By AFPMore by this AuthorMOGADISHUAuthorities in the breakaway territory of Somaliland on Tuesday closed two private television channels after accusing them of inciting violence, a station manager and a press rights group said. Police shuttered Horyaal 24TV and Eryal TV channels in the capital Hargeisa, Mohamed Osman Mire, the director of Horyaal said. "In the letter they have stated that the TV stations are accused of inciting conflict in... society, defaming the national armed forces, threatening stability" and creating disunity in Somaliland, he said. A source in Eryal TV management said they believed the police were not entitled to proceed with the closure because there was no court decision on the matter. Somaliland, a self-declared republic in northern Somalia, last year arrested several journalists and closed two TV stations covering the territory's dispute with the neighbouring Somali region of Puntland, rights activists said.

Source: Daily Nation June 18, 2019 17:26 UTC