SOMALIA: ISLAMISTS PUBLICLY EXECUTE TWO OFFICIALS

Islamist militant group al Shabaab publicly executed a Somali military officer and the leader of a small town in the southern Somali region of Lower Shabelle, a spokesman for the group and local residents said. The group, which seeks to overthrow the Western-backed government and impose its strict version of Islamic law, has remained a potent threat in the Horn of Africa country after it was forced from the capital Mogadishu in 2011.
About 200 locals gathered on December 23 in Bariirey town, about 50 km south of the capital Mogadishu, to watch as al Shabaab militants shoot the two men dead, residents said. "Al Shabaab called us for a gathering. We thought they wanted to preach (to) us. But we saw two men whose hands and legs were bound. They opened fire on them, shooting them to death," resident Ahmed Aden told Reuters.