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Somalia 2020 OSAC Crime & Safety Report

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Somalia 2020 OSAC Crime & Safety Report This is an annual report produced in conjunction with the Regional Security Office at the U.S. Embassy in Mogadishu, Somalia. OSAC encourages travelers to use this report to gain baseline knowledge of security conditions in Somalia. For more in-depth information, review OSAC’s Somalia country page for original OSAC reporting, consular messages, and contact information, some of which may be available only to private-sector representatives with an OSAC password. Travel Advisory The current U.S. Department of State Travel Advisory at the date of this report’s publication assesses Somalia at Level 4, indicating travelers should not travel to the country due to crime, terrorism, civil unrest, health issues, kidnapping, and piracy. Review OSAC’s report, Understanding the Consular Travel Advisory System. Overall Crime and Safety Situation A strong familiarity with Somalia and/or extensive prior travel to the region does not reduce travel risk. Those considering travel to Somalia, including Somaliland and Puntland, should obtain kidnap and recovery insurance, as well as medical evacuation insurance, prior to travel. Inter-clan, inter-factional, and criminal feuding can flare up with little/no warning. Crime Threats The U.S. Department of State has assessed Mogadishu as being a CRITICAL-threat location for crime directed at or affecting official U.S. government interests. Violent crime such as kidnapping, bombings, indirect fire attacks, murder, assassinations, armed robbery, carjacking, and illegal roadblocks by armed individuals in uniforms occur throughout Somalia, including in Mogadishu and the self-declared autonomous region of Somaliland. Some schools and other facilities acting as cultural rehabilitation centers (i.e. dhaqan celis, meaning “returning to Somali culture”) are operating in Somalia with inadequate or nonexistent licensing and oversight. Reports of minors and young adults held in these facilities against their will and undergoing physical abuse are common. Transportation-Safety Situation Road Safety and Road Conditions Road conditions in Somalia differ significantly from those in the United States. Road conditions and road safety standards do not meet U.S. or EU standards. Traffic lights/signs are a rarity, and roads lack maintenance, causing poor conditions and making driving hazardous. Additionally, little street lighting exists; therefore, night driving can be dangerous. Vehicle accidents are common, as are accidents involving pedestrians and animals in the road. Traffic enforcement is minimal. Illegal roadblocks, banditry, and other violent incidents, including the threat of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and threats to U.S. citizens and other foreign nationals are common throughout Somalia. Somalia 2020 OSAC Crime & Safety Report Review OSAC’s reports, Road Safety Abroad, Driving Overseas: Best Practices, and Evasive Driving Techniques; and read the State Department’s webpage on driving and road safety abroad. Public Transportation Conditions There are few, if any, formal travel services or organizations that provide services in Somalia. Aviation/Airport Conditions The United States continues to be concerned about the risks to U.S. civil aviation operating in the territory and airspace of Somalia due to the hazards associated with terrorist and militant activity. As there is no direct commercial air service to the United States by carriers registered in Somalia, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has not assessed the government of Somalia’s Civil Aviation Authority for compliance with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) aviation safety standards. Additionally, as of December 2019, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) continues to prohibit U.S. civil aviation from flying below flight level (FL) 260 in the territory and airspace of Somalia. For additional background information regarding FAA flight prohibitions and advisories for U.S. civil aviation, consult the Federal Aviation Administration’s Prohibitions, Restrictions and Notices. In 2016, an al-Shabaab operative using an IED targeted an airplane departing from Mogadishu’s Aden Adde International Airport (MGQ). The mid-air detonation damaged the airplane and resulted in one fatality (the bomber) and two injuries. The airplane returned and landed safely at MGQ. Due to security concerns, U.S. embassy personnel in neighboring Djibouti may not take commercial flights originating in Somalia that stop in Djibouti as part of a multi-leg flight. Maritime Conditions After several years of quiet, pirates attacked several ships in 2017 and 2018. Although piracy incidents again tapered off in 2019, the capacity for nefarious actors to conduct piracy remains. Avoid sailing near the Somalia coastline, as previous attacks have occurred as far as 1,000 nautical miles off the coast. Merchant vessels, fishing boats, and recreational craft all risk seizure by pirates and having their crews held for ransom in the waters off the Horn of Africa, especially in the international waters near Somalia. Somali pirates tend to be heavily armed, with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades; the use of "mother ships" from which skiffs can be launched to attack vessels allows these pirates to extend the range of their operations hundreds of nautical miles offshore. If transit around the Horn of Africa is necessary, vessels should travel in convoys, maintain good communications contact, and follow Maritime Security Center – Horn of Africa (MSC-HOA) guidance. Consult the Maritime Administration’s Horn of Africa Piracy page for information on maritime advisories, self-protection measures, and naval forces in the region. Somalia 2020 OSAC Crime & Safety Report Terrorism Threat The U.S. Department of State has assessed Mogadishu as being a CRITICAL-threat location for terrorism directed at or affecting official U.S. government interests. The terrorism situation in Somalia remains unstable and dangerous. Terrorist operatives and armed groups in Somalia continue to attack Somali authorities, forces associated with the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), and non-military targets. Kidnapping, bombings, murder, illegal roadblocks, banditry, use of indirect fire, and other violent incidents to foreign nationals can occur in any region of Somalia. Avoid places where large crowds gather and government officials frequent, including hotels, restaurants, shopping areas, and public buildings. Portions of Somalia are under Federal Government of Somalia control with the military support of AMISOM. However, al-Shabaab, an al-Qa’ida affiliate, has demonstrated the capability to carry out attacks in government-controlled territory with particular emphasis on targeting hotels government officials frequent; government facilities; foreign delegation facilities and movements; and restaurants, coffee shops, and other commercial establishments frequented by government officials, foreign nationals, merchants, and the Somali diaspora. Al-Shabaab maintains strongholds in rural areas in the south, where it controls a large swathe of the Lower and Middle Juba and Lower Shabelle regions. Al-Shabaab is also responsible for numerous high-profile bombings and shootings in the northeast in Puntland State Insurgents conducted high-profile attacks in 2018 and 2019, many of which targeted government officials and candidates. These attacks consisted of complex assaults, improvised explosive device (IED) detonations, vehicle-borne IEDs (VBIEDs) and suicide bombings. Insurgents targeted hotels where candidates stay and various Federal Government of Somalia facilities in Mogadishu and Mogadishu’s MGQ airport, which houses most international aid workers and diplomatic facilities. Al-Shabaab-planned assassinations, suicide bombings, and indiscriminate armed attacks in civilian populated areas occur regularly in Somalia. Significant attacks in the past year include: • December 28: A large VBIED detonated at a major road intersection in Mogadishu, killing over 80 people and injuring over 120. • December 10: A complex attack on the SYL Hotel in Mogadishu killed several people. • October 13: Nine mortar rounds struck the UN compound at MGQ Airport, injuring at least one. • September 30: A complex attack including multiple VBIEDs and a ground assault element targeted a military base at Baledogle. • January 18: A complex attack consisting of an ambush on an AMISOM convoy, followed by IEDs targeting the responding AMISOM force, killed dozens of people and injured many more. • January 1: Seven mortar rounds struck the UN compound at MGQ Airport, injuring three people. VBIED attacks throughout Somalia continue to occur on an irregular basis, approximately once per week. Firefights throughout Somalia, including in Mogadishu, are frequent and often go unreported. Stray rounds present a significant hazard, including on the MGQ airport compound. ISIS networks in Somalia aim to replace the Federal Government of Somalia with an Islamic state, implement a strict interpretation of Sharia, and replace al-Shabaab as the dominant armed opposition to federal authority. ISIS-Somalia directs operations, recruitment, and training from Puntland, conducting sporadic attacks against AMISOM and Somali Government personnel throughout the country. Somalia 2020 OSAC Crime & Safety Report While Somaliland has experienced a level of stability not present in other parts of Somalia, the Department of State continues to warn U.S. citizens against all travel to Somalia, including
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