Puntland military court releases six foreign ISIS Members

Somalia’s Puntland state military court has released six foreign men who defected from the Islamic State militant group in Puntland State. 

The chairman of the Puntland military court, General Abdifatah Haji Adan, stated that Ethiopian and Moroccan nationals surrendered to Puntland after escaping from the ISIS-Somalia.

The men were handed over to the Puntland Ministry of Justice to be repatriated to their countries. Additionally, the court also released six children who were members of the Islamic State. 

In March, the Puntland military court sentenced to death six Moroccans believed to be foreign fighters for the Islamic State group in Somalia. 

Several Moroccan non-governmental organizations (NGOs) urged the Moroccan government to act quickly to save the six Moroccans’ lives. 

The six men were identified as Mohamed Hassan, Ahmed Najwi, Khalid Latha, Mohamed Binu Mohamed Ahmed, Ridwan Abdulkadir Osmany, and Ahmed Hussein Ibrahim. 

However, Puntland did not mention whether the released Moroccans were among those sentenced last March