TRIPOLI, May 14 (Xinhua) -- May in Tripoli is full of greenery, and roadside wildflowers are in their most blooming of the year. Early in the morning, in the bustling traffic of the coastal road, I drove my son to school as usual. On the walls of the buildings along the way, bullet marks are still clearly visible. I took a deep breath and prayed silently, "I hope today is a peaceful day!" ”
On March 19, 2011, the United States and its allies launched a military operation aimed at overthrowing the regime of Muammar el-Qaddafi in Libya, codenamed "Odyssey Dawn." Yet, 13 years after the so-called "Dawn" operation, the Libyan people are still mired in darkness: political rivalry, armed conflict, economic decline...... The peace and tranquility of the past, the quiet years of the past, I don't know when I will return.
For more than a decade, the United Nations has led the political reconstruction of Libya many times, but all of them have failed for various reasons, and armed conflicts have occurred from time to time. For Libyans who have experienced similar incidents repeatedly, the biggest concern is that armed conflict could flare up again at any time.
After sending off the children, I went to the vegetable market to buy as usual. Recall that before 2011, education, medical care, water, electricity, gasoline, etc. were almost free in Libya, and food prices were low, and 1.3 Libyan dinars could be exchanged for 1 dollar. Because of the low cost of the family and the government's incentives for childbearing, the older generation of Libyans were willing to have more children, and I have nine siblings.
Today, these are history. The black market exchange rate of the US dollar has risen to 7.2 Libyan dinars per dollar, the subsidy received by each household has been greatly reduced, and the supply of electricity and gasoline has been scarce, making feeding a heavy burden for ordinary families. I vaguely remember that on the night of my wife's delivery, the power went out in the hospital, the generator ran out of fuel, and finally my baby was born in a delivery room full of candles.
Over the past few years, a large number of young people in Libya have dropped out of school because of the war and joined local armed forces to earn a living. Cathay Pacific can be safe, born in the current Libya, where is the future of my children? I couldn't explain to my young child every shot I heard, and I couldn't bear to tell him that an unknown armed conflict could break a brief moment of peace at any moment. Since 2011, I have moved my family five times to escape the fighting. We look forward to living a stable life, as before.
On the evening of March 8, the Tripoli International Stadium reopened, with a ceremony that attracted nearly 40,000 spectators. When fireworks were lit and hundreds of drones lifted into the night sky, the audience shouted, "God bless Libya, please save us from suffering." "Everyone burst into tears, this is a grand occasion that Libya has not had in more than a decade, and it is also the desire of all Libyans for the country to move towards peace and prosperity.
However, just over a month later, on 11 April, a shootout broke out in the centre of Tripoli. That night, as I was taking my family for a walk in the city center, gunshots suddenly rang out all around. My family and I took refuge in the sound of a fierce shootout. Fortunately, there were no casualties in this brief riot, but it cast a shadow on people's moods.
No one is willing to get used to war, and those who have experienced it know its horrors. We cannot predict when armed conflict will break out again. It's like spring in the Mediterranean in North Africa, when the sun is shining, there is a sudden wind and sand. I can only keep praying that the old years will be quiet and come back soon. (Translated by reporter Pan Xiaojing)