Somali court sentences 5 insurgents to death for attempted bombings
BOSASSO -- A Somali court sentenced five men to death on Saturday after they were caught with a vehicle laden with explosives, a court official said, a rare successful prosecution in a country where bombings by the Islamist insurgency are increasing.
The five said they were members of the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab Islamist militia. They were arrested as they drove a vehicle carrying three barrels packed with explosives into Bosasso, the capital of the northern semi-autonomous region of Puntland, on April 26.
"The five men had been caught red-handed as they entered Bosasso with a car bomb previously. They admitted before the court they are al Shabaab members and the court sentenced them to death," Abdifatah Haji Aden, the chairman of Puntland's military court, told Reuters on Saturday.
