Islamists in control of southern Somalia have launched an offensive against films. Cinemas in the region have been banned for a number of years, but now the authorities are checking up in the home. It has been announced that people watching films at home will be punished.

Televisions are only allowed to be used to watch news programmes. Residents of the port city of Kismayo say the authorities have begun checking people's mobile phones. If films are found to have been recorded, corporal punishment is metered out.

Somali government forces backed by Ethiopian troops expelled the Islamist fighters from the capital Mogadishu at the end of 2006. Since then, the Islamists have regained control of large areas of the country. Their aim is to introduce strict Islamic sharia law in the whole of Somalia.

photo: flickr