Authorities in Somalia warn against financing terrorism

A soldier walks past wreckage after an attack on the Afrik hotel in Mogadishu, Somalia, Feb. 1, 2021. Though security forces eventually ended the attack, Somalia's government warned on Saturday that anyone who pays extortion money to al-Shabab would face legal action.[VOA]

Somalia's government Saturday sent stern warnings to businesses and individuals that pay extortion money to al-Shabab, saying the full force of the law would be brought against traders and individuals who pay the al-Qaida ally.

Presenting a unified front, Somalia's Minister of Internal Security Abdullahi Sheikh Ismail and Minister of Religious Affairs Mukhtar Ali Robow joined the government's attorney general and the deputy minister of information at a joint news conference in Mogadishu, Somalia. They said, any business found to have paid or collaborated with al-Shabab in any way would "face legal action," including having their government-issued trading permits revoked.