Transitional government security forces in Somalia have begun seizing and burning women's face veils in Mogadishu in an attempt to stop insurgents disguising themselves in order to carry out attacks. When the city was under the control of the Islamic Courts Union in the second half of 2006, women were ordered to cover their heads; now they are being ordered not to. Police spokesman Ali Nur told Reuters: "Every policeman and government soldier has orders to confiscate veils from veiled women." (AlJazeera, May 9)

See our last post on Somalia.