Al-Shabaab has ordered the offices of largest money transfer company in Somalia closed in areas still controlled by the Al-Qaeda-allied extremist group.
According to information released Monday through somalimemo, a website that supports the radical Islamists, the ban on Dahabshiil was because the Hawala firm had gone against the norms stipulated for businesses operating in its sphere of influence.
Hawala is an informal value based transfer system that operates through brokers and handles billions of dollars every year.
The firm was also conducting operations that were a security threat, the militants said without elaborating.
“Dahabshiil engaged in operations previously conducted by agencies banned by Harakatu Al-Shabaab Al-Mujahedeen (The movement of the youth jihadists),” the order partly said.
The declaration, however, did not specify the banned actions.
The ban affects Dahabshiil operations in Hiran region of central Somalia and in Bay and Bakol regions of southern Somalia.
The Dubai-headquartered firm, which says it is in over 150 countries, in a statement confirmed partial closures for “operational reasons” following a request for comment.
“Dahabshiil has temporarily closed branches on the outskirts of Beledweyne and Baydhabo for operational reasons,” it said, adding that it would continue to serve local communities.
The firm, which has over 250 offices in Somali territories, added that offices in “central” areas of Beledweyne and Baydhabo were “operating as normal”.
The website, while listing affected areas, also named regions that are not affected by the ban, including Gedo, Lower and Middle Juba, and Lower and Middle Shabelle.
Dahabshiil is one the major corporations that assumed banking and financial services in the Horn of Africa country since the collapse of the central government in Somalia in 1991.
It has also been one of the main hawalas engaged in transferring remittances from Diaspora Somalis to their families back home and in other countries.
Al-Shabaab has in the past banned most international agencies including UN agencies, the Red Cross and other humanitarian groups, mainly on accusations of breaking the strict Sharia (Islamic laws) applied by the movement.
The group has in recent months however been pushed back by African Union troops and has lost control of major swathes of the country.
