
Somalia executes 2 soldiers convicted of helping Al-Shabab kill commander
The impoverished Horn of Africa nation is witnessing a rise in attacks by the Al-Qaeda-linked militia, fueling 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-Shabab.
Three Al-Shabab members found guilty last week of killing people in Mogadishu were executed by firing squad.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Arab News
4 days ago
- Arab News
Somalia executes 2 soldiers convicted of helping Al-Shabab kill commander
MOGADISHU: Two Somali soldiers sentenced to death for conspiring with extremist militant group Al-Shabab 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, fueling 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-Shabab. Three Al-Shabab members found guilty last week of killing people in Mogadishu were executed by firing squad.


Al Arabiya
4 days ago
- Al Arabiya
Burkina jails 13 people for life over terror acts
Burkina Faso has sentenced 13 people to life imprisonment for 'acts of terrorism,' including a 2018 attack against the French embassy, and given lesser jail terms to more than 60 others, according to an official statement seen Tuesday. The west African nation has been battling extremist violence for around a decade that the junta which came to power in a coup in September 2022 has struggled to contain. The prison sentences were handed down at hearings between January and July, a specialist anti-terror judicial office said in the statement. 'Thirteen people were sentenced to life imprisonment' and '63 people were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 10 to 21 years,' it said. Two others were handed jail terms of one and three years. In a twin attack in March 2018, attackers struck the military headquarters and the French embassy in the capital Ouagadougou using guns and a car bomb. Eight people were killed, and scores were wounded. 'Six defendants were sentenced in these cases, three of whom received life sentences and the other three received prison terms of 21 years each,' prosecutor Lafama Prosper Thiombiano said. The conflict in Burkina has killed more than 26,000 people since 2015, including soldiers and civilians, according to monitoring group ACLED.


Arab News
7 days ago
- Arab News
Somalia's army and peacekeepers recapture key town from militants
MOGADISHU: The Somali army and international peacekeepers have 'fully secured' a strategic town from Islamist militants after over a week of fighting, the Defense Ministry said. Since the beginning of last year, the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Al-Shabab group has seized dozens of towns and villages in an offensive that has reversed nearly all of the gains made by the troubled Horn of Africa nation's army in 2022 and 2023. On Aug. 1, the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia, or AUSSOM, launched an offensive to retake the town of Bariire, around 100 km west of the capital Mogadishu, in the Bas-Shabelle region. Home to a major military operational base, Bariire fell to Al-Shabab in March without a fight after Somalia's soldiers retreated, with the jihadists destroying a bridge vital to the military's supply lines. On Friday, the Somali Defense Ministry announced that the town had been recaptured by federal forces and Ugandan troops, under the auspices of AUSSOM. 'This afternoon, fully secured the strategic town of Bariire ... following a week-long offensive,' it said in a statement, putting Al-Shabab's losses at 'over 100 militants.' There was no indication of casualty numbers among AUSSOM troops. 'The forces are now conducting clearance operations in the town surrounding the areas, seizing a significant cache of weapons and military supplies,' the ministry added. Although AUSSOM has more than 10,000 troops in Somalia, Al-Shabab has in recent months racked up a spate of successes against the peacekeeping mission and its allies in the Somali army. At the end of June, its fighters killed at least seven Ugandan soldiers deployed to another town in Bas-Shabelle. Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for an attack in March that narrowly missed the convoy of Somalia's President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, and fired shells at Mogadishu's airport in April.