A military court in Mogadishu on Wednesday sentenced to death top former government officials for allegedly working closely with the Al-Shabaab militants.
Military tribunal also found guilty Ahmed Gure, an Al-Shabaab operative, handing him over life imprisonment as well over terror activities.
The tribunal established that former police officer Nur Ibrahim and former Mahaas Mayor Elmi Awale have been working with Al-Shabaab terrorists.
"Former police officer Nur Ibrahim Mahad-Alle, is sentenced to death by the military tribunal. Ali Ahmed Gure, an Al-Shabaab Official is also sentenced to death in absentia. Ex-Mahaas Mayor Abdurahman Elmi Awale sentenced to life imprisonments," Harun Maruf confirmed.
Mr Maruf, a Voice of America journalist and the author of 'Inside Al-Shabaab' has been writing a series of pieces indicting top government officials over links to Al-Shabaab.
"In a case showing extent of Al-Shabaab infiltration into Govt institutions, a former mayor, a former police officer and an Al-Shabaab official were found guilty of being behind an IED explosion that killed the Deputy Mayor of Mahaas town Rashid Osman on April 19, 2019," he said.
The sentencing of the three was made by Armed Forces chairman Colonel Hassan Nor.
The latest development comes hours after suspected Al-Shabaab militants raided a police station in Wajir, Kenya, killing two colleagues who had been detained.
Sources said the militants stormed the station and directly went for the two before shooting them dead. It's believed that they wanted to conceal certain information from leaking.
“It seems they were high value suspects. They were pulled from the cells and killed,” said a local official who asked not to be named.