Somalia: NISA seeks help for arrest of terror suspects

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Somalia's Intelligence Agency on Wednesday urged the public to provide any information that will lead to the arrest of five wanted terror suspects for bombings and killings in Mogadishu, Garowe Online reports.

NISA also circulated photos of the suspects whom it said could be armed and dangerous and may cause harm to the public and urged the suspects to surrender themselves.

The court of Somalia's armed forces on Tuesday, December 31 handed seven Al-Shabaab militants death sentence, in the latest series of conclusive prosecutions, Garowe Online reports.

The seven, military court said, were found guilty of planning and executing deadly terror attacks across the country, besides sponsoring terror-related activities.

The court Chief Col. Hassan Ali Nur Shute announced the sentences, adding that they would the prosecution "proved their cases beyond a reasonable doubt".

Two others were handed a prison term also for perpetrating terror attacks across East Africa. Among them was a woman who was slapped with 15 years jail term.

Four of the militants, who are part of nine-member deadly terror gang were sentenced in absentia. The military is in pursuit of them.

Mohamed Ahmed alias IIka-Asse was among those slapped with the death sentence. He's blamed for leading the Al-Shabaab's Amniyat group.

Amiyat is a sophisticated Al-Shabaab group responsible for executing assassinations mostly targeting senior government officials and foreign nationals.

General Abdullahi Bulle, the military prosecutor, said IIka-Asse was once bailed out by his father in another case. The father is a police officer.

Intelligence briefs link IIka-Asse to the deadly explosions that hit Mogadishu in December 2018 which led to the death of Awil Dahir, a journalist with Universal TV among others.

Also, IIka-Asse is also believed to have single-handedly sponsored and executed deaths of over 180 people across Somalia.

Somalia has struggled to contain Al-Shabaab militants despite a concerted effort from International partners among them African Union.

On Monday, the terror group took responsibility for the death of over 85 people at Afgoye junction in Mogadishu in Saturday's deadly attack.

The attack, the group claimed, targeted a Turkish convoy and police officers. Turkey has built an army base in Somalia for the training of the country's forces.

While Al-Shabaab has suffered setbacks in their quest to control Somalia, analysts argue, the group has managed to inflict pain to a weak FGS.

Although the group has abandoned illegal charcoal trade, UN Panel of Experts observed in November last year, Al-Shabaab has resorted to mafia-style taxation tactics to sustain her activities.

The group has been a threat across East Africa in the last decade, swearing allegiance to Al-Qaida, which has been largely neutralized due to the emergence of ISIS.

GAROWE ONLINE