Mogadishu, Somalia – Two Somali soldiers sentenced to death for conspiring with extremist militant group Al-Shabaab to assassinate a commander were executed on Monday, military court officials said.
The impoverished Horn of Africa nation is witnessing a rise in attacks by the Al-Qaeda-linked militia, fuelling concerns of a jihadist resurgence.
The group has seized dozens of towns and villages in an offensive that has reversed nearly all of the gains the army made in 2022 and 2023.
A military court in the capital Mogadishu sentenced the two soldiers to death in August, after they were convicted of killing their battalion commander in July.
One was found to have received the explosive device, while the second placed it under the bed of their commander, before it was detonated remotely.
“They were executed today for their involvement in the assassination of Commander Aided Mohamed Ali,” prosecutor Hassan Siyad Mohamed said.
“Anyone found having links with the Kharijites and proven, one day God will expose you, and you will come out, and we will find you and execute you by firing squad,” said Liban Ali Yarrow, chairman of the supreme military court, using the term officials adopt to describe Al-Shabaab.
Three Al-Shabaab members found guilty last week of killing people in Mogadishu were executed by firing squad.
© Agence France-Presse
