10 October 2018: Somalia’s al Shabaab Islamists shot five men in a public execution, including a Somali British citizen accused of spying, a sign of the insurgents’ control of southern swathes of the country, even as authorities step up efforts to combat them.
Al-Shabaab’s grip on the Horn of Africa nation has been weakening since it was pushed out of the capital by African Union peacekeepers in 2011, but the government and the U.S. military are beefing up an offensive against it.
“Five of them were publicly shot to death this afternoon after they admitted espionage before the court,” said Mohamed Abu Abdalla, al Shabaab’s governor for the Jubba regions. “Awale Ahmed Mohamed, 32 spied for MI6 and he came from Britain to Somalia to establish Islamic State,” he told Reuters late on Tuesday. Three of the men spied for the United States and helped guide drones to carry out strikes in Somalia, while a fourth spied for the Somali government, he added.
Now read the names of the victims and what they are accused of.
1 – Abdi Casiis Abdi Salim Sheikh Hassan, 22, was accused of working for US intelligence, according to al-Shabaab.
2 – Mohamed Abdullahi Awil, 35, was accused by al-Shabaab of working with the United States and behind a US strike in the city of Saakow.
3 – Abdullahi Nur, 36, was accused by al-Shabaab of working with US intelligence and federal government, and subsequently following a shelling in Lower Shabelle.
4 – Awale Ahmed Mohamed is 32 years old, accused of working with the UK intelligence service MI6.
He was also accused of spying for Somali people living in the UK, and finally MI6 officials paid money and sent them to Somalia to join ‘Somali Diaspora’.
5 – Abdillahi Yaqshid Amin, accused Al-Shabaab of recruiting the federal government for the Jubba regions.

(Source: Reuters)