An al-Qaeda linked Somali group executed two teenage girls accused of spying yesterday in a public…
An al-Qaeda linked Somali group executed two teenage girls accused of spying yesterday in a public square as hundreds of people watched on.
Al Shabaab commanders ordered a firing squad to kill the girls in the central Somali town of Beledweyne.
Ayan Mohamed Jama, 18, and Huriyo Ibrahim, 15 were tried by the group’s courts and shot by 10 masked men after being accused of spying for government soldiers fighting the Islamist group.
Residents said they were dragooned into watching the event and expressed disgust at have to witness the murder of the girls.
“Everyone was very sorry for the young girls who were killed in front of hundreds,” said Maryam Ahmed, a resident of the town.
Ali, another resident, said: “The group informed the population that a punishment was going to be carried out in public on two women they claimed had been found guilty of spying, I didn’t know they were planning to shoot them.
“The two girls were sitting on the ground with their hands tied behind their back. Then a group of fighters covered their faces and shot them from behind,” he said. “It was shocking, the girls were so young. They looked so desperate but nobody could help them.”
Militia members had toured the Beletweyne’s streets, informing residents about the pending executions by loudspeaker and ordering everyone to attend.
Al Shabaab has imposed a draconian Taliban-style religious regime on areas of Somalia under its control.
The group has vowed to overthrow the Western-backed Somali transitional government that has been established to forestall the spread of militant influence in the failed Horn of Africa state. Two years ago the group stoned a 13-year old girl to death in Kismayo after she was raped.
Source: Daily Telegraph
