Five executed in Bosaso after military appeals court upholds earlier verdict

Five people found guilty of killing former Puntland State House director Adan Gaas Huruse and Puntland deputy police commander Jamac Sahardiid were executed today after a military appeals court upheld an earlier ruling.

Two other defendants were condemned to life imprisonment over the killings which the militant group Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility.

The seven were accused of jointly or separately planning and killing Huruse on December 20 at a restaurant on Bosaso. Six days earlier, the defendants killed the Puntland deputy police commander Sahardiid outside a restaurant in Bosaso.

Al-Shabaab also claimed responsibility for the murder of the police officer.

Today’s ruling follows a lower court verdict in February which found all the seven guilty of murdering the two deceased officials.

The military court upheld the verdict today directing the five be executed while the two others serve life jail terms.