We are no stranger to the fact that plastic pollution is one of the biggest environmental challenges faced by the world right now. Though countries and governments have been forced to rethink their plan of actions, we are a long way from a plastic-free world.
However, much to our surprise, the governments are not the only ones to identify the looming threat posed by the non-biodegradable material. We now have a terrorist organization playing their part in reducing the use of plastic. Yes, you heard that right!
According to Huffington Post, Somali terror group al-Shabaab, who are responsible for deadly bomb blasts and terror attacks across East Africa, have banned the use of plastic. The reason behind the same is the threat they pose to the environment.
Radio Andalus, Al-Shabaab’s radio station, declared the news of the ban on Sunday stating that discarded plastic bags “pose a serious threat to the wellbeing of humans and animals alike.”
An immediate ban was also slammed on the logging of indigenous trees as per reports of a Somali website which put forward their support for the group.
According to pedestrian.tv, the group is still unclear about how to carry out the ban in the territories they control. It is also to be noted that because of the group’s “widespread fear of the group’s use of violence“, people usually obey their orders.
Mohamed Abu Abdalla, the group’s governor for southern Somalia’s Shabelle regions, said that the details of how the plan is going to be implemented will be revealed later.
In case you do not know, the al-Shabaab terror group was responsible for the destructive detonation of a truck full of explosives in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu. More than 500 people lost their lives in the terrifying incident.
You can watch the full BBC coverage here:
While the move to ban the use of plastic is ‘good’ move on their part, the irony that they kill people but care about ‘humans and animals’ is clearly glaring.