All Africa reports a disturbing story about two teenage girls accused of spying, and who were subsequently executed by Islamist Insurgent group Al-Shabaab.

The girls, thought to be between 15 and 17 years of age, were shot in front of hundreds of horrified eye witnesses by a firing squad. Their faces were veiled, but some of those present claim the girls were shouting prior to their deaths.

The situation in Somalia has been unstable since the nineties, and Al Shabaab are just one of many groups seeking to sieze control and impose strict Sharia law on the country.

Whatever the actual truths of this particular incident, it seems clear that these women were never allowed a fair trial and their deaths were used as spectacle and warning.

Is this another example of the general contempt and disregard for women shown by the groups competing for power in the region?