Islam Times - Somalia Shabab imposes ban on Internet

Islam Times - Al-Shabab fighters have announced a ban on using the Internet in the areas of Somalia that are under their control.

The group on Wednesday gave a 15-day ultimatum to all communication companies providing web services to end their operations.

"Any company or individual that is found ignoring the call will be considered to be working with the enemy,” it said in a statement.

The statement did not give further details about the motive behind the decision.

Al-Shabab has been driven out of Somalia's major towns by an 18,000-strongs UN-mandated African Union force known as AMISOM, which is made up of troops from Uganda, Burundi, Djibouti, Sierra Leone and Kenya.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has recently warned about the deteriorating security situation in Somalia, saying the African country may slide back into being a failed state.

Somalia did not have an effective central government from 1991 until August 2012. In September 2012, MPs meeting in Mogadishu elected Sheikh Mohamud as the new president of Somalia with a big majority.