Somalia has announced that Somalis should no longer refer to the militant sect waging an insurgency in the country as al-Shabaab, APA has learnt on Monday.
al-Shabaab means the boys in Arabic and has been the name used by the sect in its drive to unseat the government in Mogadishu and replace it with a theocraticc government with strict Islamic values.
Seven years ago, the government had used the name Ugus to refer to the sect as a group of mass murderers who had wreacked untld suffering on Somalis.
The Ministry of Religious Affairs ministry issued a statement calling on Somalis to refer to the insurgents as Khawarij, a non-flattering word used to describe undesirables instead of al-Shabaab which in the government’s opinion does not reflect their deviance.
Under the ban, religious authorities are also prohibited from any activity with the militant sect or allowed to interact with them in meetings.
The government said it is waging war against the sect against all fronts including on how the militants should be viewed and regarded by the public.
Meanwhile al-Shabab had threatened retribution against observers of the government’s sanctioned new name.
The miitants recently claimed responsbility for a twin bomb attack on the capital Mogadishu in which over 100 people were killed.
WN/as/APA