Normalcy returns to Somali city after rebels quit

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Old men sip tea while children kick a football on a dusty street in the Somali capital: ordinary scenes of daily life unthinkable just weeks ago, when Islamist Shebab fighters were in control here.

"We came back last month, after the Shebab left, because it was not safe before," said Abdulah Abubakr, sitting beside a bullet-scarred building in Mogadishu's northeastern Tawfiq district, a former Shebab stronghold.

"The Shebab would beat us, they would even kill people without questioning, and then there was heavy fighting," added the 70-year-old former truck driver.