Woman stoned to death after Sharia court found her guilty of having 11 husbands

SOMALIA extremist Islamist sect Al-Shabaab insurgents have stoned a woman to death in the south of the country after they accused her of having 11 husbands in contravention on strict koranic teachings.

Residents of Sablale town in Lower Shabelle region of Somalia gathered to witness the stoning of the woman named as Shukri Abdullahi, 30. Al Shabaab is fighting to impose its own harsh interpretation of Islamic law in Somalia and courts set up by the militants do not allow legal representation or appeals.

Its members have handed out brutal punishments for religious infractions, including hacking limbs for alleged thieves. Stoning suspected adulterers in one such punishment and such instances, the accused is buried neck-deep and then killed by rocks thrown by a crowd.

Mohamed Usama, al Shabaab’s the governor of the Lower Shabelle region, said: “Shukri Abdullahi and nine husbands, including her legal husband, were brought to the court, each saying she was his wife.”

Al-Shabaab's composition is multiethnic, with its leadership positions mainly occupied by Afghanistan and Iraq trained ethnic Somalis and some foreigners. According to the National Counterterrorism Centre, the group's rank-and-file members hail from disparate local Somali ethnic groups, sometimes recruited by force.