Safety forces in Kismayo, Somalia, have begun confiscating Islamic face veils, or niqabs, from girls as a consequence of considerations that jihadists would possibly use them to hide their identities throughout insurgency assaults. In response to town’s police chief, Warsame Ahmed Gelle, the crackdown started final Wednesday with officers stopping girls within the streets and mandating the removing of their veils. The ban was first launched in 2013 however was not often enforced. Nonetheless, a current surge within the garment’s use heightened safety considerations and prompted the authorities to take the ban critically. Kismayo and its neighboring areas are the one locations in Jubaland the place authorities can implement the ban, on condition that al-Shabab militants management massive elements of southern Somalia. The group, which is affiliated with al-Qaeda, has been waging an insurgency in opposition to Somalia’s UN-backed authorities for almost 20 years and the crackdown follows a lethal assault it lately orchestrated in Mogadishu.
SOURCE: BBC