An Islamic television channel shocked viewers with half an hour of hardcore pornography in the middle of the day after falling for

A Senegalese Islamic channel shocked viewers with half an hour of hardcore pornography in the middle of the day, in what the TV station on Wednesday attributed to a 'criminal act' and a 'satanic trick designed to undermine a channel'.

Privately run Touba TV generally broadcasts religious programs, including prayer sessions, sermons from prominent imams and in-depth theological discussions.

Privately run Touba TV shocked viewers with 20 minutes of hardcore pornography in the middle of the day, in what the Senegalese Islamic TV station on Wednesday attributed to a 'criminal act'

But viewers were horrified on Monday afternoon when its regular transmissions of the program Taxiru Juma were interrupted with a hardcore porn movie from 1.10pm to 1.30pm.

THe program Taxiru Juma were interrupted with a hardcore porn movie from 1.10pm to 1.30pm (file photo)

The West African country's media watchdog, CNRA, has demanded an explanation.

'We have asked Touba TV how this unacceptable mistake could happen for almost 30 minutes,' an official told Reuters.

In a statement, Touba TV denounced what it called 'a criminal act by people with a hidden agenda' and said the formal complaint will make it possible to identify the 'authors who have an unknown agenda'.

The statement said: 'As a religious channel, the management of Touba TV and all our audience members are outraged and unreservedly condemn this criminal act which seems to be sabotage and a satanic trick designed to undermine a channel which is known to stand for Islamic values and teachings.'

It gave no further details on the criminals or how they got access to its broadcasting unit.

Djibril Nado, the director of the channel, told RFI that the network was 'disturbed' by the images.

'It's a sabotage because these are images that come from outside,' Nado said. 'We talk about a satanic approach because there are always hands behind it.'

Touba TV has since filed a legal complaint in hopes of finding the people behind the broadcast.