MOGADISHU, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Islamist insurgents in Somalia on Friday banned rebroadcasts of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and Voice of America (VOA) on local the FM stations and confiscated the equipment of an FM station that solely relays BBC programs 24 hours a day. "From today onwards all FM (radio stations) that rebroadcast the BBC inside the Islamic Wilayats (regions) shall stop broadcasting and all their equipment will be confiscated," said a statement issued by Al Shabaab, an Islamist group that controls much of south and central Somali regions.

Soon after the statement was issued, fighters from the Islamist rebel movement stormed an FM station that broadcasts BBC programs including the Somali language service of the station in Mogadishu.

The group accused the BBC of implementing what it termed as the agenda of the colonizer Crusades a term they use to refer to non- Muslims particularly Christians.

Al Shabaab also banned the VOA from rebroadcasting the programs from its Somali language section in Mogadishu.

Both outlets use various FM stations in Mogadishu and other regions to air their programs to the region.

Late last week another Islamist movement, the Hezbul Islam, issued a 10-day ultimatum for FM radio stations in Mogadishu to stop broadcasting music on their stations.

Islamist groups, who are fighting the internationally recognized Somali government, see music and films as un-Islamic and ban them in areas under their control in south and center of Somalia.

The groups want to establish an Islamic state in the war torn horn of African nation that has been without a strong central government for almost two decades.