Foreign Office advises westerners not to travel to Somalia
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
United Kingdom`s Foreign Office strongly advises people especially Westerns not to travel to Somalia as a result of the current situation in the country. We advise against all travel to Somalia because of the threat of widespread conflict, the dangerous level of criminal activity and general internal insecurity. Tension is very high. The Council of Islamic Courts has called for Jihad against any external forces supporting the Transitional Federal Institutions in Baidoa, stressed Foreign Office.
Forces on both sides have been fully mobilised and fighting between them could occur at any moment and develop into widespread conflict. We advise any British citizens in Somalia to leave.
Westerners and those working for western organisations have been targeted. A western journalist was shot fatally in Mogadishu on 23 June 2006. A western nurse and her escort were shot dead in Mogadishu on 17 September 2006. Piracy has been a major problem along the Somali coastline.
There is a high threat from terrorism in Somalia. On 30 November 2006, a suicide bomb killed six at a checkpoint in Baidoa and on 18 September 2006, car bombs exploded in Baidoa killing 11 people. There is no British representation in Somalia. Somaliland is covered by the British Embassy in Addis Ababa whilst other parts of Somalia are covered by the British High Commission in Nairobi, concludes FCO.
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