International terror group Al-Shabaab has reportedly introduced an eco-friendly ban on plastic bags - just hours after killing four people in a brutal mortar attack.

The notorious terrorists, who have links to Al Qaeda, said the single-use plastics 'pose a serious threat to the wellbeing of humans and animals' as they announced the sweeping measures on Sunday afternoon, HuffPost reports.

News of the ban is said to have broken on Al-Shabaab's radio station, Radio Andalus, after seven civilians were injured and four others killed in mortar attacks in the Somali capital Mogadishu.

Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the killings on Sunday, also putting forward plans to introduce an immediate ban on the logging of native trees.

Al-Shabaab militants claimed responsibility for the killing of four civilians in a mortar attack on Sunday as they announced the plastics ban [file photo]

The terror group said single use plastics posed a significant risk to both humans and animals. (Pictured) a group of pigs grazing at a rubbish dump surrounded by bags in Nairobi

According to terror experts, the shift is intended to show that the group is capable of governing and is concerned with environmental policies.

Raffaello Pantucci, counter-terror expert at the Royal United Services Institute, told HuffPost: 'Other East African governments have banned plastic bags and this ban is al-Shabaab's attempt to show their people that they too can implement laws and govern like any legitimate ruler.

'It's quite ironic though that the same group has been involved in the banned ivory trade to fund its terror activities across the Horn of Africa.'

It is not yet clear how the group plans to implement the ban, but Mohamed Abu Abdalla, the group’s governor for southern Somalia’s Shabelle regions, said details would be announced later.

Terror experts said the move was particuarly ironic given there is evidence to suggest Al-Shabaab funds its terror exploits partly through the ivory trade [file photo]

Al-Shabaab is banned as a terrorist group by both the US and the UK and is believed to number between 7,000 and 9,000 fighters.

It has imposed a strict version of Sharia law in areas under its control, including stoning to death women accused of adultery and amputating the hands of thieves.

Somalia's government blamed the group for the killing of at least 500 people in a huge truck bombing in the capital Mogadishu in October 2017. It was East Africa's deadliest bombing.

The group also carryied out a massive attack on a Kenyan military base in Somalia's el-Ade town in January 2016, killing around 180 soldiers.