarian group has been providing relief to some 450,000 refugees in the Somalia-Kenya border region.

    News reports at the time said the two were kidnapped Oct. 25 along with a Somali colleague when their three-car convoy was stopped on the way to an airport. A self-proclaimed Somali pirate said they had been kidnapped for ransom by pirates stymied by Western nations' efforts to stop the seizure of ships off the coast. The fate of the Somali colleague was unclear.    

    STORY: Second American, a writer, held in Somalia; rescue next?

    The first indication of the rescue operation came Tuesday night in Washington from President Barack Obama himself. 

    As the president entered the House chambers to give his State of the Union Speech, he pointed to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta standing in the crowd and said, "Leon. Good job tonight. Good job tonight."

    The president made no mention of the hostage rescue, but finished his speech with a reference to the killing of Osama bin Laden last May in a similar operation to the one conducted by Navy SEALs Tuesday night. 

    U.S. military forces launched a dramatic raid in Somalia that freed an American and a Dane held hostage. NBC's Jim Miklaszewski reports.

    Updated at 5:57 a.m. ET: In a statement sent to NBC News and other media, Obama says that he authorized the operation to rescue Buchanan.

    "Thanks to the extraordinary courage and capabilities of our Special Operations Forces, yesterday Jessica Buchanan was rescued and she is on her way home," he says. "As Commander-in-Chief, I could not be prouder of the troops who carried out this mission, and the dedicated professionals who supported their efforts."

    Obama, who spoke to Buchanan's father Tuesday night, says she was "selflessly serving her fellow human beings when she was taken hostage by criminals and pirates who showed no regard for her health and well-being."

    He says he told her father that "all Americans have Jessica in our thoughts and prayers, and give thanks that she will soon be reunited with her family."

    "The United States will not tolerate the abduction of our people, and will spare no effort to secure the safety of our citizens and to bring their captors to justice," Obama adds. "This is yet another message to the world that the United States of America will stand strongly against any threats to our people."

    Updated at 6:50 a.m. ET: A statement from U.S. Africa Command says U.S. forces had received "actionable intelligence" about Buchanan and Thisted and decided to take action.

    "During the course of the operation, the rescue force patrolled to the location and confirmed the presence of Mrs. Buchanan and Mr. Thisted guarded by nine captors," the statement says. "All nine captors were killed during the assault."

    General Carter F. Ham, of U.S. Africa Command, says in the statement that the raid, which took place near Gadaado, was "boldly conducted by some of our nation's most courageous, competent, and committed special operations forces."

    "Thanks to them a fellow American and her Danish co-worker are safe and will soon be home with their families," he adds.

    Updated at 6:55 a.m. ET: A statement from Panetta says he is "grateful to report that there was no loss of life or injuries to our personnel."

    He says the rescue -- "undertaken in a hostile environment" -- showed the "superb skills of courageous service members who risked their lives to save others." 

    "They are heroes and continue to inspire all of us by their bravery and service to our nation," he says.

    Updated at 10:35 a.m. ET: Pentagon officials told NBC News that they are characterizing the people who took Buchanan and Thisted hostage as "criminal suspects,"  rather than pirates. They said the U.S. military has no firm information about whether the captors were connected to pirates or an Islamic militant group like al-Shabaab.

    See more of Jim Miklaszewski's reporting on the SEALs raid tonight on NBC's Nightly News with Brian Williams.

     More from msnbc.com and NBC News:

     

  • Fun in Mogadishu? Yes, it happens

    Feisal Omar / Reuters

    Boys play at Lido beach, near the waters of the Indian Ocean, north of Somalia's capital Mogadishu on Jan. 6, 2012. Lido beach was a famous attraction before Somalia tumbled into chaos in 1991 with the ousting of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre. In the last few years, the beach was a frontline for the Islamist al Shabaab militants, who later withdrew from most parts of Mogadishu around August 2011.

    By Rohit Kachroo , NBC News

    REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK

    MOGADISHU, Somalia – I have just returned from a strangely enchanting city. It is a capital city with a chaotic charm, a coastal city with white beaches nearby and stunning architecture everywhere.

    You might be surprised to read that I am referring to Mogadishu, Somalia.

    It is quite rightly known for being one of the most dangerous places in the world, synonymous with al Qaida-inspired militants, kidnappings, roadside bombs and hunger.

    Even when al-Shabaab fighters withdrew from Mogadishu last summer and the fragile national government claimed control, many of the former battlefields were soon reclaimed by squalid camps for starving refugees.

    And pockets of violent resistance remained; two Somalis were killed when a bomb exploded at a refugee camp in the city on Thursday, minutes after a visit by journalists and officials from the United Nations.

    But look beyond the fear and bloodshed – difficult as that may be – and you can see another side to this city, a side which is largely unknown. I first saw it as I flew in on one of the few commercial flights operating in and out of the ramshackle airport.

    Beneath us, as we approached from neighboring Kenya, were sparkling seas and a stunning coastline, minutes from downtown “Mog.” It is easy to think of the potential for piracy as you look down on the waters, but it is difficult to ignore the natural beauty, too.

    Soon after landing we were quickly confronted with the flip-side: a city that has been brought low by conflict and lower still by famine.

    The famine in the Horn of Africa is forcing thousands to flee to overcrowded and under supplied camps in Mogadishu, Somali. NBC News' Rohit Kachroo reports from Mogadishu.

    Flimsy shelters have been set up by starving people in the shells of destroyed buildings. Refugees take shade from the sun beneath bullet-marked rooftops. I wondered what the city might have been like had it not been for the years of conflict, insecurity and food crises.

    We traveled around the city in a convoy with armed guards protecting us – after all, it is still an incredibly dangerous place. We made our way around the busy streets, traveling farther and for longer than would have been possible six months ago.

    We left the camps behind us and voyaged into downtown. People did not seem as consumed by danger or warfare as I had expected. They trade, they chat, they jog and they certainly smile. In fact, I was surprised by how positive they seemed given all that they have endured.

    A local told me to visit Bakaara Market, the scene of fighting in recent years but a bustling meeting place, too. He said that the liveliest gatherings are elsewhere at night-time music events. “We do everything in the evening here,” he said, though we are told that it is not yet safe enough for us to truly put that claim to the test.

    Feisal Omar / Reuters

    A man guides Somali women near Lido beach in the waters of the Indian Ocean, north of the capital Mogadishu on Jan. 6, 2012.

    Later, a woman tried to sell us some souvenirs – a T-shirt with the slogan “Beautiful Mogadishu.” I was told that tomorrow she would return with picture postcards from the city: a postcard from Mogadishu seems like such a strange idea, but it really shouldn’t.

    A visit to Mogadishu was never meant to be “normal,” and it wasn't. But perhaps this could have been an exotic, idyllic place had it not been for the manmade crises that it has endured over the decades.

    One day we might all be able to look at this city again and see the “Beautiful Mogadishu” celebrated on my new T-shirt.

    Until then, the impact of lawlessness, terrorism, starvation, poverty, hostage-takings and clan violence continues to destroy it.

  • Famine victims flock to Mogadishu

    The battlefields in Mogadishu are disappearing, but they are being reclaimed by a more deadly war against hunger. Victims from the ongoing famine in the Horn of Africa are flocking to the city for food and safety and creating makeshift refugee camps. NBC News' Rohit Kachroo reports from Mogadishu, Somalia.

  • Bridging the cultural gap in Somalia

    By Kate Snow, NBC News

    DADAAB, Kenya — I’m struck by the disparity of life on this planet.  While my own five-year-old is at summer day camp, swimming and playing, I’m sitting with 12-year-old Issa.  He’s been herding cattle since he was five.  He’s never been to school.

    He walked barefoot for 22 days to get to this camp.  His parents let him eat every other day to make what little they had last.  When we meet he’s in the International Rescue Committee hospital’s pediatric ward being treated for pneumonia.

    “You’re pretty tough,” I say.  “Not tough enough,” he says back.

    NBC News

    Issa's life has been very different than that of most 12-year-olds who live in America.

    I fish for some common ground between us.  Does he like soccer?  Nope.  No time to play when you have to keep the cattle in line.

    Does he have a favorite movie?  “What is a movie?” he asks.

    “Toys?” Never had any.

    It’s hard to comprehend the scope of this famine in the Horn of Africa.  But maybe harder still to understand how different this part of the world is from our own.  How easily a humanitarian tragedy can happen.

    In Issa’s life before the refugee camp there was no one to rely on but your family or clan.  Their herd of cattle was all they had.  When the cattle died, the family had no income to fall back on and no food to eat.

    Add to that the fact that Somalia simply doesn’t have a stable government.  Life in the bush goes on as it has for thousands of years.  Life in the cities is all about conflict.

    Sabat Hussein is 31.  She went to private school in Somalia and speaks with me in English — a rare thing here.

    'I didn't even bury my mother'
    Three years ago, the family was eating dinner when a bomb landed on their house.

    “My father, my mother and some of my brothers died,” she says.

    She’s not sure which faction was responsible.  All she knows is that she ran.

    Inside Somalia, three million people are starving and thousands are fleeing famine in the south, desperate to escape to Kenya or to camps in the capital city Mogadishu. NBC's Richard Engel reports from Mogadishu and NBC's Kate Snow reports from Dhoobley, Somalia.

    “I didn’t even bury my mother,” she says sadly.   She was fleeing to Kenya with her seven children as fast as she could.

    Hussein is convinced that nothing will turn around in Somalia until there’s a stable government there.

    “If I see a Somali government before I die I would be so happy,” she says.

    My new friend Issa says now that he’s in the camp in Kenya, he’d like to give school a try.  Maybe he could become a teacher one day, he says.

    Issa also tells me he’s never actually talked with a white person before. 

    And finally I find a way to bridge the cultural gap.

    I teach Issa how to “high five”— a gesture kids don’t grow up with here.

    He enjoys it.  His smile is big.  And the warmth of a smiling child? That, at least, is universal.

  • Dispatch from Dadaab, Kenya

    NBC News has asked me to write a few words about my experience this past
    week in Dadaab, Kenya.  I'd like to say that all my preconceived notions
    about the situation in Eastern Kenya and Southern Somalia - the poverty and
    hunger, the hopelessness and helplessness -  were wrong.  No, that's exactly
    what I witnessed.  It's heartbreaking and sad.  It makes you want to empty
    your wallet for every desperate family you encounter, but you can't.  I feel
    wrenched with guilt about my cushy life and never again will I feel
    overwhelmed by a pile of laundry or a long line at the post office.

    What really struck me was the resilience of the human spirit and the
    brightness in the eyes and smiles of the children.  Many of the young people
    we encountered had never even seen their own image.  Watching their big eyes
    light up when they saw themselves on the playback of my digital camera was
    such a thrill for me.  These kids have nothing; no toys, no school, no
    shoes, no bath or toilet, no health care, little food, and some might say no
    hope.  Many have witnessed the worst atrocities imaginable, but still they
    radiate joy and innocence.

    I wish every child (and every adult, for that matter) in the privileged west
    could see what I saw this week; not just on television, but in person, where
    you can shake a hand and look eye-to-eye.  It could only make each one of us
    a kinder, more empathetic, and more grateful person.

    Robert Colvill is part of the NBC team that has been covering the dire situation in the famine-stricken Horn of Africa. He sent us these photos he took in the refugee camps of Dadaab, Kenya.

    All images: Copyright Robert Colvill, NBC News

  • U.S. aid begins to trickle into Somalia

     

    Kate Snow / NBC News

    A convoy of food aid from a group with U.S. ties arrives to help famine victims in Dobley, Somalia on Thursday.

    By Kate Snow, NBC News Correspondent

    DOBLEY, Somalia – The first thing you notice when you cross the border into Somalia is the number of men with guns. In Dobley, they are all fighting for the same team – the Somali Transitional Federal Government. And they are all armed to the teeth.

    As we arrived as part of an aid convoy from Kenya, we passed the “Peace House” hotel, which stands empty now and is covered in pock marks where bullets hit. 

    Until just a few months ago, the militant Islamic group al-Shabab controlled the town. Now it’s one of the few towns in southern Somalia controlled by the transitional government. Somalia, of course, hasn’t had a stable government in decades, and fighting rages on.

    But in Dobley, the streets were quiet. Curious kids wandered over to meet our convoy.  They grinned and posed for our cameras. Men looked on warily, but returned our greetings.

    We were there to cover one of the rare aid convoys from a group with U.S. ties to reach Somalia.The United Nations World Food Program and the International Committee of the Red Cross have been delivering food in southern Somalia, but many American groups have avoided entering the country because of the security situation.

    The Obama administration also assured aid groups on Tuesday that they could deliver food to famine-stricken parts of Somalia without fear of prosecution, even if some assistance ends up in the hands of Islamic extremists like al-Shabab. Humanitarian groups had long complained that the anti-terrorism measure was contributing to the food crisis. 

    Much like the refugee camps father away in Kenya, Dobley has been a magnet for people fleeing famine and the violence.  A town elder told me they see about 700 new arrivals every day.  All of them arrive hungry.

    With a tiny 7-month-old strapped to her back, Dahabo Ismael Abdeleh told me she had walked for 10 days from the town of Dinsor.  She arrived two days ago with her nine children.  She’s struggling to feed them.

    “Is this all you have?” she asked as she looked at the trucks.

    The convoy was organized by two small NGOs – The Global Enrichment Foundation out of Canada and The African Future, based in Virginia. 

    Farah Abdi Warsameh / AP

    A woman from southern Somalia holds her malnourished children at Banadir hospital in Mogadishu, Somalia, on Tuesday. Click on the photo to launch a slideshow of photos.

    The flour, rice, water, sugar, oil, dates and porridge delivered here Thursday should feed 14,000 people for the next two weeks. 

    It’s not enough, they know. But at least it’s something.

    US: 29,000 Somali children under 5 dead in famine

    How to Help: A list of charitable organizations in Somalia

    See more of Kate Snow's reporting from Somalia on NBC's Nightly News with Brian Williams Thursday.

  • Doctors forced to make heartbreaking decisions in Kenyan refugee camp

    Doctors at the Dadaab Refugee Camp in refugee camp in northern Kenya along the Somali border are being forced to make heartbreaking decisions daily. The hospital at the camps has become a triage center for victims of the drought and famine in Somalia that have walked for days and weeks to seek help. 

    Dr. Gedi Mohamed, with Doctors without Borders tell's NBC’s Rohit Kachroo about the challenges of treating so many patients. The "people we’re seeing now are the most desperate," said Mohamed.

     Famine in Somalia: How to help 

  • Africa drought rips families apart, brings strangers together

    Millions of people in Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia and South Sudan are being affected by severe drought conditions. One desperate woman, looking for help, walked for an entire month with her five children to try to reach a refugee camp. ITV's Rohit Kachroo reports from the Dadaab refugee camp in eastern Kenya.

    By Rohit Kachroo, NBC News

    DADAAB, Kenya - With a population of almost 400,000, the Dadaab Refugee Camp in north-east Kenya is beginning to resemble a city. Like in any fast-growing metropolis, the morning rush here can be a miserable time; the infrastructure creaks louder than at any other part of the day. This must be the most desperate rush-hour of any city in the world.

    At around 8 a.m., a huge crowd of new residents begin to stream through the gates of the reception center. Most have been forced here by the worst drought to affect East Africa for 60 years – described by the United Nations as a "humanitarian emergency."

    World Food Program officials estimate that 10 million people already need humanitarian aid, The Associated Press reported Sunday. The U.N. Children's Fund estimates that more than 2 million children are malnourished and in need of lifesaving action.

    Many of the new arrivals are families who have walked from Somalia for days or even weeks in search of food and water.

    Amongst the line of refugees, many terrible stories are shared about the children who have died along the way. But some prefer to keep their stories to themselves.

    The United Nations says malnutrition among child refugees fleeing the drought in Somalia has reached alarming rates. Drought and famine are affecting millions of people in the Horn of Africa. NBC's Rohit Kachroo reports.

    I spot a 52-year-old woman perched in the shade, sitting on her own and staring at the sky. She seems terrified, so I ask her whether she needs any help. She pauses and then explodes with an outburst of emotion and regret, telling me how she began her 200-mile journey with her 12-year-old boy – mother and son together. Then, stroking her throat and clutching her stomach, she reveals that he died along the way; his hunger and thirst had grown as they walked; his life was apparently claimed by the devastating drought. She returns to silence and, as we leave her, she seems to become engrossed in her thoughts once again.

    Hunger and exhaustion
    Nearby, amid a swirling dust storm, three young mothers run for cover under a shelter, each clutching their baby; we run with them. The blowing sand picks up and the mothers huddle together to shield the other children from the conditions as much as they do their own. They appear to be the best of friends – but it turns out that they met along the way from Somalia to Kenya and formed an immediate bond built upon their shared circumstances. Their closeness demonstrates that the drought which has ripped families apart has also forced some people together.

    Elsewhere in the camp, we find a mother cramming her children into a makeshift tent. She has six boys and girls with her, but I soon learn that they are not all her own. She welcomed the eldest child into her family during their month-long walk from the northern tip of rural Somalia. The boy's real mother died after collapsing from hunger and exhaustion on the penultimate day of their voyage; the two families had befriended each other as they made similar trips south towards the refugee camp. Yet the youngster's new mother seems to treat him no differently to any of the other children.

    To welcome an orphan into your family without reluctance might seem like an incredible thing to do when your own family continues to endure so much; but this sort of charity is not unique amongst the new refugees, who are arriving into Dadaab at the rate of up to 1,500 a day. In incredibly trying circumstances, there have been great acts of kindness. But with predictions that the drought will develop into a full-scale famine, there might be need for much more generosity.

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