NAIROBI: “A typical prize for a children’s contest might be a backpack, a lunchbox or maybe some toys. But not in Somalia.
Over the weekend, a Somali radio station run by the Shabab, the most powerful Islamist militant group in the war-ravaged country, held an awards ceremony to honor children who were experts at Shabab trivia and at reciting the Koran . The prizes? Fully automatic assault rifles and live hand grenades.
… the awards were handed out at the Andalus radio station in Elasha Biyaha, a small town near Mogadishu. The first- and second-place winners won AK-47 assault rifles, some money and Islamic books. The third-place winner got grenades.