The devastation of Mogadishu, Somalia
When Canada and other nations first intervened in war-torn Somalia in 1992, it was with the same hopes that now guide NATO's aid to the rebellion against Libyan Leader Moammar Gadhafi. But it soon became a disastrous, never-ending quagmire. Below are images from Globe Africa correspondent Geoffrey York's return to Mogadishu, a city just as dangerous today as it was 20 years ago.
The shattered ruins of Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, look almost like Stalingrad after the famous battle that turned the tide in World War II.
An AMISOM sniper from Burundi watches for enemy movement at his sandbagged post on the roof of a bombed-out house at the front lines in Mogadishu.
Al-Shabab fighters stand during a military exercise in northern Mogadishu's Suqaholaha neighborhood on January 1, 2010.AFP / Getty Images
AMISOM soldiers from Burundi walk past the wreckage of a suicide bomber's car at the front lines in Mogadishu.Geoffrey York/The Globe and Mail
An AMISOM soldier from Uganda shooting at rebel fighters from a bombed-out building at the front lines in Mogadishu.Geoffrey York
Lance-Corporal Richard Magona, an AMISOM soldier from Uganda, with a Somali child in the war zone in Mogadishu. He likes to give sweets to the Somali children, saying that it is important to develop good relations with the Somali civilians.