Somalia’s al Shabaab Islamists on Tuesday shot five men in a public execution, including a Somali British citizen accused of spying, a sign of the insurgents’ control of southern swathes of the country, even as authorities step up efforts to combat them.

Al Shabaab’s grip on the Horn of Africa nation has been weakening since it was pushed out of the capital by African Union peacekeepers in 2011, but the government and the U.S. military are beefing up an offensive against it.
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“Awale Ahmed Mohamed, 32 spied for MI6 and he came from Britain to Somalia to establish Islamic State,” he told Reuters late on Tuesday.

Three of the men spied for the United States and helped guide drones to carry out strikes in Somalia, while a fourth spied for the Somali government, he added.

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-somalia-security/somalias-al-shabaab-executes-five-men-accused-of-spying-idUKKCN1MK0GV