Al-Shabaab Takes Control of Radio Stations in Somalia

Terror Group Al-Shabaab - Attacking Press Freedom

The Al-Qaeda proxy in Somalia, Al Shabaab, have taken over radio stations in the cities under their control and have detain the few independent journalists who have not fled the country. These claims were made by reporters and rights groups. They said, Al Shabaab, a ruthless rebel group that has serious links to Al Qaeda, had closed a radio station in the southern city of Kismayu and seized one in Baydhaba in southwestern Somalia, the other main city under its control. Omar Faruk Osman, the general secretary of the National Union of Somali Journalists. reportedly said “They replaced the station in Kismayu with one that they use for their broadcasts. And they have taken over the one in Baydhaba.  According to him, “This is a crackdown on freedom of expression and media law.”

A week ago, the director Shabelle Radio station based in Mogadishu, Ahmed Omar Salihi was briefly detained by the al Shabaab administration in Bardhere, Gedo region, and freed after being told not to air any content about the government. There is a serious battle going on between the western-backed government of President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed and Al Shabaab and other rebel groups. The government controls little more than a few blocks of the capital. The country is more or less in a lawless state as the threat of terrorism and piracy still looms in a country that has been divided into anarchy.

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