MOGADISHU, Somalia

Al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist group al-Shabab publicly executed seven people for alleged spying, including a soldier, in southwestern Somalia, according to local media.

The seven men were executed by firing squad in Buula Fulay in the Bay region, as witnessed by many bystanders, according to the terror group's propaganda website, which also shared a picture of the execution late Saturday.

A so-called “judge” linked to the terror group accused six men of spying for the Somali government and a US intelligence agency, with three of them also accused of providing intelligence on senior al-Shabaab leaders Yusuf Jiis and Abdulkadir, who were killed in US airstrikes in 2020.

The soldier, who was also executed, was taken into custody on the route between the districts of Dinsoor and Baidoa in the country's South West state, according to the terrorists' propaganda outlet.

The terror group's so-called courts do not allow any defense of the accused. They usually depend on confessions obtained through torture, according to many people who have abandoned violence and surrendered to the government.

In April 2020, several al-Shabaab so-called "senior commanders" were killed in US airstrikes, including one of the group’s founders, Yusuf Jiis, whom the US called “violent, ruthless, and responsible for the loss of many innocent lives.” By Mohammed Dhaysane  Anadolu News Agency