A Briton has appeared in court accused of leading a group of fighters from the al Shabaab terrorist group in Somalia.
Prosecutors allege Jermaine Grant, who was born in London, joined al Shabaab commando training camps, becoming a platoon leader and taking part in battles in Somalia.
The 43-year-old is charged with directing the activities of al Shabaab between December 2007 and January 2010.
He is also accused of two counts of possessing an AK-47 assault rifle for terrorist purposes and three counts of attending one of the group's training camps within a similar timeframe.
He attended Westminster Magistrates' Court via videolink from HMP Frankland on Thursday, but did not enter pleas.
District judge Hina Rai said Grant's case was "too serious" to be dealt with by a magistrates' court, and remanded him into custody to appear at the Old Bailey on 1 May.
Al Shabaab, which has been linked to al Qaeda, was proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the UK in March 2010 over its violent campaign "employing a range of terrorist tactics including suicide bombings, indiscriminate attacks and assassinations".
"Its principal aim is the establishment of a fundamentalist Islamic state in Somalia," the Home Office website said.
Read more from Sky News:
South African opposition leader jailed
Setback in Australia's fuel crisis
Meghan 'most trolled' in the world
Al Shabaab claims responsibility for a series of high-profile attacks outside of Somalia, including the 2019 attack on Nairobi's DusitD2 luxury hotel complex that left 21 dead, the 2015 shooting at Garissa University in northern Kenya, which killed 148 people, and the 2013 attack that killed 67 at Nairobi's Westgate Shopping Mall.
The group was labelled a "persistent threat" in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, and carries out "high-profile attacks that challenge government authority", according to a 2025 UK government assessment.
It has targeted international aid workers, journalists, business people, and non-governmental organisations which have opposed or resisted it.
The charges against Grant followed an investigation by Counter Terrorism Policing London.
(c) Sky News 2026: British man accused of leading al Shabaab terrorist fighters in Somalia appears in court
Church warden serving life for murder of university lecturer has conviction quashed
Boy, 16, among three arrested over attempted arson on Persian language media group in Wembley
Residents living on London's new Chinese embassy site fear they have unknowingly been living 'in China' since 2018
Woman in her 70s killed in UK's third fatal dog attack in a week
Deaths from dog bites surge more than 200% in a year, report shows
GDP grows by surprising amount but it could be last uptick for a while
A trick to get free delivery on Amazon | Money newsletter
Teens staying silent on politics for fear of being 'cancelled'
The curious link between Helen Mirren's garden and food prices
