Mogadishu (SD) – A Somali military court has sentenced Darren Anthony Byrness and Ahmed Mustaqim Bin Abdal Hamid, the Brit and the Malaysian arrived in Somalia in 2009 and 2010 to join Al-Shabab.

Darren Anthony Byrness 44, was part of a planned Al-Shabab attack in France, was planning to rent a house for the attackers. While Ahmed Mustaqim bin Abdul Hamid 34, for his part, assisted al-Shabaab in the emergency services, he took part in fighting in Mogadishu and Dhusamareb.

Anthony Byrness told security agencies that al-Shabaab had secret bases in Kenya, Burundi, Senegal, Uganda and other West and Central African countries. he also assisted al-Shabaab in securing the group’s intelligence inside and outside the country through software programs, as well as fighting in Mogadishu, Galgadud, Gedo and Shabelle regions.

Ahmed Mustaqim and Darren Anthony were captured by the Puntland authorities on April 18, 2019 and a few months later the two foreigners were handed over to the Somali central government.

Ahmed Mustaqim and Darren Anthony were sentenced to 15 years in prison each by a military court today, Colonel Hassan Ali Nur Shuto, chairman of the Armed Forces Court of First Instance told reporters.

The British and Malaysian governments have not yet commented on the 15-year sentence handed down to the two men