No. 1 Mogadishu
The capital of Somalia is nearly synonymous with chaos and violence. Seared into the American consciousness with the 1993 “Battle of Mogadishu,” which claimed the lives of 19 servicemen and memorialized by the book “Black Hawk Down,” Mogadishu has been wracked with internal unrest ever since. The city received renewed international attention when the Islamic Courts Union claimed control over the city, only to be pushed back by Ethiopian forces. Today, while nominally governed by the UN-sanctioned Transitional Federal Government and policed by forces from the African Union, Mogadshu remains the scene of running gun battles between rival militias and tribal factions, as well as Islamic insurgents seeking to eject AU forces. Just yesterday, 11 people were killed in a clash between Islamist groups. Over a million of the city’s residents have reportedly been displaced, with tens of thousands fleeing the "city of death" altogether.
