Militant Islamists shoot dead Muslim woman for refusing to wear a veil in Somalia

Woman killed outside her hut near the southern Somali town of Hosingow

Her relatives say she was shot by members of the militant group al-Shabab

Allegedly told her to put on a veil but when she didn't she was killed

Al-Shabab controls most of southern and central Somalia



A Muslim woman has been shot dead by militant Islamists for refusing to wear a veil, her relatives have claimed.



The woman was killed outside her hut near the southern Somali town of Hosingow by gunmen belonging to the al- Shabab group, they said.



The militants allegedly ordered her to put on a veil but then killed her after returning to the hut and finding she was still not wearing one.

Members of the militant group al-Shabab who have allegedly shot dead a woman for not wearing a veil

An al-Shabab spokesman has denied the group killed the woman to the BBC.



Al-Shabab does not fully control the area where she was living, he added.



The woman's relatives have asked not to be identified for fear of reprisals.

Al-Shabab, which controls much of southern and central Somalia, imposes strict rules of behaviour, including dress codes for men and women.



The group is suspected of links to a string of attacks in neighbouring Kenya.

The woman was killed outside her hut near the southern Somali town of Hosingow

It is banned as a terrorist group by both the U.S. and the UK and is believed to have between 7,000 and 9,000 fighters.

Last September the group claimed responsibility for an attack at the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, which claimed the lives of 67 people.



At the beginning of this month, gunmen killed 29 people in Kenyan coastal towns in one night.



A woman rummages through ruins of her home burned down when gunmen torched a Hindi trading centre

Twenty of the victims were killed in an attack in the Gamba area of Tana River county, where gunmen rushed the police station and freed suspected al-Shabab militants.



Another nine were killed in a separate raid at the Hindi trading centre in neighbouring Lamu county, near the town of Mpeketoni where 65 people were killed last month.

