Hiiraan Online

HARGEISA (HOL) – The breakaway northern Somalia region of Somaliland on Monday executed four soldiers by firing squad, including one who was convicted of killing his chief officer in a remote village in the region.

According to Hassan Aden, the prosecutor general, Abdirizak Mohamed Kheyre was found guilty of killing of his commanding officer Aden Guled and Abdiaziz Saeed Warsame was also convicted of killing of a senior military commander.

Mr. Aden also said that the region had also executed Abdullahi Abdul Elmi who was convicted of killing a civilian in the capital, Hargeisa while the fourth soldier Osman Hirad was also found guilty of killing a senior military general in Somaliland.

It’s not the first time that Somaliland executed convicted criminals and suspected militants.

The region has executed six prisoners last year; an action which had drawn condemnations by the international community including the

European Union which warned that the summary executions in the region serve as a setback in the progress made in spreading the rule of law in Somaliland.

Somaliland, a peaceful enclave in northern Somalia which declared a unilateral independence from the rest of Somalia in 1991 has escaped Somalia's two decades civil war. Despite lacking an international recognition, Somaliland considers itself as an independent state, employing its own independent government, currency and army.