Senior court officials arrested in Puntland for Al-Shabaab links

The officials are undergoing interrogation at police custody and they will be arraigned in court shortly to face the charges brought against them, according to the minister.

News Keydmedia Online
26 January 2021

GAROWE, Puntland - A minister within Puntland state says security forces have detained top court officials in central town for releasing convicted terrorists from prison.

Abdirahman Dhabanad, the state’s interior minister confirmed the unnamed military tribunal judges were relieved of duty or suspended in response to the release of the suspected Al-Shabaab militants.

The officials are undergoing interrogation at police custody and they will be arraigned in court shortly to face the charges brought against them, according to the minister.

This has sparked scrutiny in the judicial system in Puntland after reports surfaced that some officials were collaborating with the Al-Qaeda-linked militant group Al-Shabaab.

The city which straddles the border between Galmudug and Puntland state has been beset by recurrent terrorist attacks in the past years. Last December, senior Somali army officers killed in a suicide blast.

The interior minister added the government had put several elders on its radar over suspicion of having links with Al-Shabaab and taking orders of the extremists who extort money from local businesses.

Al-Shabaab set up bases in Puntland, especially in the Galgala mountains, where it trains fighters and plots attacks on security forces and high-profile targets within the northeastern Somali Federal State.

KON English News Desk