Cellphone thief loses hand in Somalia Witnesses said that Yusuf Sheikh Ahmed, 30, was brought before a crowd, then had his right hand chopped off with a big knife

Mogadishu – Somalia’s al-Qaeda-inspired Shebab Islamists

On Thursday publicly chopped off the right hand of a man

Accused of stealing cellphones, witnesses And officials said.

The punishment took place in the southern port

Town of Merka under the control of the extremist Group,

And where they have imposed strict sharia, or Islamic law.

This punishment is part of broad effort to implement sharia in the country. Anybody who steals gets his hands chopped off,” said Sheikh Isa Mohamed, a Shebab official.