Al-Shabaab executes two men for killing civilians

Somalia’s Al-Shabaab group said Thursday it publicly executed two men by a firing squad after a group’s court sentenced them to death for killing two civilians in the coastal town of Harardhere which is controlled by Al-Shabaab.

According to the group’s Radio Andulus,  Abdirahman Dhuhul Abdulle, 22, and Abdi Muse Hayle, 25 were found guilty for being involved in the killing  of at least two unarmed civilians who were murdered in the town months ago.

“They were publicly executed in a field in Harardhere town of Mudug region,” Al-Andalus said, referring to a town in central Somalia.

Nur Osman, a local resident, told Goobjoog News by phone people in the town had been asked by al Shabaab to gather near its camp.

“We thought there was a lecture, however, we witnessed two men shot dead in front of us,” he said.

The Islamist group wants to topple Somalia’s Western-backed government and rule the country according to sharia law.

In 2011, Al-Shabaab was ejected from Mogadishu by the African Union force AMISOM, and last year it was also pushed out of its southern Somalia strongholds by a combination of AMISOM and the Somali National Army.

Al-Shabaab rebels have carried out repeated attacks in Somalia and neighbouring Kenya as part of their fight to overthrow the country’s internationally-backed government, as well as the African Union troops supporting it, which include Kenyan soldiers.

In recent months, however, the group has stepped up attacks on AMISOM forces and conducted gun, bomb and suicide assaults on civilian targets in Mogadishu and other towns, underscoring its resilience.

Somalia’s central town of Haradhere, formerly a pirate hub is currently serving as the biggest operations and financial core for Al Shabaab fighters in Mudug region situated in the autonomous Galmudug regional state.