The militant group attacked football fans watching the UEFA Champions League match between Milan and Manchester United last Tuesday.
Bartamaha (Mogadishu):- According to a report posted on Shaaficiyah.com, the Al Shabab insurgents who have waged war against the transitional government of Somalia in the last four years attacked a cinema in Madina district in Mogadhishu during last week’s game between Milan and Manchester United. The Champions League game was being screened when the cinema was attacked and two people were killed instantly, with others being injured.
The cinema screening was kept under cover and not widely publicised as cinema owners and soccer fans feared attack from the militant group that has imposed its own form of Islamic Sharia law which, among other things prohibits people from partaking in things deemed to have Western influence.

The cinema owner Abdirashid Gedi Dhisow said they came under attack from the group and two people were killed and three injured.
Because of the attack and the looming fear of similar attacks in the future, Abdirashid vowed never to operate a cinema broadcasting live sport games because he had previously survived four similar attacks whilst operating his cinema business in different places in Somalia.
According to the report, one of the spectators in the cinema, who sought anonymity, said that was the only place they would watch live soccer games in the Somalian capital and it will be sad to see the owner shut the cinema indefinitely for the fear of his life and that of his customers.
Somali transitional government has been overwhelmed by this militant group that has spread its wing to other neighbouring countries and, because of the lawlessness that abounds in the country, many people including senior government officials have been killed in the recent past.
The war has not only destroyed infrastructure in the country, it has also affected social activities like sports, grounding them to a halt in the last two decades since the last recognised government was overthrown in 1991.
In the 1980s, when Somali football was at its most popular, Stadium Mogadishu could hold more than 70,000 people. But the football league, which was formerly known as Serie A – Somalia was once an Italian colony – was last active in early 2006.
But Somalia Football Federation, with the assistance of FIFA, has not lost hope. It established a training base in neighbouring Djibouti two months before the 2008 Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup, which was held in February 2009 and the country did very well by beating Tanzania 1-0 in the opening match.
The 2009 championships, which were held in November/December in Kenya, the team also participated after holding their training in Kenya. The team was in group B with Rwanda, Eritrea and Zimbabwe. They finished last in the group after scoring one goal and conceding five.
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Source: Goal.com

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