21 Al-Shabaab members executed by firing squad in Puntland

Twenty one Al-Shabaab members whose death sentence was affirmed by a superior military court two weeks ago in Puntland today faced the firing squad in an unprecented move in recent years.

According to a military judge, General Mohamud Mohamed, 18 of the convicts were executed by firing squad in the Puntland side of Galkaayo. Two others were executed in Qardho and another in the capital, Garowe.

The executions came barely two weeks after an appeal by the defendant was thrown out by a superior military court on June 14.

According to the court, the men were accused of carrying out hundreds of killings as part of an active assassination cell operating in Puntland for 13 years. The majority of the group’s victims were in northern Galkay