6O3T Somalia News 22 September 2024

“Good afternoon to all,

We apologize for the silence in our communications.

Given the very dangerous circumstances, in which the entire team found itself, we decided to wait until we arrived in safe territory, to send the information that everyone was waiting for, and obviously to anticipate the return, in agreement also with the institutional contacts we had.

Obviously the operations were cancelled, the whole team is in good health, although mentally very stressed by the definitely traumatic experience that happened to us, although all precautions had been implemented.

When you travel the world, the unexpected is just around the corner !!!

The team now, is on its way to Europe.

As soon as each operator has arrived home, it will be our pleasure/duty to share with the whole ham radio community, our terrible experience in a land where no one is in charge, but at the same time everyone has a say.

We thank everyone for your messages of support.”

That is the latest communication from the Italian team. Plenty to read in between lines. I reckon the matter was fairly serious, and there was probably an intervention by the Italian Government that resulted in a traumatic, but positive outcome. Unfortunately, I don’t think any of the 500kg of equipment is coming back home. There are a number of countries like Somalia where corruption at the Government level is rampant.

There are at least two countries where amateur radio is considered an illegal activity: North Korea and Turkmenistan. A number of island countries where access is prohibited or heavily restricted under excuse of wildlife protection. Plus two dozen countries constantly in a war-like state where any operation is simply unsafe and out of the question.

Working all 340 and having them confirmed by QSL card is an art form reserved only for the most dedicated chasers.