MOGADISHU (GG) — The Armed Forces Supreme Court of Somalia has sentenced four members of the Al-Shabaab militant group to various prison terms, ranging from 10 years to life imprisonment, for their roles in orchestrating lethal bombings, targeted assassinations, and intelligence gathering across the country. The final verdicts follow an appeal filed by the Armed Forces Prosecutor’s Office after subsequent investigations revealed additional evidence and previously unrecorded casualties.
The decision was officially communicated to the press on Sunday morning by Brigadier General Liban Ali Yarrow, the Chairman of the Armed Forces Supreme Court. The judicial review concluded that the specialized insurgent network had successfully deployed targeted operations before their specialized bomb-making cells were intercepted by state security organs.
According to court documents presented during the hearings, the core operational network was commanded by Aweys Abdalla Ali Kamiri, known by his alias “Shubka Said.” Kamiri, who joined the militant group in 2017, specialized in explosive manufacturing and oversaw a cell tasked with destroying municipal infrastructure, including public closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras designed to secure commercial districts. Kamiri and his direct accomplice, Abdinasir Ali Ahmed, known as “Ikrama,” were both handed maximum sentences of life imprisonment for their direct involvement in executing urban bombings.
A third operative within the tactical cell, Said Hassan Isaq Roble, who used the operational alias “Diriye,” was ordered to serve 15 years in a military detention facility for participating in the coordinated attacks against residential quarters and local police units. Authorities noted that the specialized unit had pioneered a method of concealing explosive materials inside modified food thermoses and commercial paint containers to bypass security checkpoints, though several planned detonations were neutralized prior to deployment.
The tribunal also finalized a 10-year prison sentence for Mohamed Abdullahi Abdulle, a high-ranking driver and logistician code-named “Sultan.” Investigative records showed that Abdulle, a former member of the defunct Hizbul Islam faction, defected to Al-Shabaab in 2012 and managed logistics across multiple regions, including Kunyo Barrow, Sablale, Mubarak, and Basra. Military prosecutors noted that Abdulle received an unusually high monthly salary of $310 due to his success in transporting weapons and filming reconnaissance footage of a military police base in the Jazeera area outside the capital.
The legal proceedings escalated to the highest military tribunal after initial sentences issued by the First Degree Military Court on November 21, 2024, were challenged. The prosecution requested an appellate review to account for extensive infrastructural damages and a significant number of victims who had been evacuated abroad for emergency medical treatment and could not provide immediate testimony during the first trial.
