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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Jason Burke Africa correspondent

A moment of mounting chaos: the Somalia of Mo Farah’s childhood

Fishing boats anchored at Orobo beach in Mogadishu
Fishing boats anchored at Orobo beach in Mogadishu, Somalia. In the 1970s the city was known for its beaches, seafood and architecture, but difficult times were ahead. Photograph: Feisal Omar/Reuters

When Sir Mo Farah was living on the Horn of Africa in the late 1980s and early 90s, it was one of the most unstable and troubled parts of the continent.

Farah was born in 1983, at a moment of mounting chaos. He has said that he lived for several years in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, when very young, though he was not born there. The city was known in the 1970s for its beaches, seafood and architecture and was still a destination for adventurous travellers in the early years of the following decade.

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