A Somali woman with 11 husbands was handed the death penalty by stoning in an Al-Shabaab court yesterday, Garowe Online reported.

The news came when two of the husbands were fighting over Shukri Abdullahi, a 30-year-old woman with eight children. The altercation caught the attention of Al-Shabaab in the town of Sablale, some 200 kilometres southwest of the capital, Mogadishu.

“Shukri Abdullahi has confessed to having illegally married 11 husbands, one divorce and subsequently the court sentenced her to stoning to death for adultery,” the Al-Shabaab appointed judge said. The judge added that another husband passed away, leaving nine husbands at the time the case was being heard.

Al-Shabaab controls pockets of territory in southern Somalia where executions, floggings and some amputations are carried out.

The group has fought the federal government for over a decade with the goal of forcefully taking over control of Somalia and governing it as an Islamic state. Back in 2012, Al-Shabaab pledged allegiance to Al-Qaeda which attracted a heavy counter-terrorism presence in Somalia.

The United States regularly conducts drone strikes and raids in a bid to capture or neutralise Al-Shabaab targets, often killing civilians in the process. Some 745 have reportedly been killed in Somalia by the US’ use of force and 87 injured according to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism.

The African Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), backed by the US, has engaged Al-Shabaab militarily for years but has failed to contain the rebel group.

Early this week, nine soldiers from the Kenyan Defence Forces (KDF) were killed by Al-Shabaab in an improvised explosive device attack. The Kenyan president mourned the killings, and called for greater action against the group militarily.

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