In Mogadishu, Somalia’s bustling capital, shop owners are grappling with a perilous choice: comply with a government order to install CCTV cameras outside their businesses or risk retaliation from the al-Shabab insurgents who dominate the city.
The government directive, issued last year, requires businesses to install surveillance cameras at their own expense as part of efforts to curb attacks and monitor Islamist insurgents.
However, shop owners fear the consequences from both sides. Compliance could make them targets for al-Shabab’s deadly attacks, while non-compliance could lead to arrest by the authorities.
“The CCTV cameras are why you now see me at home,” says 48-year-old Hamza Nuur, a former shop owner. Sitting on a sofa with one of his children, he recounts the painful decision to sell his business to avoid the dire consequences of either choice.
“You’re told not to remove the cameras by one side, and then you’re told to remove them by the other. Depending on what you choose, there’s either a bullet or a prison cell waiting for you,” Nuur explains.
Since October, al-Shabab has killed four businessmen in 10 attacks linked to CCTV installations, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (Acled) project, a leading violence monitoring group. The group reports that these attacks have forced many businesses in Mogadishu’s main markets to close temporarily.
The government’s broader aim is to disrupt al-Shabab’s revenue streams, as the insurgents regularly extort money from shop owners. However, the growing threat of violence has left many traders unwilling to risk their lives or livelihoods.
To complicate matters further, the government recently extended the directive to include homes and apartment blocks, intensifying fears that al-Shabab could escalate its attacks to residential areas.
The situation underscores the harrowing choices faced by residents of Mogadishu as they navigate the city’s fraught landscape of insecurity and insurgency.
