rebel forces entered and took the city in 1990. they forced president mohamed siad barre to resign and leave the country in january 1991. he went to lagos, nigeria. some of the rebels said that ali mahdi muhammad was the new president. others said that mohamed farrah aidid was president. a group of united states marines landed near mogadishu on december 9, 1992. they were the first part of the united nations peacekeeping forces during operation restore hope to go to the country. mogadishu has had many years of civil war. this is because the government of somalia fell in 1991. this has included many suicide bombings by jihadist group al-shabaab. in 2017, an al-shabaab suicide bomber killed over 500 people.