09 November 2017 :
Somalia’s Islamist al Shabaab insurgency shot four men accused of spying in a public execution that underscored the insurgents’ control of swathes of the country’s southern region, even as the government girds up for an offensive against them.
“The four men were captured weeks ago. They were publicly executed today after the court ruling and after admitting espionage,” Mohamed Abdalla, al Shabaab’s governor for the Jubba regions said by phone.
“Two of them were spying for the Ethiopian government and the other two were spying for Somali government intelligence.”
The men were shot in Buale, the capital of Middle Jubba, he said, a region mostly controlled by al Shabaab that lies south of the capital of Mogadishu.
The government did not return calls seeking comment.