Somalia executes convict on attack anniversary

Isak was sentenced to death for involvement in terror attack that killed 500 last year

Somalia yesterday executed by firing squad a man linked to one of the country’s deadliest ever attacks, one year after the tragedy which left over 500 dead, a court statement and police sources said.

Hassan Adan Isak was sentenced to death for “driving one of the vehicles used in the blast,” read a statement from the court. “Today, the 14th October 2018, the death penalty was carried out against him.”

Hundreds of Somalis gathered at a ceremony to mark the anniversary of the attack in which a truck packed with explosives blew up at the busy Zoope intersection, destroying some 20 buildings in an apocalyptic scene in a city used to explosions at the hands of Islamist group Al Shabab.

A year on, the Al Qaidalinked group which still governs large swathes of territory, has never claimed responsibility, which observers attribute to the public outrage caused by the attack.

A military court announced yesterday that a member of the team involved in the attack had been executed.

Isak was the driver of a vehicle that he parked near an airport checkpoint after the truck went off, and was arrested. The target of his attack was unclear and there were no casualties in the second blast.

Some buildings at the Zoope intersection have been reconstructed, carrying billboards with harrowing pictures of the blast and its victims. A memorial tower has been erected in the middle of the intersection.