The government of Somalia has issued an edict banning the use of the term al-Shabaab in reference to the group of armed anti-government militants.
Speaking to journalists in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, the country’s intelligence chief Abdirahman Mohamud Turyare insisted that the al-Qaeda-linked rebel group instead be called ‘the group that massacres the Somali people.’
“The name al-Shabaab means ‘The Youth’ and that is a good name. We will not allow that good name to be tarnished,” Turyare said.
“The enemy we are fighting is called ‘UGUS’ – the acrnonym for the phrase in Somali. That is their official name.”
“You all know what they do. What they do is massacre people,” Turyare added.
Somali media groups expressed deep concern over the suggested move on Monday.
“Somalia is one of the most dangerous places for journalists to work and the government’s decision further puts our lives in greater risk.” Hassan Ali Geesey, chairman of Somali Independent Media Houses Association (SIMHA), told Al Jazeera.
“We have to be neutral. We are independent journalists. We cannot work like state media. Even the international media calls them al-Shabaab. If the government doesn’t go back on this decision many journalists will stop working,” Geesey said.
Meanwhile, al-Shabaab have said they will not tolerate journalists calling them names and taking sides in their fight with the UN-backed Somali government.
“We see this as a weakness from the apostate government. No one has a right to insult us. Anyone who calls us names we will respond appropriately,” an al-Shabaab spokesman told Al Jazeera.
Somalia is the deadliest country in Africa for reporters to operate, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, which in 2014 ranked Somalia as the third most dangerous place for them to operate. Last Thursday unidentified gunmen shot dead Daud Ali Omar and his wife at his home in the south-central town of Baidoa. Omar was a news producer at the pro-government privately-owned Radio Baidoa station. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Since 1992, 56 journalists have been killed in Somalia.
