Authorities in semi autonomous Somaliland on Tuesday closed down two private TV stations over alleged incitement to violence and radicalization, reports AFP.
Police shuttered Horyaal 24TV and Eryal TV channels in the capital Hargeisa, Mohamed Osman Mire, the director of Horyaal said.
"The police came around 0700 in the morning and ordered the closure of the two stations, they had a letter signed by the Information Minister Mohamed Muse Diriye," Mire said.
"In the letter they have stated that the TV stations are accused of inciting conflict in... society, defaming the national armed forces, threatening stability" and creating disunity in Somaliland, he said.
A source in Eryal TV management said they believed the police were not entitled to proceed with the closure because there was no court decision on the matter.
"The arbitrary closure of the television stations is a deliberate assault on freedom of expression and of the media and shows a total disregard for citizens' fundamental right to receive information," said National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) General Secretary Mohamed Ibrahim Moalimuu.
Somaliland, Jubbaland and Puntland have been used by AMISOM forces as strategic areas in launching onslaught against Al-Shabaab militants.
The stations are accused of spreading hatred and incitement, an approach which could give way to recruitment of more young people to the militia.
Incidentally, the stern action comes just three days after Al-Shabaab waged another lethal attack in Wajir, killing seven police officers who were patrolling the region.
Three National Police Reservists had also been abducted by the militants and are said to have been sneaked to the neighbouring Somalia.