A Somali military court has sentenced to death a former journalist who helped al Shabab kill five fellow reporters, the BBC reported on Thursday.

Hassan Hanafi assisted the Islamist militant group by identifying possible targets amongst journalists between 2007 and 2011.

He joined its armed wing after working for Radio Andalus, al-Shabab's mouthpiece in Somalia.

Hanafi was arrested by police in 2014 in neighbouring Kenya, where he had fled, and was then transferred to Somalia.

More than 25 journalists have been murdered in Somalia since 2007, the Committee to Protect Journalists says.

Source: MENA