Al-Shabaab militants execute two young men in public

The insurgents have also banned movies, musical ringtones, dancing at wedding ceremonies and playing or watching soccer.

One witness in Marka, Ali Hussein, said by telephone that residents were forced to watch as the youths killed by firing squad.

“The two teenagers were accused of spying, but we cannot judge if they were guilty for ourselves,” Mr Hussein told Reuters.
“One of the boys did not die easily, so about eight masked al-Shabaab men went close and opened fire on him.”

Fighting in Somalia has killed 19,000 civilians since the start of 2007 and driven 1.5 million from their homes, creating one of the world’s worst humanitarian emergencies.

Western security agencies say the drought-ravaged nation has become a safe haven for militants, including foreign jihadists, who are using it to plot attacks across the region and beyond.

Al-Shabaab has said it will strike the capitals of Burundi and Uganda in revenge for rocket attacks on Thursday by African Union peacekeepers from those countries that killed at least 30 people in and around Mogadishu’s Bakara market.

Earlier this month, the insurgent group organised a Koran recital competition for youths in Kismayu and awarded the 17-year-old winner an AK-47 rifle, two hand grenades, a computer and an anti-tank mine as prizes.

The group urged Somali parents to let children learn how to handle weapons and fight what it calls the apostate government.