London, May 30, 2018 (AltAfrika)-A Somalia military court on Wednesday sentenced three men to death by firing squad for the October 2017 attack in which 20 people were killed and scores others injured.

The men were reported to have been part of a group of fighters who carried out an attack on Nasa Hablod Two Hotel in the capital Mogadishu on 28 October.

The court said the men were part of the extremist group al-Shabaab, which has waged war on the government for over a decade.

Judge Hassan Ali Noor Shute said the three men – Farhan Mohamed Samatar, Abdinasir Daqane Hassan and Abshir Mohamed Hajji Bule – pleaded guilty before the first division military court of the Somali National Army.

He anounced the sentence, however it is still open for appeal.

The conflict waged by al-Shabaab has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions others, crippling operations in most part of the Horn of African country.

Current President Mohamed Abdullahi ‘Farmajo’, with the help of African Union forces in the country, made crushing the jihadist group a priority for his reign.

AMISOM forces have pegged the militants back to scattered hideouts, though they still manage to stage attacks occasionally.

BBC