WORLD -- July 7, 2010 at 8:14 PM EDT

Slide Show: Somalia's Battle Scars

By: Larisa Epatko

Somalia has suffered from nearly two decades of civil war, piracy and now fighting between government forces and an Islamist rebel group called al-Shabab.

For the past year or so, the transitional government received support as people viewed it as the best defense against the country becoming a haven for terrorists, but now there is a call for the international community to stop trying to shape events in Somalia because it hasn't been working, said The New York Times' East Africa bureau chief Jeffrey Gettleman.

Gettleman describes more on Wednesday's NewsHour. In the meantime, view images of how the fighting in Somalia has impacted the population:

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