MOSCOW (Sputnik) — A Somalian court sentenced 43 al-Shabaab militants to death on Saturday over their role in recent attacks in the country, African media reported.
"All of the defendants admitted their guilt, insisting they took part in the recent attacks," Abdullahi Hersi Eed, Puntland’s Regional Attorney General, said as quoted by the Nigerian newspaper The Nation.
Somalia has been mired in an armed conflict with Islamist militants for two decades. The country’s government relies heavily on the African Union’s peacekeepers for protection.
Somalia’s collapse has provided a breeding ground for warlords, pirates and the al-Qaeda affiliated al-Shabaab terrorists. The group has been staging numerous attacks in Somalia in an attempt to create an Islamic state ruled by Sharia law.
