Tuesday, July 01, 2008

Somalia: Islamists attack traditional dance...

No ice cream and no cultural boogie, either. Got it?

Armed Islamic courts union fighters have assaulted at a cultural boogie in El-Ghelle village north of Balad district 30km north of Mogadishu on Sunday night according to the residents.

The fighters were reported to have opened fire on the site that was going on drum's beating and songs with traditional jazz. The attack happened following the Islamic fighters nearby the site heard the noise of music equipments being beaten and the noise of the songs the participants were chanting.

Dozens of men and women were taking part the dance. The wounded people were man and women struck by the bullets were opened on them. Some of the participants barefooted fled to bush area those are still missing.

Its yet unknown the motive behind the attack.....
.....was beleaguered on the dance location by the UIC fighters. In their six months rule era the have banned the music ceremonies. Islamic courts union fighters raided a wedding ceremony in Somali capital Mogadishu. Twenty heavily armed men fired shots in the air and took musical instruments from the band performing in a home in Somalia's capital city.

The band singers were entertaining guests at the wedding party was told by the gunmen it was performing "satanic" music contrary to the Quran. We were ordered to stop the music and empty the house which we all complied with immediately," said Hayir Ali Roble, one of the musicians performing at the party. "We followed their orders and kept our musical instruments in a room but they forcefully entered the house and took the instruments, and in the process broke some of them."

Roble said he did not know why the militiamen struck one of the women at the party with sticks. The Islamic court confirmed the raid but denied that women were beaten. Khadijo Weheliye, who organized the wedding party for her son, said she had sought and received permission from the Islamic court to have music at the celebration.

"We didn't know what their aim was because we had asked the Islamic court for permission to hold the party," she said. "They gave us a permission letter this morning, but attacked our home in the afternoon."