Somalia’s Mogadishu municipality announces ban on face masks, hats in public

By Mohamed Dhaysane

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AA) - The Benadir regional administration in Somalia announced late Wednesday that the Mogadishu municipality imposed a complete ban on face masks and hats in public.

Administration’s spokesman Salah Dheere told reporters that the ban was imposed because of security reasons.

He said face masks have been used in the Horn of Africa country since the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 but carrying weapons in public as well as wearing hats has now been banned.

Dheere said the decision was made after a high-level security meeting in Mogadishu that was attended by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.

The ban comes as Somalia is grappling with insecurity posed by the al-Shabaab terror group that claimed responsibility for an attack last week on United Arab Emirates military advisers in Somalia that killed four officers.

Since 2007, al-Shabaab has been fighting the Somali government and the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) -- a multidimensional mission authorized by the African Union and mandated by the UN Security Council.

The terror group has stepped up attacks since Mohamud, who was elected for a second term in 2022, declared an "all-out war" on the group.