20100413
africagoodnews

There was virtually no music played on Somali radio stations on Tuesday following orders from hardline militants that such move is un-Islamic. The militants have also banned bras, musical ringtones and movies bringing back memories of strict social rules imposed on Afghans in the late 90s by Talibans.

"Now I think we are going to be forced to hear only the horrific sounds of the gunfire and the explosions," said Khadiya Omar, a 22-year-old Mogadishu resident who called music a "tranquilizer" to help him forget life's troubles in an AP report.

Residents were awestruck by the news as Somalia has a tradition of music. Rock, rap and love songs from the U.S., Europe and Africa could be heard on Somali stations before the ban according to the report.

As many as a dozen Mogadishu-based radio stations stopped playing music on Tuesday after the insurgent group Hizbul Islam gave the order earlier this month.

However, Somalis in the country's capital can still listen to music on two stations: one that the government controls and another that is funded by the United Nations. Both stations are based in the small area of Mogadishu under the control of government and African Union forces.

Similar edicts have been imposed on stations in the southern Somali regions held by the Islamist group al-Shabab.

Islamic insurgents control much of Mogadishu and have been trying to topple the fragile government for three years. Somalia has not had an effective government for 19 years.

"We are in a war-ravaged country and music is what brings us relief from anger, frustration, depression, fatigue and other emotional and physical pain," said Isaq Ali, a Mogadishu resident.