Africa
Ugandan peace troops cling to Mogadishu’s K4 crossroads
An African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) watches a building where a suspected Shebab sniper hides at the junction K4 (Kilometer 4), a strategic roundabout in Mogadishu on January 26, 2010. AFP PHOTO/YASUYOSHI CHIBA
Posted Thursday, January 28 2010 at 17:45
Hezb al-Islam and their insurgency comrades from the Al Qaeda-inspired Shebab group are implementing a very strict form of Sharia (Islamic law) in the areas they control.
The Hezb al-Islam statement did not make clear what forms of punishment would be reserved for diehard gamers caught flouting the ban.
However, in recent months across Somalia, people found dancing to traditional songs have been flogged, men guilty of trimming their beards arrested and youth playing football in shorts reprimanded by religious police units.
Satellite television is also banned in many areas and there are no cinemas left in central and southern Somalia, which are under Islamist control.
Rights groups have accused all sides involved of recruiting children in the fighting that has rocked the country since the 1991 ouster of former president Mohamed Siad Barre.
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