The Somali government has vowed to terminate licenses of business centres found guilty of financing al-Shabaab amid the war on terror intensified.
The country’s trade minister, Jibril Abdirashid Haji has ordered businesses not to pay Al-Shabaab, warning businesses that pay AS will have their licences revoked.
Haji said his ministry received information about import companies which share details of other import traders with al-Shabaab.
“Somali businessmen are complaining that before they receive a container shipped from China, Al-Shabaab informs them of the details of their consignment and asks for extortion. We have come to realise that Al-Shabaab gets the information from three to four companies which are cooperating with the terror group,” said the minister.
The Minister called on the Ports minister to revoke the license of all these companies, saying his ministry is ready to share the list with the ports ministry.
The Somali government has intensified operations against al-Shabaab in central and southern Somalia.
For the last two months, the government forces collaborating with local militias liberated dozens of villages and towns in central Somalia.
The country’s information said that hundreds of al-Shabaab fighters were in the ongoing operations.
