Al-Shabaab publish video of captured Kenyan soldier as militant jailed 80 years

Somali Islamist militant group al-Shabab has released a video of a man they say is a Kenyan soldier captured during January’s attack on a Kenyan base in el-Ade, Somalia, the BBC reports.

In the video, the Kenyan soldier is seen talking about his life and how he joined the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF), while also pleading with Kenya’s president Uhuru Kenyatta to withdraw the troops from Somalia.

According to BBC, Kenyan authorities have never given specific details of how many were killed during the attack in el-Ade, but al-Shabab initially said it had killed 100 soldiers, and later Somalia’s president put the figure at 180. Kenyan troops are part of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), a force that has been supporting the Somali government in its fight against al-Shabab.

Meanwhile a Kenyan court has sentenced a member of the al-Shabab militant group to a total of 80 years in prison. Adirazak Mukatar, a 24-year-old car hire service operator was sentenced to serve 20 years in prison for the first count of giving support to commission terror activities and another 10 years for each of the other six counts. The sentences will run concurrently.

According to kenya’s Citizen TV,the man who has been in prison cells for two years since he was arrested, had been found with eight grenades in his car, also recovered from his phone were videos and audios used for radicalization. Other articles, which were in his possession, were Samantha Louise Lewthwaite and Osama bin Laden pictures, Citizen further reports.

The court found out that most audios in his custody were urging Muslims to join Al Shabaab in order to fight for their rights.

When sentencing him, Milimani Principal Magistrate, Joyce Gandani, noted that terrorism activities have dearly cost Kenyans lives and economic status, and had to join government in fight against terror activities by sending him to jail to serve as an example for other youths who might have thought of joining any other militia group.