War is Boring: In Somalia, a Three-Way Battle over Popular Radio

The assault on Somalia’s radio stations came from three directions. On April 3, the Islamic armed group Hizbul Islam threatened to shut down FM radio stations in the areas it controls in the country’s south. The group accused the stations of playing music it deemed “un-Islamic.” “You have only 10 days to prepare for new programs to substitute for those evil voices to which you are accustomed,” Hizbul Islam spokesman Moalim Hashi said. Then on April 9, al-Shabab, a rival Islamic group and the major power throughout much of southern Somalia, targeted the BBC’s radio broadcasts. For a decade the […]