Mogadishu: English version

A truck bomb exploded at the crowded PK5 intersection in the capital of Somalia on October 14, 2017, killing at least 400 people and injuring hundreds more. It is the deadliest in the history of the country. The intersection in the Hodan District is at the heart of a bustling commercial district of Moga-dishu with shops and hotels. The attack was not claimed, but the authorities have no doubt that the Somali Islamists Shebaab, linked to Al-Qaeda, are the perpetrators.This tragedy shocked us all in Djibouti. We were bruised in our flesh. This brotherly people deserves better than that. He is just beginning to recover from the years of destruction and chaos. Warlords and Shebaabs insurgents have dashed the hopes of an entire people. And when hope points to the cracked horizon, here is Mogadishu who is still bleeding, stabbed in the heart. The shock wave is spreading across the country, across the region.That day, I watch television, unable to hold back my tears. This city that I have known during my travels mourns its dead. I cannot remain insensitive to the pain of Somalia. And the idea of giving free rein to my poetry, to paint this pain, to revisit a little bit the brutal history of this sinking country has gained ground.Thus was born this collection "Mogadishu", in pain, in tears. But he also bathes in an ocean of hope. The poem "They too are entitled to tributes" is the first of this collection. A person is said to have died elsewhere so that the whole world would stand up as one man and pay homage to him. Hundreds of people, fathers, mothers, children, students, human lives were extinguished with the breath of this explosion and this does not make the headlines on the television news... timidly the world condemns the attack. I cannot remain indifferent to this tragedy. Mogadiscio, this is my way of being in solidarity with this bruised people. My copyright will be re-turned to charities which assist the survivors of this crime. I would like to thank Mr. Ali Moussa Iye who welcomed my project with great enthusiasm and who devoted a lot of his time to read and preface the collection. Sometimes you need the wise advice of an elder and you've been there, Mr. Ali. Simply thank you. I also thank Dr Djaltou Aboubaker, always with me to encourage me and especially to read and correct my doodles. I can never thank you enough, Dr Djaltou.Thank you to all of you who supported me as soon as I formulated this project on my Facebook page on October 15, 2017, publicly or privately. Thank you for encouraging me poem after poem, to move on. The book is there. It's for Somalia. Thank you for reading it with great compassion. And when you get to the end, read the Fatiha for all these harmless victims. Let us all pray for peace to return to Somalia one day.Thank you and good reading!