NISA detains pro-Al-Shabaab cleric near Somali capital

The cleric has been spreading Al-Shabaab propaganda through his sermons at the mosque, according to a statement by the ministry of information issued on Monday, just hours after the arrest of Anod.

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NISA detains pro-Al-Shabaab cleric near Somali capital

MOGADISHU, Somalia – The National Intelligence and Security [NISA] apprehended a prominent and outspoken pro-Al-Shabaab cleric during an operation on the outskirts of the Somali capital, Mogadishu on Sunday night.

Sheikh Mustaf Ali Anod was arrested by NISA in Elasha Biyaha village along Mogadishu-Afgoye, where he was an Imam at a mosque that Al-Shabaab has influenced and used to brainwash the youths.

The cleric has been spreading Al-Shabaab propaganda through his sermons at the mosque, according to a statement by the ministry of information issued on Monday, just hours after the arrest of Anod.

The ministry said the cleric will be arraigned in court in the coming weeks to face terrorism charges. The government vowed to fight Al-Shabaab - militarily, economically, and ideologically.

This came days after the ministry of religious affairs banned the clerics from dealing with Al-Shabaab and visiting its strongholds, an order that emerged as the army along with the locals fight the group.

The Al-Qaeda-linked militants have been heavily defeated in the ongoing offensive and have been driven out of many areas that forced the group to intensify its bomb attacks and assassinations in the capital.

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