Al Shabaab to Punish 15 Women for "Public Expression of Joy"

Afgoye Somalia (Alshahid) -Somalia militants loyal to al-Shabaab, have seized some15 women accused of ululating at a wedding in the country’s town of Afgoye.

The women who were expressing joy were held in Afgoye district in Lower Shabelle region, some 30 kilometres south of Mogadishu by the radical Islamist group, alshabaab, which is strongly opposing to the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia.

Residents said that the women were taken to a detention centre in the district headquarter and have been charged with public expression of joy, which the fanatical Islamists prohibited.

Ululation is very popular among Somali women, especially among women in the southern and central regions who combine with songs and dances locally known as baraanbur to grace weddings and other celebrations.

Al-Shabaab also apprehended on Monday 10 youth in the so-called Afgoye-Mogadishu corridor, southwest of the Somali capital, where most of those who fled the war in Mogadishu found shelter.

The youngsters were accused of playing football, which the Islamists prohibited in May.

On 21st of May, an order from al-Shabaab office in Afgoye town ordered the youth to stop playing or watching football. Instead, they were instructed to attend the prayers at mosques and the religious sessions adapted to raise public consciousness on jihad (holy war).

If sentenced, residents in the district assume that the women and the boys may get fine, jail sentences or public disciplining like flogging.

The militants consider many social expressions like games, music and folk dances as incompatible with Islam. As a result, Radios and TVs in the al-Shabaab controlled areas have been banned from playing music and other lyrics since April 2009.