Somali Radio Station Awards AK-47 As First Prize In Competition For Children

A Somali radio station with ties to a militant Islamist group awarded rifles and grenades as prizes in a Koran-reciting competition for children.

The Irish Times reports that Andalus radio, which is run by the al-Shabab militia group, awarded the assault rifle and $700 to the winning child. The second-placed child didn't miss out, taking home an AK-47 and $500. Third place received a pair of F1 hand grenades and $400.

The three winning children also received religious textbooks.

Pictures of the children being awarded their prizes were posted on a website linked to the rebel group.

The al-Shabab group is linked to al-Qaeda and has been engaged in a violent struggle with the transitional government in Mogadishu.

A spokesperson for the group explained the thinking behind the contest. The New York Times quotes Sheik Muktar Robow Abu Monsur, a leading figure in al-Shabab as saying: "Children should use one hand for education and the other for a gun to defend Islam."

The exact ages of the children who won the dangerous prizes are unclear. The Daily Mail reports that the contest was organized for children between the ages of 10 and 17.

BBC News reports that this is the third year that the contest has been held. In previous years, winners have been given an RPG (rocket-propelled grenade launcher).

An al-Shabab senior propaganda official, Sheikh Abdulkadir Mumin, told those in attendance at the prize-giving ceremony that the group would continue giving weapons to children, and urged young and old alike to join its ongoing war, according to raxanreeb.com.

Comments

[dbrett480]

10:42 PM on 09/28/2011

How sweet.

[DrRGreer]

04:03 PM on 09/27/2011

The Qur’an teaches that all Muslims are responsible for participation in global islamification (e.g., Q 90:5, 7-9; 110:1-3; 23:51-52; 22:40-48; 3:169-173; 61:8-13). It only stands to reason that those who are careful in their reading of the Qur’an & who seek to apply it faithfully in our current age would instruct their children in these same truths & equip them to become jihadists. These Somalis who organized this project whereby those who memorized large portions of the Qur’an would be awarded with weaponry, such as an AK 47 and then encouraged to engage in jihadistic warfare.

We think of such people are deranged or dysfunctional—that their problem is sociological, psychological or economical in nature. Such in not the case. At its essence, the problem is a theological question. These people are grounded in a document which advocates violence, martyrdom, and terrorism (whatever it takes) to bring about an islamified world.

It is only when the West stops attempting to solve this in terms of sociology, psychology and economics (all of which are ultimately dead-ends), and begins to look at the situation in terms of theology (specifically, at the Qur’an), that progress will be made in resolving the serious and increasingly malignant problem. Moderate Muslims, of course, argue that the Qur’an is a book of peace—but only if it is read metaphorically. That is to say, only when it is read in a fashion where one seeks hidden meanings (reading between the lines).

[jlsntx]

08:05 AM on 09/22/2011

Do they play Tony Bennett songs on this station?

[Dick Stone]

03:12 AM on 09/22/2011

Let's see Somali, Koran, Kids, guns, grenades, pirates, starving people, something seriously wrong with that country. Millions of dollars in funds raised to feed the starving, the food is taken from those that it was meant to feed and sold on the black market. Somali should be responsible for it's own problems, and we should be having air strikes there instead of the once stable Libya, and NATO should have ships there that blow the pirates out of the water, but instead they chose to destroy a stable country like Libya to gain control of it's resources.

[Rooster Coburn]

02:53 PM on 09/26/2011

Does Sarah Brady know about this yet?

[tccat4]

02:21 AM on 09/22/2011

What does politics have to do with protecting your family? If you have to wait to shoot to kill someone that is already coming thru the door, you have other issues !!!!

[Virginia Shifflet]

11:46 PM on 09/21/2011

My links aren't working but a bank and a car dealership are giving vouchers to customers for free AK-47s. This is the end my friends.

[beetlejuice666]

12:14 AM on 09/22/2011

Michael Moore exposed this type of give-a-way years ago in his documentary "Saving Columbine".

[stonewalker]

01:53 PM on 09/26/2011

You are referring to "Bowling for Columbine", and MM engineered that scene to trick the viewer into thinking that the bank just handed over a rifle when you opened an account. Anybody who opened an account received a voucher for a rifle, for which they still needed to go through a background check.

MM did that to rile people up, but he was lying. As for giving gun vouchers away during promotional events... I don't see anything wrong with it, as all applicable laws must be followed. It is no different than purchasing a gun in that respect, and there is nothing wrong with purchasing a gun, is there? Gun raffles and vouchers are common in many parts of the country. I live in Sacramento, CA and I've noticed two different organizations doing such raffles here in as many months.

[marty callahan]

12:21 AM on 09/22/2011

you know they always have the option of money

[Virginia Shifflet]

02:11 AM on 09/22/2011

I want to know WHAT happened to make us think this is in any way ok? Owning guns is a personal choice but when banks, car dealers, supermarkets, churches, schools and movie theaters decide to give them away...it makes me very sad that we've come to this.

[Virginia Shifflet]

11:44 PM on 09/21/2011

This http://globalgrind.com/news/banks-are-giving-away-ak-47s-now-photo.....................and This http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2010/11/free-gun-florida-truck/1......should prove how scared we should all be. When people are handing out assault rifles like nobodies business....we are in trouble.

[marty callahan]

11:33 PM on 09/21/2011

people should remember your kids may fighting that kid someday and he's gonna have a lot more time behind a gun than yours

[beetlejuice666]

12:13 AM on 09/22/2011

You're a member of the NRA, aren't you ?

[marty callahan]

12:27 AM on 09/22/2011

no I'm a liberal that would kill any body trying to rape your wife and kids, what would you do?

[marty callahan]

12:38 AM on 09/22/2011

it's funny that you think that liberals can't support the right to protect yourself and others. Why must liberals just watch and protest, can't we act and protect

[ae12wrangell]

10:17 PM on 09/21/2011

This is just crap. Florida decide's to arm everybody, even infant's if they can get get away with it, then the pirate Nation of Somalia decide's somebody will be the proud owner of of an AK-47. Isn't there enough violence in the world?

[marty callahan]

12:09 AM on 09/22/2011

all the more reason to arm yourself and protect the ones you love how would you feel if the people around were dead knowing that you could have had the means to save them if only you cared. I hope if your ever in a life threatening situation some goat banging hillbilly is there to plant one in someones head so you can live on to bbitch about the evil gun

[beetlejuice666]

12:16 AM on 09/22/2011

"goat banging hillbilly" is a redundancy, isn't it ?

[cmcclarty]

02:44 AM on 09/22/2011

So everyone in florida is armed yeah right!

[ae12wrangell]

10:16 AM on 09/23/2011

So, end all Florida Police Department's and Sheriff's. Everybody in Florida, get your gun. We's goin Casey Anthony huntin'

[alblonie116]

08:57 PM on 09/21/2011

More insane-childish-simpleness....counter-productive-counter-constructive...

[A George]

08:26 PM on 09/21/2011

What? No G.I. Jihad action figures?

[Beth Curtin]

08:06 PM on 09/21/2011

this is discusting...

[marty callahan]

12:52 AM on 09/22/2011

what's disgusting is that kid probably knows more about gun safety than yours if you love your kids teach them about gun safety at some point in their life they are going to run across a gun the question is are you going to give them the knowledge to safely deal with it or are you going to just say DON'T TOUCH

[hottingers]

08:05 PM on 09/21/2011

Sounds like something that would happen in the_Bible_Belt.

[hetrose]

08:00 PM on 09/21/2011

The father beamed, "I am so proud! Now my son and I can go hunting for infidels together! God is Great!"

Militant Family Values.

[smeeg]

11:16 PM on 09/21/2011

Ah HA HA HA HA!

[cumpi]

07:57 PM on 09/21/2011

Last summer a local machine-gun shooting event in Western Massachusetts resulted in an 8-year old child machine-gunning himself to death when his Dad handed him an AK-47 to shoot. It was a yearly family event where dads and moms and kids could fire machine guns of all kinds and sizes into car wrecks down range. The kid pressed the trigger and the thing jumped out of his hands and fired several shots into his head.

That's our own version of this insane fixation.

[ch3n02junkie]

08:08 PM on 09/21/2011

that was tragic. the dad should have known if his boy was ready for that type of gun
or not.

[ch3n02junkie]

08:18 PM on 09/21/2011

also, it was 2008, and the gun was an uzi. the gun jammed twice before
the accident happened.law suit still pending