Somali Insurgent Groups Stones Young Woman To Death For Adultery, Second Stoning In A Month

November 18, 2009 12:32 p.m. EST

Mogadishu, Somalia (AHN) - For the second time in a month a young person has been stoned in Somalia for adultery. Hundreds of spectators watched as Somali insurgent group al-Shabaan stoned to death a 29-year-old married woman on Tuesday.

The unnamed woman was taken to a public square half buried and then stoned to death. According to local media reports Sheikh Ibrahim Sheikh Abdirahman, an al-Shabaab judge, also decreed the woman's unmarried male sexual partner should receive one hundred lashed. Apparently because she had been married her punishment was clear - death. However, because the man had no instances of marriage his punishment was only being whipped.

In another act of condemnation, a 33-year-old man was stoned to death for having an affair in the seaside town of Marka. The affair was discovered following an original allegation of rape, however an investigation proved the relationship to be adulterous in nature. He was taken to a football stadium, half buried and then youngsters began hitting him with stones until he died.

However, prior to his death clergymen - who rule Marka with an iron fist - said the pregnant woman who committed adultery would also be stoned.

Al-Shabaab and its ally Hizbul Islam have been in intense fighting with Somalia's weak central government and have subsequently taken control over vast parts of southern and central regions of the country. Under their anarchic rule they've begun implementing strict following of Islamic law in the regions they control. Additionally instances of floggings and executions have been on the rise.

Since 2007 nearly 19,000 civilians have perished in Somalia's bloody insurgency, which originated from Ethiopia's invasion to force out the Islamist regime.

American terrorist experts say al-Shabaab has close ties to al-Qaeda and in addition to the region being a hotbed for pirate activity it is also fast becoming a breeding ground for terrorists.