What To Do In Somalia

Somalia is on the Horn of Africa, and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the north-west, and Kenya on its south-west. This is a country with a troubled past. Civil war, military coups, border disputes and warlordism are the general course of events here. Things started to improve after the Ethiopian Army withdrew in 2007 after defeating an Islamist government, but since then violence has flared up again with the re-emergence of Islamist and other clan and warlord-affiliated militias.

Somalia is currently ruled by the a Coalition government, compromising the Internationally recognised Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and the former Islamist government. However, the government is currently waging a military campaign with radical Islamic factions that refused to merge with the government and are backed by al-Qaeda.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, the easiest method for staying safe in Somalia is not to go in the first place, as it is most probably the most dangerous destination in the world. Kidnappings, armed clashes, piracy, and warlording are all common in this country. The latest event occured in August 2010 in which at least 33 were killed in a hotel suicide attack in Mogadishu.