 | |
| |
|---|---|
| Frequencies | Various |
| Programming | |
| Languages | Arabic, Somali, Swahili, English |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Al-Kataib Media Foundation |
| History | |
First air date | August 19, 2009 (2009-08-19) |
| Technical information | |
Transmitter coordinates | 0°29′46″N42°47′02″E / 0.496101°N 42.783788°E /0.496101; 42.783788 |
Radio al-Andalus (Arabic:أذاعة الأندلس,romanized: Idāad al-Andalus,Somali:Idaacadda Andalus,Swahili:Redio al-Andalus) or sometimes calledRadio Andalus is aradio station that was created byAl-Shabaab's media outlet,Al-Kataib Media Foundation in 2009.
Radio al-Andalus was created in 2009 as a way to disseminateJihadist propaganda during a propaganda effort byAl-Kataib Media Foundation to expand its methods of spreading propaganda and a way to gain a financial outlet with donations, it was created alongside Quran Karim Radio FM, Somali Wayen Radio FM, HornAfrik Radio though Radio al-Andalus is the largest.[1] Radio al-Andalus provides al-Shabaab with a large financial platform, and can be considered the largest, in Somalia as it operates all throughout Somalia and internationally throughsocial media andonline forums.[2] Through the dissemination of propaganda, Radio al-Andalus, alongsideShadada News Agency, is used as a way to claim attacks.[3][4] Radio al-Andalus is not only used for the spreading of Jihadist ideologies but also anti-Ethiopian sentiment.[5] Radio al-Andalus relies on mostly stolenradio equipment from organizations likeBBC News Somali andVoice of America Somali which they used to broadcast their radio station in the languages ofSomali,Arabic,Swahili, andEnglish.[6] Radio al-Andalus, besides the Jihadist sentiments and the use of it for recruitment by Al-Shabaab, runs like an ordinary radio station that plays music (thoughmusic is forbidden in Islam so it playsnasheeds), talks about local and international news, and has ways for viewers and news figures tocall in.[7]
Radio al-Andalus is stationed at its headquarters in the small village of Bariire 50 miles west of the Somali capital,Mogadishu, that is controlled by Al-Shabaab,[8] which was raided by members of theUnited States Navy SEALs which led to the death of one of the SEAL team members in 2017.[9] The station went offline in March of 2012 after the militant groupAhlu Sunna Waljama'a took over the entire village,[10] there, members of Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a dismantled all thetransmitters that Radio al-Andalus used to broadcast the radio station,[11] but went back online and running shortly after.[12] The radio station's headquarters moved toJilib, Somalia where it remained active until 2018 when an airstrike conducted by theUnited States Air Force struck and destroyed the building that the radio station was being broadcast from. It continues to exist with radio transmitters in most major towns under the control of al-Shabaab.[13]
Radio al-Andalus is considered an alias and a financer of Al-Shabaab by the Australian National Security and is designated as a terrorist organization.[14]
