Al Shabaab publicly beheads four spies in Somalia

juma chrispinus

February 6, 2017 3:15 PM

The militants are known to use propaganda and exaggerations when commenting on their atrocities committed.

Somalia based terror group Al Shabaab militants have publicly beheaded four men accused of spying on them, Reuters has reported.

Eye witnesses said the militants paraded the four, after they had pleaded guilty to the spying accusation leveled against them and beheaded them on Sunday.

In a statement, the al Qaeda-linked group confirmed the executions. It said it carried out the atrocities after the men were found guilty by an al Shabaab court in Jamame district of lower Jubba region, some north of Kismayo.

Kismayo was one of the key towns previously held by the terror group before the entry of the African Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) troops to restore sanity in war riddled Somalia.

"The court ruled on their cases and four of the men were executed publicly in Jamame District according to the Sharia this (Sunday) afternoon," Mohamed Abu Abdalla, al Shabaab’s governor for the Jubba region said.

"The four men admitted they were spies,” he added.

This comes hours after the militant group refuting claims that it took away four voter registration kits belonging to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) in the Thursday last week’s attack on an Administrative Police Camp in Mandera town, raising questions on their whereabouts.

The militants, who were reportedly over 10, took away a motorbike, a police vehicle, three guns and bullets among other valuables from the Kenyan personnel on the fateful day.

Al Shabaab has been fighting for over a decade with a bid to drive out African Union peace keepers, topple the United States-backed government and impose its own harsh interpretation of Sharia (Islamic law) in country. The group has been constantly using propaganda in its operations.

juma chrispinus