Al-Shabaab Rebels Support ISIS As Somalia Ban The Holidays!
Recent news revealed that the Government of Somalia has effectively banned the celebration of Christmas and New Year for fear of evoking Islamist attacks, especially after news of rebel Islamic extremists have recently pledged to ISIS, according to sources.
In light of the recent news about the activities perpetrated by ISIS, the Government of Somalia has banned the celebration of Christmans and New Year in order to avoid an Islamist attack, as stated by USA Today.
"Christmas and New Year celebrations could damage the faith of the Muslim community," Director General of The Religious Affairs Ministry Sheikh Mohamed Khayrow said to reporters, courtesy of Yahoo News.
It was elaborated further by Supreme Religious Council of Somalia's Sheikh Nur Barud Gurhan when he stated that the Somalia Islamist extremist group and al-Qaeda allies, al-Shabaab militants, may carry out their attacks, according to USA Today.
"We Islamic scholars are warning against the celebration of such events which are not relevant to the principles of our religion," Sheikh Nur Barud Gurhan said to reporters in the capitol Mogadishu, courtesy of the International Business Times. "Such events give also al-Shabaab incentive to carry out attacks," he added.
Although similar restrictions were imposed this week by Tajikistan and Brunei, the news of Somalia banning the celebration of Christmas for fear of ISIS-influenced attacks, might further inculcate anti-Christian sentiment in the region, as stated by the International Business Times.
"I find it difficult to understand how the arbitrary abrogation of Christians might help to deter al-Shabaab's attacks," Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Kansas Ebenezer Obadare said, courtesy of the source.
"Not only is the government of Somalia giving in to insurgents and their radical ideologies, unfortunately, it is trampling on the legitimate rights of Somali Christians in the process," he added.
In more recent news, 200 Islamic extremist fighters severed ties with Somalia's al-Shabaab rebels and pledged their allegiance to ISIS, as reported by The Christian Science Monitor.
News of the rebel faction in Somalia revealed that Nigeria's Boko Haram extremists urged the said al-Shabaab rebels to join them in pledging allegiance to ISIS and sever their allied ties with al-Qaeda, according to the source.
