Somalia executes notorious Al-Shabaab bomber

A Somalia military court on Monday confirmed the execution by firing squad of a serial Al-Shabaab bomber. Abdulkadir Abukar Shaa’ir, 41, had been convicted of a series of bombings last year.

Shaa’ir was convicted of conducting pre-bombing surveillance, delivering explosive-laden cars, a journalist with the Voice of America, Harun Maruf reported.

His execution comes after the court found him guilty of terrorism related crimes last month. He was arrested in May 2017 whiles driving a car fitted with explosives.

He was subsequently arraigned before the military court and sentenced to death on December 6, 2017. It is not the first time authorities are executing a convicted terrorist in a country riled by Al-Shabaab insurgents.

Timeline of Shaa’ir’s known activities

• March 13, 2017 was involved in car bomb outside Hotel Weheliye, killed 10 wounded 17
• April 5, 2017 delivered explosive-laden car at tea shop near Ministry of sport, killed 9 wounded 10.
• On May 8, 2017, conducted pre-bombing surveillance on Bar Italia Restaurant which was targetted with car bomb, killing 7 wounded 11.
• May 15, 2017 he was arrested while driving a car carrying explosives which later detonated near Hamarweyne district.
• Dec 6, 2017 sentenced to death

In April 2016, authorities executed a journalist convicted of helping the insurgents to kill five colleagues. Two months later a court in the northern town of Garowe sentenced 43 insurgents to death.

In late April 2017, a military court executed four men it said were behind a 2016 terrorist attack that killed 80 people. Al-Shabaab has also carried out executions in areas it governs in the country.

Somalia remains one of a handful of African countries that still apply the death penalty despite a hard fightback by activists. Most African countries have the measure on their law books but they are hardly enforced. Most death penalties are commuted to life imprisonment.