Hayaan Media Development Center is expressing its disapproval of the recent order in which the Islamic militant group Hizbul Islam banned the local independent radio stations in Mogadishu from airing all related music programs – this the first  verdict of its kind imposed on the media stations since the rise of Islamic radicalism in Somalia.

“We see the music ban by Hizbul Islam as another pressure on the free press in the capital and we as Hayaan media officials are absolutely unhappy with the way the Islamic administrators are dealing with the media,” said Abdiweli Ibrahim Aden ” Garyare” The East Africa Project Coordinator of “HMDC”

On Saturday, a senior leader of Hizbul Islam, Moalim Hash Mohamed Farah told reporters in Mogadishu that his group is ordering all the media houses in the capital to stop broadcasting any music and songs. “We are giving them 10 days to stop airing music. If any radio fails to obey the Islamic order it will face bad consequence,” he added.

The ban will have an impact on effecting around six media stations based in the areas controlled by the Islamists in the capital as earlier oppressive rulings by Al-Shabaab group forced many professional journalists to flee the country into abroad.

HMDC is underlining that the freedom of press in Somalia continue to go through broader challenges from the warring sides battling for the country’s power. Journalism is the most difficult task in the conflict zones with the price of life.