Mogadishu — An unnamed woman was stoned to death at Eel-boon in Wajid district, 330 kilometres southwest of Mogadishu, on Wednesday. She was sentenced by an Islamic court after she was found guilty of adultery.

The woman was taken to a square, her body half buried and then stoned.

A crowd was present as well as officials of al-Shabaab, an Islamist movement that opposes the Transitional Federal Government and controls a large territory in Southern and Central Somalia.

A young man, who was also caught in the same adulterous act, received 100 strokes of the cane.

According to Sheikh Ibrahim Sheikh Abdurahman, a judge of the Islamic court who sentenced the woman to death and the man to whipping said the cases differed.

"The woman was had been married before and under Sharia (Islamic law) she is to be stoned to death upon proof," said Sheikh Abdurahman.

"The young man with no previous marriage experience is to receive 100 whips under the same law," he added.

Last Friday, another Islamic court that falls under the control of al-Shabaab sentenced a young man to death by stoning in Marka town, 110 kilometres south of Mogadishu. He was found guilty of committing adultery following a case of alleged rape.

At a football stadium facing the Indian Ocean, the condemned man was taken to a corner of the playground, his body half buried in dirt before youngsters started hitting him with stones.

Before the execution, the clergymen who rule Marka town and surrounding areas announced that a woman who had also been sentenced for committing adultery was in custody, to be stoned.

The woman is said to be pregnant.

Al-Shabaab and Hizbu Islam, the Islamist groups that strongly oppose the TFG, generally enforce the severe punishments.

In 2008, a teenage girl was accused of adultery in Kismayu, 500 kilometres south of Mogadishu, sentenced by a court and stoned to death.