Tobin Jones / AMISOM via AFP - Getty Images

A Somali dock worker carries cement unloaded from a ship to a waiting truck at Mogadishu's main port. The aid effort in the war-torn country is shifting toward boosting the economy amid claims it now has a "bright future."

Somalia has long been defined by terrorism, famine, and piracy.

But as the United States this week pledged another $40 million towards its recovery, Somalia's leaders said the country had finally turned a corner in the fight against the al Qaeda-linked militant group, al-Shabab.

“A bright future for Somalia is within touching distance,” Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon proclaimed on Twitter as the U.S. attended a global summit in London to discuss the country’s future.  

Organizers of the conference sought to build upon the new normality creeping into the nation’s capital, Mogadishu. The country that is often referred to as "the world's most dangerous" is not as dangerous as it once was.

Pirates have not successfully hijacked any ships off Somalia's coast in almost a year and a growing sense of security and confidence has been fueled by the relative retreat of al-Shabab, which controlled much of the country until Kenyan forces invaded in 2011.

Somalia is a battleground not only for its own rival factions, but also for the U.S. and its allies in the fight against al Qaeda, which is opening up Africa as a new global front line.

U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron said the international community should be careful to avoid Somalia becoming a hotbed for radicalism.

"If we ignore it, we will be making the same mistakes in Somalia that we made in Afghanistan in the 1990s. I'm not prepared to let that happen," he told the summit on Tuesday. 

To that end, the U.S. has pumped more than $1.5 billion worth of assistance into the country since 2009, including the $40 million pledged on Tuesday. It is among the countries pledging aid in the hope that stability will encourage security.

The fall of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991 left Somalia without effective central government and awash with weapons.

But there are signs of fragile progress. Airplanes flying in from neighboring Kenya are filled with members of the diaspora returning home after being forced out by hunger and civil war.

Last year, Turkish Airlines decided to start a commercial service from Istanbul. Officials in Mogadishu hope that the city’s beaches might one day attract a significant number of tourists on those flights. 

But Somalia’s renaissance has limits. Mogadishu is still considered too dangerous to host a meeting of world leaders and senior government officials.

Although al-Shabab has been pushed to the outskirts of the capital by foreign peacekeepers, it maintains the ability to strike at its heart.

Mohamed Abdiwahab / AFP - Getty Images

Security surround the area following a suicide attack on a government convoy in Mogadishu on May 5. Around 11 people were killed.

It proved its deadly potential on April 14 when terrorists attacked Mogadishu’s courthouse. A deadly car bomb was detonated in the center of the city a month earlier. On Sunday, a suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden car into a convoy carrying Qatari officials, killing at least eight Somalis.

Ahmed Soliman, research assistant at British think tank Chatham House, believes such attacks will become more frequent as al-Shabab tries to disrupt areas it no longer controls.

“Al-Shabab still controls the majority of rural and south-central areas of Somalia,” he said. “The shift toward insurgent attacks could be a sign of weakness – that it has been forced to change tactics and attack areas that it no longer dominates.  But I think it could also play a game of cat-and-mouse with foreign troops by trying to make gains in northern areas just as the troops establish control in south-central areas.”

“It is being kept at bay by international forces under AMISOM [the African Union Mission in Somalia] but that will only last as long as those forces are there. Things are undoubtedly changing, but the jury is still out on whether al-Shabab has been defeated.”

Abdulhakim Haji Faqi, Somalia's defense minister, said his country's forces desperately need military resources. 

"In order to win this war against al-Shabab, we need to get the proper equipment," he said. "We are not asking for air forces, we are not asking for ships, we are not asking for huge military equipment, we are asking only for light weapons and ammunition so that our soldiers can effectively fight."

He added that this was an "international issue," not just a problem for Somalia as extremists from Pakistan, Yemen and Afghanistan -- as well as the U.S., Canada and Britain -- had been operating in the country.

"International organizations based in Somalia are trying to attack neighboring countries in the region and are also trying to cause international problems elsewhere," he said. 

Somalia’s fledgling U.N.-backed government, which took power in September after more than a decade of transitional rule, insists things are looking up – but admits the process will take time.

“Somalia is a country that has been exposed to anarchy for over two decades,” President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud told the U.K.’s Sunday Telegraph newspaper in an interview ahead of the summit. “When I was elected I was attacked within two days, and there were suicide bombers in every corner of my hotel. There are threats against me all the time.”

“There is a huge amount at stake in Somalia: the future of this country, the security of the region, the removal of the piracy stranglehold," he added.

The sharp reduction in attacks on commercial ships off East Africa has been driven by a government amnesty for young pirates backed by international military patrols.

Slideshow: Famine strikes East Africa

Dai Kurokawa / EPA

Somali refugees are seeking shelter in Mogadishu and Kenya from extreme drought and hunger in what the UN's refugee agency is calling the worst humanitarian disaster in the world.

Launch slideshow

“As long as the international naval presence remains, piracy rates will stay low,” said Adjoa Anyimadu, research associate at Chatham House.  “It’s impressive how much countries have worked together to provide naval protection - China and Russia are among those working in the U.S.-led operation.”

In another potential sign of recovery, Deputy U.N. Secretary-General Jan Eliasson wants to shift aid efforts away from away from humanitarian aid and toward development projects. The U.N. estimates Somalia will need $1.33 billion this year.

The country still faces desperate poverty. More than 200,000 children under 5 are acutely malnourished, and just under half of Somalis live on less than $1 a day.

Millions still live in refugee camps, and that country lacks government structures such as schools, hospitals and sanitation.

"The main reason we have hope now, more than ever .... is we now have a leadership which has a sense of responsibility," Eliasson told Reuters on Tuesday.  "The trend is positive, but it has been interrupted, and it might still be interrupted by sporadic attacks of the nature we have seen. Al-Shabab are still a threat.”

Al-Shabab is blamed not only for causing instability across the Horn of Africa, but for contributing to the famine that struck Somalia between 2010 and 2012. According to a report released last week by the U.S.-funded famine early warning system (FEWSNET) and the United Nations, more than a quarter of a million people died during the crisis.

A peaceful solution to these problems is far from likely. Al-Shabab remains an attractive organization to many in country where youth unemployment is running at about 70 per cent. “Al-Shabab pays its fighters and gives them food,” Soliman noted.

“Several of its commanders are high on the list of the U.S. government list of most wanted terrorists,” so direct peace talks are off the agenda, Soliman said. However, unofficial meetings with Somalia’s government are possible.

There are also problems with the country’s own forces. In a report published Monday, Human Rights Watch said it had documented “serious abuses” by Somali security forces, including the army, police, intelligence agencies, and government-affiliated militia.

“Abuses documented include murder, rape, torture, arbitrary arrest and detention, and looting,” the report said. “These abuses were committed with almost complete impunity.”

However, Somalia’s president remains committed to the task ahead. “One thing is very clear…that Somalia is fragmented into pieces,” Mohamud said. “Reversing all that has been happening in the past two decades is a very tedious work that requires some time.”

NBC News' Michele Neubert and Alastair Jamieson and Reuters contributed to this report.

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Ilan Godfrey/AFP/Getty Images

Desmond Tutu is awarded the 2013 Templeton Prize in this handout image

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, the South Africa anti-apartheid campaigner, checked into a Cape Town hospital Wednesday for treatment of a persistent infection.

Tutu, 81, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for stance against whites-only rule in his country, and remained a global campaigner for peace and human rights until withdrawing from public life last year.

He spent the morning in his office before checking into hospital, a spokesman for his office said.

 “He was in good spirits and full of praise for the care he receives from an exceptional team of doctors,” the spokesman said.

He is expected to undergo tests to discover the underlying cause of the infection, and the non-surgical treatment is expected to take five days.

Earlier this month, Tutu was awarded the 2013 Templeton Prize worth $1.7 million for helping inspire people around the world by promoting forgiveness and justice.

He was a long-time campaigner for the release of Nelson Mandela, who was held as a political prisoner until 1990.

NBC News' Alastair Jamieson contributed to this report.

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Mike Holmes / Gallo via Getty Images, file

Model Reeva Steenkamp was shot dead by her boyfriend, Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius on Valentine's Day after she locked herself in the bathroom.

CAPE TOWN, South Africa - Reeva Steenkamp locked herself in her room when intruders broke into her home two years ago, her uncle said, echoing the model’s apparent actions the night she was shot dead by Olympian Oscar Pistorius.

Steenkamp was given counseling after the break-in at the house where she lived with her parents in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, uncle Mike Steenkamp said in an interview Monday.

According to his account, Steenkamp was at home with her mother in 2011 when a burglar carrying a crowbar smashed into the house. When she heard footsteps Steenkamp raced into her room and hid behind a locked door, he said. 

Prosecution lawyers believe that Steenkamp, 29, locked herself in a bathroom to escape from her boyfriend Pistorius on the morning of Feb. 14.  

They contend that Pistorius -- the 26-year-old sprinter known as "Blade Runner" who inspired millions when he became the first double-amputee to compete in the Olympics -- intended to murder his girlfriend when he fired through the door of the bathroom in his Johannesburg home. 

Pistorius says he thought an intruder had broken in.

'The fear'
During the interview, Mike Steenkamp said his niece "must have been reliving the nightmare" of the break-in in the moments before she was killed.

"Two years ago, the same style of locking in. And they could hear the intruders in the house," he said at his home in Cape Town alongside Reeva’s cousin, Jason Mckay. "They took the laptops and everything else in the house."

"Two years ago could have gone through her mind -- the same locking the door, (the) fear," he added.

Mike Steenkamp also said he had forgiven Pistorius for what happened to his niece.

"I've forgiven Oscar and that's actually helped me,” he said. “It's strengthened me so much that I can manage to cope with daily life."

Pistorius was granted bail last month and is due to return to court in June.  

But his lawyers are set to challenge some of the conditions of his bail, which they believe to be unwarranted and unfair.

They argue that evidence presented in court showed that the Paralympian is not a flight risk, so should have the option of traveling outside South Africa with permission.

Mike Steenkamp struggled to contemplate the possibility of Pistorius going overseas.

"You know, I can't associate with that. I can't allow my mind to go in that direction. I must try and keep away from that. And that's the only way that's going to help myself,” he said.

Mckay, Reeva's cousin, added: "It would be a bit unfair, though, because I know that anyone else in this situation would not be allowed to go anywhere else."

Pistorius' lawyers are also seeking to overturn a ruling that prevents him from returning to the estate where he shot his girlfriend.

Prosecutors have indicated that they will oppose any application to have bail conditions altered.

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PRETORIA, South Africa -- Defense lawyers exposed apparent weaknesses in the police evidence against Oscar Pistorius Wednesday as a court heard more dramatic details of the night he fatally shot his girlfriend.

The Olympic and Paralympic athlete stared fixedly at the floor, sobbing occasionally, as a senior investigator described the scene when officers arrived at his home in Pretoria in the early hours of Valentine's Day.

Pistorius wore a black suit and blue tie on the second day of a hearing that will decide whether he would be bailed over charges that the shooting of 29-year-old law graduate and model Reeva Steenkamp was premeditated.

Dubbed the "Blade Runner," Pistorius maintains he fired into his locked bathroom in a panic over a possible prowler. However, prosecutors say he put on his artificial legs and stalked Steenkamp to the bathroom to kill her.

Warrant Officer Hilton Botha, an experienced detective, testified that a witness heard shouting for an hour coming from the house shortly before the shooting.

Another witness heard gunshots, saw lights on in the house, heard a woman screaming two or three times, then heard another few shots, Botha said.

But under cross-examination, Botha admitted one of the witnesses was 1,000 feet away from the house at the time.

Botha told the court that needles and testosterone were found in the athlete's bedroom.

The double-amputee's defense lawyer Barry Roux disputed that claim, saying the substance was in fact a herbal remedy and that police had misread the label. State prosecutor Gerrie Nel also had to correct Botha when he initially called the substance "steroids." 

Botha said Steenkamp's body was clothed and covered in towels, and that one bullet cartridge was discovered in the hallway of Pistorius' home, with three more found in the bathroom. A firearm was found on the shower mat.

The investigator said he wanted to charge Pistorius with possession of unlicensed ammunition, according to Reuters.

None of the phones found at Pistorius' house had been used to call police, Botha said.

Stephane De Sakutin / AFP - Getty Images

The floorplan of Olympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius' house, shown at a court hearing on Wednesday.

The court heard a discussion about the layout inside of the detached house, in an upmarket, gated compound north of Pretoria.

Botha said the angle at which shots were fired through the door of a locked toilet within Pistorius' en suite bathroom suggested the shooter had aimed specifically to hit somebody on the toilet.

"I believe he knew she was in the bathroom," Botha said.

The downward trajectory of the shots suggests Pistorius was wearing his artificial legs when he pulled the trigger, he added.

However, there were gasps from Pistorius' family as Botha struggled to answer questions under cross-examination. Two female relatives glanced at each other and smiled.

The defense said Steenkamp’s bladder was empty, consistent with having gone to the toilet, as claimed by Pistorius.

It also emerged that Botha had prior dealings with Pistorius, having attended a 2009 incident at the house at which the athlete was arrested but not charged.

There was laughter in the courtroom as Botha insisted there was a risk Pistorius would flee if given bail, despite skepticism from magistrate, Desmond Nair.

As Wednesday's session closed, Pistorius seemed composed. The hearing resumes Thursday, but is expected to conclude by the end of the week.

On the first day of the hearing, prosecutors and the defense presented clashing accounts of how and why Pistorius shot Steenkamp.

A court statement from Pistorius denied "in the strongest terms" that he had deliberately killed Steenkamp, adding that the athlete was "deeply in love'' with her, according to Reuters.

"I had no intention to kill my girlfriend," the statement said.

Pistorius has hired his own high-profile forensic expert to analyze the police reports and post-mortem exam, South Africa news station ENCA reported.

His defense team includes lawyer Kenny Oldwage, who previously won an acquittal for a driver accused of killing Nelson Mandela's great-grandchild in a 2010 accident.

NBC News' Tracy Connor and Reuters contributed to this report.

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This story was originally published on Wed Feb 20, 2013 3:34 AM EST

Rebecca Blackwell / AP

Malian players celebrate after defeating host nation South Africa on penalties in their Africa Cup of Nations quarterfinal on Saturday. They are due to play Nigeria in Wednesday's semi-final.

Published at 4:40 a.m. ET: TIMBUKTU, Mali -- The lights are flickering in the hotels of Timbuktu. As night falls, the power is returning. Fleeing jihadists had cut the supplies. 

The television screens are switching back to life in time for people to witness an important national event.

It has already been an incredible day in this fabled city. Francois Hollande, the French president, toured its ancient streets a few hours beforehand. He was cheered and even embraced by the people of the town, three weeks after France launched aerial bombardments against Islamist militants.

Now, after ten months of jihadist control, during which playing football and taking part in public celebrations were banned, people are bursting onto the streets beeping their car horns and cheering loudly.

Mali's national soccer team has just beaten South Africa in the Africa Cup of Nations, the continental championships which are held every two years. The tournament is being staged in South Africa, so Mali's opponents had home advantage, making victory all the sweeter.

At a time of crisis for the country, the success of the national side in Mali's favorite sport has helped to promote a sense of unity and pride.

"We will win everything. First we will win the war, then we will win the cup," tourist guide Mamadou Tapily said. "It will ... bring us all together"

Adbullah Cisse, a soccer fanatic who watched Saturday's game wearing the national shirt, said: "Our success has allowed people to lift their spirits and it has given hope to our country at a difficult time. It seems that with the war and the football, suddenly everything is going well for Mali."

Eric Feferberg / AFP - Getty Images

Fans watch the Africa Cup of Nations soccer match between Mali and Ghana in Segou, Mali, on Jan. 24.

Groups of children, inspired by the national success, play soccer matches close to Timbuktu's sand dunes at the edge of the Sahara desert. Their enthusiasm for the sport is only enhanced by claims that Mali's soccer stars have agreed to accept smaller bonuses than agreed in order to help the costs of the country's war efforts. In the minds of many Malians, their decision has cemented the link between military and sporting victories.

Mali's soccer stars will face Nigeria, considered continental giants, in Wednesday's semi-final. If they are defeated they are likely to be celebrated as gallant losers. 

If they win, national pride across Mali is certain to reach new heights.

Update at 12:10 p.m. ET: Mali lost 4-1 to Nigeria.

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'We were so terrified': Jihadists leave trail of destruction, brutality in Mali town

Why extreme Islamists are intent on destroying cultural artifacts

Issouf Sanogo / AFP - Getty Images

A ripped up image of Jesus Christ is left on the ground of a Catholic church in Diabaly on Tuesday.

DIABALY, Mali -- Burned-out cars lie at the entrance to liberated Diabaly. Nearby, the stench of death rises from the window of an army vehicle discarded by the side of the road; inside are the bodies of four Malian soldiers, presumably slaughtered by jihadists.

The Islamist army stormed through the town last week and left a destructive trail. They ruined the church, smashing away its cross and decapitating religious statues. They looted the pharmacy and destroyed homes. They were joined by Malian soldiers who defected, according to some local residents.

Although the insurgents controlled Diabaly for only a few days, its terrified residents cheered when they left and French and Malian soldiers swept in.

"They are not Muslims," 53-year-old resident Oua Diarra said. "Muslims cannot be thieves. Muslims cannot loot. These men were terrorists.

"The Islamists punished the children simply for crying at the terrible things that they saw ... We were so terrified."

The jihadists were driven out before they could impose their form of Shariah law over the town's 40,000 people. They had said that they would do so once their grip on the town had been consolidated.

"Most of us, the people of the town, had not been touched by the Islamists, but we knew that it would not be long," said one man who brought his family into the town square to shake hands and take photographs with the French soldiers. "They had threatened to punish anyone who broke their laws." 

Gruesome propaganda videos from militant groups operating in Mali offer a glimpse of life in the militant-controlled north of the country. They include footage of men being lashed at a public ceremony. One video appears to show a man having his hand sliced off.

"The Islamists came with food and said they would soon teach us Islamic law," said Mema Diakate, a resident who giggled with her girlfriends in the town's center. "We knew that eventually we would not be able to stand here -- to come outside and laugh and lead our lives."

Issouf Sanogo / AFP - Getty Images

A resident looks at Islamists' pickup trucks destroyed at a Malian military camp destroyed by airstrikes a week ago in Diabaly on Tuesday.

Many residents in Diabaly described the rebels as "outsiders" and "foreigners" and said they included some "Arab men." They claim fighters from Chad, Somalia and even Afghanistan were among them. Others were deserters from the Malian army who, having failed to protect the town from the militants, dumped their uniforms and joined the enemy.

Although most residents were delighted by the arrival of the French, many were critical of the inability of the Malian army to hold the garrison town.

They recall dozens of fighters -- perhaps as many as 200 -- managing to flee in a convoy of 4x4 vehicles. Some headed north into the desert -- others vanished into forest. Many may have scattered and concealed themselves in the community.

As the French advance north from Diabaly, they are progressing slowly in the knowledge that while their enemy is melting away, it hasn't disappeared.

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Eric Gaillard / Reuters

A car displaying French and Malian flags drives on a road in the centre of Bamako on Jan. 19, 2013. Islamist rebels in Mali abandoned the central town of Diabaly on Friday after fleeing a French air strike, military sources said, while West African troops arrived in Bamako to take on the insurgents in Mali's north.

NIONO, Mali -- On the liberated streets of the Malian town of Niono, French flags haven't fluttered like they do today since colonial times. But the old imperial powers are now back -- and they are, for the most part, welcome.

"Vive la France!" shouted Emmanuel, a 64-year-old local doctor, as French supply vehicles move through the town on their way toward the front line. He remembers well how he celebrated when he heard that Mali had won independence from France in 1960. But today, he feels the same jubilation, and has bought a tricolor flag for $1 dollar to celebrate.

France has been accused of neo-colonialism for its intervention in Mali. It now has 2,000 troops on the ground attempting to seize control of the northern desert region from Islamist rebels who are suspected of creating a haven for al-Qaida terrorists to attack the West.

But when his town was threatened by an advance of jihadists, Emmanuel began to view "the old oppressors" with new eyes.

"They came to help us when no one else would, and for that we like them," he said.

The flags that hang from buildings, lorries and motorbikes in Niono are evidence that many people support the French operation to "save Mali" from an army of extremists who had come dangerously close to communities like this one.

On the outskirts of the desert, the fabled town of Niono typifies much of Mali's enchanting beauty. Its charming square and stunning mosque have endured countless wars to tell the story of a beautiful nation with a rich architectural heritage. This is the other side of a war-ravaged nation, which, tragically, seems likely to become the epicenter of the new global fight against terrorism.

Compare the drug traffic fueled economy and beatings of northern Mali to the friendly street trade and bustle of beautiful Niono and it becomes clear which lifestyle most people here prefer.

At the nearest hospital, in the provincial town of Segou, Dr. Saoussoub Camara admits that even hardened medics have succumbed to "a sense of nationalism." He leads us to a ward in the ramshackle complex, which has been devoted to military casualties.

Six weary Malian soldiers lie in their beds. They are badly bruised but not broken. Although some suspect that the French have underestimated the ferocity of their enemy, others are confident they will eventually succeed.

Eric Feferberg / AFP - Getty Images

A Malian man wears a French and a Malian flag on his head.

"With the help of the French we will beat the Islamists," said 30-year-old Sgt. Malik Dombia, who was shot in the leg by advancing militants.

"They deal drugs and buy guns -- they are not even proper Muslims. If I am asked to return to the front line to help my French comrades, I would not hesitate to say 'yes.'"

But 67-year-old Aboubacrine Dicko is less enthused by the French mission. As he lies on the ground under a tree, he struggles to move. He broke an arm and injured his legs as he raced to mount his donkey to join the exodus from the nearby town of Diabaly, which was overrun by Islamists, then bombarded by French fighter jets.

"The French bombing destroyed my home. They must end this soon or there will be resentment," he said.

But France has promised that its military operation will be swift. The people of Niono desperately hope so.

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TSAVO EAST NATIONAL PARK, Kenya -- The bodies of five elephants lie under the shade of the trees – their giant ears flapping in the wind, but their majestic bodies totally still.

It is a gruesome sight in this, one of Kenya’s oldest, largest and most stunningly beautiful national parks.

As our helicopter circles the scene, we glimpse two other elephants nearby: A mother lying dead next to a baby calf - her daughter. The bodies of another three siblings sit in the baking heat. Other corpses are slumped across several acres of parkland.

In total, there are 12 slain elephants – a family, murdered on Saturday in Kenya’s bloodiest attack by poachers on record.

The spot is so remote – inaccessible by road vehicles – that it was only possible for us to reach them by the air. And yet, the poachers are thought to have trekked for days – maybe weeks – through the dense bushes with the intention of killing the family for their horns. It is, perhaps, an indication of the poachers’ determination, and the sophistication of their planning.

Armed with guns and axes, the 15-strong gang struck during the day. They shot the animals one by one before sawing off their tusks. Park rangers chased their footprints for 10 miles into the bush, but the trail vanished. Investigators believe that they may have dumped the tusks in the park to collect later, before splitting up and disappearing into the woods.

Wilson Korir, who leads the military-style defense force tasked with protecting the park from poachers, said: “These guys [the gang of poachers] are now looking for some crude transport like the use of a donkey to be able to transfer the tusks to the nearest center where they can ferry it using a vehicle.”

 “We have a lot of covert operations going on outside. We have positioned a platoon of rangers outside there just to wait and see. If they appear they will pounce and arrest.”

Accompanied by rangers, we leave our helicopter and walk towards the spot where some of the bodies lie. We are all struck by the stench of the corpses, as flies swarm and maggots eat away at them. The face of each of the animals is badly severed – it is clear where the poachers’ axes have struck.

From the position of the elephants, investigators suspect that there was a stampede as the animals tried -- and failed -- to race away.

It is grim evidence of a growing problem for Kenya. According to the country’s Prime Minister Raila Odinga, 360 elephants were killed in Kenya last year – almost one a day – up from 289 in 2011.

Demand comes from the growing middle class in China, where ground tusk is said to have medicinal value, and ivory is still desirable in jewelry and home decorations. A pound of illegal ivory can fetch around $1,000.

“The dynamics of poaching are taking a different angle altogether because there is a lot of demand for ivory from outside,” Korir said.

“But in the history of Tsavo National Park this is the worst.”

He welcomes promises of greater investment in wildlife security, and calls by world leaders for a global campaign against trafficking. But his priority now is to find the poachers behind Saturday’s attack. 

“The message is clear. They come (back) into the national park at their own peril. The rangers are there and waiting for them. They come and they will be eliminated.

“These are dangerous gangs. They carry firearms. There are no two ways about it – fire for fire. So let them come. We are equally prepared. We are waiting.”

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