In Somalia, al-Shabab has set up a COVID-19 isolation and care facility. The facility is being viewed as a sign that the group is taking the coronavirus pandemic seriously. The facility, set up in Jilib, includes a 24 hour hotline.

Africa News reports Sheikh Mohamed Bali, a senior al-Shabab figure, said in a broadcast via the groups radio channel, Andalus, “I am urging people with the disease symptoms to come to the medical facility and avoid infecting other Muslims.”

According to the report, when the hotline was called, a man who answered said the care facility was “open for all people.” He reportedly declined to say, however, whether they had any virus cases. Nevertheless, he said the facility has all the equipment required to isolate and treat patients.

The COVID-19 facility has been established in a building that at one time housed the United Nations children’s agency in Jilib, a stronghold of Al Shabaab. The group is known for shunning government aid in crises.

Umm Muhammed Umar