Somali Islamists storm radio station,Somalia: Radio Station Attacked

 up date. Somalia: Radio Station Attacked
Mogadishu - Somali hardline Islamists stormed an independent radio station in Mogadishu Friday, taking the FM transmitter and a number of computers, journalists and witnesses said.Dozens of heavily armed fighters from the Shebab group stormed the premises of Somaliweyn radio, one of the independent stations operating in restive north Mogadishu.The Shebab fighters entered the area early Friday after brief fighting with the Somali forces who previously controlled the neighbourhood."Shebab fighters came into our premises and took the FM transmitter and three computers with them. They gave us no reason for the raid and we don't know why they targeted us," a journalist with the radio said on condition of anonymity."We already complied with their regulations to no longer broadcast songs and music," he said.Witnesses confirmed that Shebab militants stormed the radio station after taking control of the area."Dozens of heavily armed Shebab fighters drove an armed vehicle into the premises and made off with some equipment. I'm not sure what exactly what but I saw some computers," Ali Mohamed, a resident in the area said.Officials of the al-Qaeda-linked Shebab group could not be reached for comment.Mogadishu-based radios in mid-April stopped airing music of any description or even jingles after another hardline Islamist group, Hezb al-Islam, ordered them to do so.Hezb al-Islam and the Shebab control much of Mogadishu, the scene of near-daily clashes with the Western-backed Somali government forces. - Sapa-AFP