Somalia's: Al Shabaab executes four spies

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Somalia’s militant al Shabaab group said late Friday it had executed four people it accused of espionage, including one who was beheaded for allegedly giving information to the United States that

led to the killing of the group’s former leader.

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

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.

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.

According to al Shabaab’s radio, Al Andalus, the four executed men were sentenced to death on Friday afternoon “after they were proved working with (the) CIA, Kenya and Somalia.”“They were publicly executed in a field in Bula Fulay village of Bay region,” Al Andalus said, referring to an area in southern Somalia.

Ahmed Nur, a local resident, told Reuters by phone people in the area had been asked by al Shabaab to gather near its camp.

“We thought there was a lecture, however we witnessed three men shot dead and another beheaded in front of us,” he said
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