Somalia bans use of Al Shabaab name and asks to refer to the group as a “deviant sect”

RIVAL TIMES|MOGADISHU: The Government of Somalia has prohibited the use of the name Al Shabaab to refer to this terrorist group, which maintains ties to Al Qaeda, and has demanded that it be referred to as ‘jauarij’, a word that means “deviant sect”.

The Somali Ministry of Religious Affairs has indicated in a statement that the decision is part of the recent military offensive against the group and has prohibited Muslim clerics in the country from having contact with the formation.

Thus, it has also highlighted that “the dissemination of its harmful ideas, based on murder, suicide and self-destruction is prohibited” and has stated that the activities of Al Shabaab “are not based on the Islamic religion.”

The ministry has stressed that any contact with the group “is a crime” and has warned that “anyone found responsible will be brought to justice”, before thanking the clerics “who explain the correct path designed for the Islamic region.

“The ministry asks the Somali people to unite to support the good and to fulfill their task in supporting the government’s attack against the ‘Juarijita’ groups that shed the blood of the Somali people,” the Ministry of Religious Affairs has riveted. Somali in his statement, published through his account on the social network Twitter.