APA-Mogadishu-(Somalia) The Al Qaeda-linked Somali militant group Al Shabab has banned school children in the border town of Beled Hawo from crossing into the nearby Kenyan city of Mandera for education, residents confirm here Tuesday.
Elders in the border town of Beled Hawo confirmed to APA that for the second day running, school children are not attending school because they were banned from crossing into Kenya in search of education.
“The Al Shabab authorities in the city told us that we cannot send our children to the Kenyan side of the border, alleging that education there is illegal according to the Islamic religion,” an elder in the town, Hajji Ahmed told APA by telephone on Tuesday.
He said that Al Shabab said in public that any student who tries to cross the border will be killed, saying that education in a Christian country is totally against Islam.
“I have three school-age children and they are remaining at home since yesterday, there is no education and I don’t know what to do,” a mother who demanded anonymity for security reasons said in a telephone conversation from Beled Hawo, a small town near the Kenyan city of Mandera.
Last month, the Al Qaeda-proxy in Somalia Al Shabab banned bell ringing in schools saying that churches also ring such bells. The militant group also previously banned listening to music or songs and playing or watching football matches in areas under their control, saying that football is a satanic act.
In Somalia football is the most populous sporting event, but in militant-controlled regions, football or any other sport is seen as illegal and something not compatible with Islam.
