Somali Militant Group Executes 2 Teen Girls

Two teenage girls were publicly executed in Somalia Wednesday after a militant group fighting for stricter sharia law accused them of being spies for the Somali government. According to local journalists, the girls were blindfolded and their hands were tied behind their backs when they were executed by a firing squad in the town of Beledweyne.

The girls, who were reportedly 15 and 16-years-old, were caught by the Al Shabaab militant group between Beledweyne and El Gal. Sheikh Yusuf Ali Ugas, the commander of Al Shabaab in Beledweyne, claims the girls admitted they were government spies.

"Those two girls were evil and they were spies for the enemy (the Somali government), but the mujahedeen caught them and after investigation, they admitted their crime, so they have been executed," said Ugas.

A relative of one of the girls denied the allegations. "My cousin, Ayan Mohamed Jama, was just 16 years old and she was absolutely innocent,” says the relative, who refused to be identified. “Ayan didn't have any contact with the government and even in her life, she never had a mobile [phone] so we can't understand how she could be accused of being a spy.”

A witness says hundreds of locals were forced to watch the execution. “It was very bad ... the girls looked shocked and were crying but [no one] could help,” said the witness.

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