A Ugandan soldier serving with the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) walks across the former football pitch inside Mogadishu National Stadium. Formerly a main base for the Al-Qaeda-allied violent extremist group Al Shabaab, the once impressive stadium was used as a headquarters for the group's operations in Mogadishu, a training ground for their fighters and a site where they executed prisoners and tested and assembled improvised explosive devices (IEDs). After two decades of near-constant conflict, Somalia is enjoying its longest period of peace and growing security since Al Shabaab was driven from Mogadishu in August 2011. Under the Shabaab's draconian rule, social pastimes and sports such as football were banned but residents of the city and elsewhere across Somalia in areas liberated by sustained operations by the Somali National Army (SNA) supported by AMISOM troops are now enjoying their freedoms once again. On January 19, Africa’s top football teams will meet in South Africa to contest for the continent’s most prestigious football title - the African Nations Cup – and although Somalia has never taken part due to insecurity and the hitherto ban on the playing and watching of football by Al Shabaab, the sport is once more growing in obvious evidence across the city and experiencing a surging revival of fortunes and popularity. AU-UN IST PHOTO / STUART PRICE.