Red Alert Somalia

The convoy drove slowly through the streets of Bosasso. Because of the approval of the Minister of Armed Forces of Bosasso, Li Lan's movements were not as restrained as before.

Looking at the scene on the roadside through the car window, Li Lan's first feeling was depression and chaos.

On some smaller roads, it is difficult to see pedestrians. Occasionally, pedestrians missed by the convoy are also weapons in hand.The street is full of various piles of debris, and from time to time you can see a large open space with the remains of collapsed buildings.

"Unrest, war, hunger, the original prosperous Bosasso, now has no old scenery, a large number of refugees are influx, the city is getting more and more chaotic, gangs are rampant, the market is chaotic, and there are not many places under the full control of the government. Other places It just maintains a kind of existence, and is essentially controlled by other armed forces. These collapsed houses were attacked by bombs or shells. No one would build new houses in such a place, and the land would begin to fall into disuse." Muhammad Di has seen the scene here countless times, and in order to give Li Lan a more intuitive understanding of Somalia, he slowly explained it along the way.

There were several gunshots in the distance, and the crisp gunshots reached everyone's ears through the roar of cars.The soldiers began to be on alert, and the heavy machine gun on the roof of the armed off-road vehicle also opened the insurance.

"Don't be too nervous, this kind of sound is often heard in Somalia. The gunshots are still far away from here, and they are not directed at us." Seeing the convoy that has begun to be on high alert, Mohammedi, who has become accustomed to gunfire, quickly explained.

Li Lan also nodded, and said, "Tell the soldiers not to be too nervous and to stay alert."

"Yes." After Ahmed in the co-pilot's position conveyed Li Lan's order through the wireless walkie-talkie, he asked: "Sir, are we going to spend the night here at night?"

"Yes, I'll go back tomorrow." Li Lan nodded and came to Bosasso. He didn't want to leave immediately.

"I have booked a room at the Bosasso International Hotel, which is the safest place in Bosasso. Since Bossasso Terminal is one of the two major ports in Somalia, there are a lot of goods going in and out every day. So, here is also There are often foreigners to take care of, and they usually stay at the Bosasso International Hotel. It can be said that it is the safest place in Bosasso, and there will be no place to be armed there.” Mohammedi said.

"International Hotel, do you need a passport?" Li Lan smiled slightly.

"Hehe, you can have money in Somalia, basically no other requirements." Muhammad also smiled slightly.

The convoy headed towards the coastline. During the chat, a building surrounded by towering walls in the distance caught Li Lan's attention.

"What kind of building is that?" Li Lan said.

"That's Bosasso Prison, where there are civilians who violate the law and captured pirates." Mohammed explained.

"Oh, are the pirates locked up here?" Li Lan said.

"No, this is just one of the prisons. Some pirates are held. There are about one or two hundred people." Muhammad said.

"What about the other pirates?" Li Lan said.

"Some will be brought to the International Court of Justice, some will be held in other prisons, and some will not know where they are going." Mohammed shook his head.

"The pirates detained here were caught by government forces?" Li Lan said.

"Not necessarily, my friend, you also know that the Somali government has no ability to protect its own oceans. The pirates caught by the government forces are basically caught after the pirates landed. There, the pirates caught by the government forces Not many. They were mostly captured by foreign escort formations and passed through the Somali Marine Police. They were detained here.” Mohammed sighed and continued: “Actually, they are pirates, how many One is a true pirate."

"Why?" Li Lan seemed to have countless curiosities about pirates.

"My friend, not every Somalis who goes to sea is a pirate. You know that many of us Somalis are herders, but there are also many fishermen in Somalis. They used to fish for tuna and other fish. Now, How many fishermen can we find in Somalia? Our fishermen don’t dare to go out to sea at all. You can go to the seaside to see how many fishing boats are rusting there. Fishing boats from other countries go to our territorial waters to fish, let alone exclusive economy In the territorial waters, people can enter and leave our fishing grounds at will, let alone the exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf. This is a great irony to Somalia.” Mohammed was obviously a little excited.

"Sorry, my friend, I mentioned something that makes you unhappy." Li Lan sighed helplessly.

"It doesn't matter, these are facts, helpless and sad facts, whether you mention this question or not, these are facts that cannot be changed for more than ten years." Muhammad shook his head and continued: "I had one before. Good friend, he and I are classmates. We have studied everything at the University of East Africa for five years. My friend, do you know where he is now?"

Li Lan shook her head.

"He has been locked up here since last year. I used to come here every Friday to see him. But now, I haven't come here for a long time." Muhammad said.

"why?"

"His ancestors were fishermen and he has been fishing for a living. Last year, he was also on a fishing boat. I remember that when the tuna fishing season was officially the best season, they were fishing, and they met the Indian Navy warship escorting in the Gulf of Aden. At that time, the Indian warship did not give any warning and shelled the fishing boat. The shell hit the fishing boat. My friend’s father and younger brother were killed by the shell. In anger, my friend picked up a weapon and fired at the warship. He was arrested as a pirate and detained in Bosasso Prison.

do you know?This is not the first time a foreign warship shelled our fishing boat in our territorial waters, and it was far away from the warship. My friend's shooting at the warship was just a vent of anger. The warship was completely out of range.However, the Indian navy didn't even have the idea of ​​killing people. They just notified our maritime police that they had caught the pirates.After I learned the news, I asked for investigation in many ways, but the marine police ignored me.They are afraid of international forces and go around the group like dogs all day long."

"What about your friends now?" Li Lan didn't know what to say for a while, the sorrow of a weak country, how similar it was to China after the Sino-Japanese War.

"I don't know." Muhammad shook his head.

"Dead?" Li Lan said.

"I don't know, it is said that I was sent to another prison. I have no way of knowing the facts. Since then, I have never seen my friend again."

Seeing that Mohammedi was not in a good mood, Li Lan did not speak any more.

The team slowly turned around along the coast, where Li Lan saw a scene that made him very emotional.

The motorcade was passing a small village by the sea. Most of the houses in the village were made of stone and were very simple and could only be protected from wind. However, in a clearing in the village, he saw the children’s football goal made of stone. They kicked the ball with irregularly shaped foam, watching the scrawny child, wearing a shabby shorts, running barefoot on the gravel ground, cheering and kicking the ball.

The civil war in Somalia has continued for years, and the important reason for the turbulence is that the tribes rely on the patrilineal bloodline to develop their own armed forces. The disputes continue and the scale expands. Although psychologically prepared, the ak-47 rifle and the barbed wire inseparable from the building can be seen everywhere. All told Li Lan how messy this place is.

However, there are not only rifles full of gunpowder in Somalia, but also the tenacity, friendliness and yearning for a better life of Somali civilians in the war, which makes Li Lan always deeply moved.

When the convoy moved into the city of Bosasso, Li Lan saw many things that made him remember.

The storefronts are scattered on the street. There are no words on the signs, but a lot of pictures. What is sold inside will be drawn. The most striking thing is that each sign is painted with a US dollar pattern. To remind customers who come in, our shop only accepts US dollars.

Among the Mogadishu factions such as Somaliland, Puntland, Rahanvinland, and Aidid in this country, only Somaliland has a relatively sound administrative organization that can carry out normal economic operations.

Somalia has a high inflation rate.Periodic droughts not only push up food prices, but also cause a large number of livestock losses, and even cause national livelihood crises, increased debt and economic stagnation.There is no unified monetary policy in the country, and the interest rate level of Somalia's local currency has its own set, with obvious differences.

The foreign service industry and international smuggling are generally settled in U.S. dollars.Somalia’s borrowing in the international market has basically been frozen and stagnant in the past decade.70% of foreign creditors are official creditors.So far, there is no sign that the Somali government has made substantial progress in the process of seeking financing and debt relief.

After 1971, foreign funds were mainly obtained through aid.Since the mid-1990s, the financial system began to recover, and some new financial institutions were established, such as the Central Bank of Somaliland, Barakat Bank of Somalia, Commercial Bank of Somaasia, Central Bank of Puntland and Dahaheer Group. Company etc.

Among them, Daheer Group Corporation is the most powerful.Somalia lacks a systematic commercial bank, and there are few traditional commercial banks in China.There is no unified tax system in the country. Taxes are levied by each locality, which is very arbitrary, especially in the northern part of Somalia and the capital region. Taxation policies are notified at any time and change from time to time.

Here, one U.S. dollar can be exchanged for nearly thirty thousand Somali shillings.

Li Lan even saw the scene of shopping with a basket of money.