A Senegalese Islamic channel shocked viewers with half an hour of hardcore pornography in the middle of the day, in what the TV station has attributed to a "criminal act".

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

But viewers were horrified on Monday afternoon when its regular transmissions were interrupted with a hard porn movie.

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

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.