Kismayo, Somalia (AHN) - Militants loyal to extremist group Al Shabaab set fire to more than 15 bags of green leaves of khat in southern Somalia, witnesses said Friday.
The sacks were in a car that was traveling through the Dhoobley district in the Lower Jubba region when it was seized by members of Al Shabaab. Hundreds of local inhabitants were called late Thursday to gather at a square in the district to watch the burning of the bags of khat, witnesses said, adding that the car was from Kenya and heading to the town of Kismayo.
One of the owners, who spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons, said the torched khat cost $1,000.
No comments on the incident were immediately available from Al Shabaab.
The consumption of khat is considered un-Islamic by some leaders of the group. Khat is a green leafy plant. Chewing the leaves releases an amphetamine-type stimulant.
Khat traders argue that the lives of hundreds of Somali families depend on the khat business. Dozens of flights leave Nairobi's major airports every day transporting burlap sacks filled with khat to Somalia in a trade that is worth about $300,000 a day, according to Kenya's National Agency for the Campaign Against Drug Abuse.
Trading khat has spread throughout Somalia over the last 19 years, a period in which the nation has been plunged into lawlessness and civil war
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Should the income of somali families be destroyed in the name of a drug free somalia?
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