Somalia: Puntland Military court executes 5 suspects linked to Al Shabaab

BOSSASO, Puntland- A military court in Somalia’s semi-autonomous region of Puntland has executed five alleged Al Shabaab members in the Gulf of Aden port city of Bossaso on Saturday, Garowe Online reports.

Speaking to Radio Garowe (RG), Chief Judge of Military Courts, Abdifatah Haji Adan said that a firing squad has executed the convicted members for taking part in assassinations against several government officials occurred in Bossaso.

Adan said the executed convicts are accused of being linked to Al Qaida-affiliated Al Shabaab group.

In February, the military court has sentenced 7 suspects to death but the court of appeal has ruled to hand over life imprisonment to 2 suspects, according to Adan.

He told RG that there are other Al Shabaab suspects in jails sentenced to death, mostly who were captured in Suuj and Garmal areas following clashes with government forces in March 2016. “those convicts will be executed too,” added Adan.

End of last year, Bosaso city has witnessed a wave of terror attacks against Puntland officials as gunmen killed third deputy commander of Police forces, Director of Bosaso’s Presidential Palace and General Prosecutor of Puntland Military Courts.

This is the first time that the current Puntland administration has executed suspects linked to Al Shabaab group. In recent UN monitoring group's report it slammed Puntland President’s policy of catch and release of suspected members of Al Shabaab in the region. The President is accused of releasing suspected militants in presidential pardon.

In previous interviews with President Ali, he vowed to eradicate Al Shabaab group from the region and execute all militants serving prison time in Puntland jails.

Puntland, located northeastern of Somalia has been relatively stable compared to the rest of the country, but frequent attacks by the terrorist groups are posing serious risks to the stability of the region.

GAROWEONLINE