Death sentence for man convicted of Somalia’s deadliest bombing

[Deeq A.]

A Somali military court on Tuesday sentenced a man to death after finding him guilty of carrying out an October truck bombing that killed over 500 people, the deadliest attack in the nation’s history.

Colonel Hassan Ali Shute found 23-year-old Hassan Adan Isaq guilty of heading the Shabaab terrorist cell behind the October 14 terror attack.

He also sentenced a second man to life in prison in absentia for being a member of the Al-Qaeda aligned group and procuring the vehicle used in the attack, while a third was given three years in jail for allowing the truck to pass freely through a roadblock.

Two others were acquitted.

“The first defendant is sentenced to the death penalty, life imprisonment for the second defendant who is absent, and three years in army prison for the third defendant,” Shute ruled.

No date was given for the execution, which will be by firing squad.

The huge truck bombing in a busy part of the capital Mogadishu triggered outrage around the world.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack, but the government and experts blame the Shabaab.

AFP