Reports from eye witnesses speak of the town of Hargeisa as mere rubble, devastated to the point that it is barely recognizable even to its inhabitants.

[13]The Guardian reported the scale of destruction as follows: The civil war left Hargeisa in ruins: 80 percent of the building in the town were destroyed, many of them by the aerial bombardment of General Siad Barre's Zimbabwean mercenary pilots.

Many of the houses are boarded up because of the small anti-personnel mines scattered by Gen Siad Barre's forces when tens of thousands of Hargeisa residents fled.

[14] Other descriptions of what took place in Hargeisa include: Siad Barre focused his wrath (and American-supported military might) against his Northern opposition.

"[16] The Congressional General Accounting Office team noted the extent to which residential districts were especially targeted by the army: Hargeisa, the second largest city in Somalia, has suffered extensive damage from artillery and aerial shelling.

Our rough visual inspection confirms this estimate.Much of Hargeisa appears to be a "ghost town," and many homes and building are virtually empty.

The looting has resulted in the opening of what are called "Hargeisa markets" throughout the region, including Mogadishu and Ethiopia, were former residents have spotted their possessions.