Sources: Al-Shabab Militants Kill American Who Cut Ties with Group

Thursday, September 12, 2013

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An American citizen who left the Somali militant group al-Shabab is reported to have been killed by the group's fighters.

Sources told VOA's Somali service that Omar Hammami died early Thursday when militants attacked his hideout near the town of Bardher.

The militants also killed two other people in the attack, including Osama al-Britaini, a British national of Pakistani origin.

The 29-year-old Hammami told VOA last week he had broken ties with Moktar Abu Zubayr, saying the al-Shabab leader does not abide by the principles of Islam and has turned the group into one that oppresses Muslims in a bid to win control of Somalia.

Hammami said al-Shabab was trying to kill him, and that he still considered himself a terrorist.

He traveled to Somalia in 2006 and joined al-Shabab's military wing. The FBI says that in 2007, after Ethiopian forces invaded Somalia, he joined the front lines as a fighter and eventually became a leader in al-Shabab. The U.S offered up to $5 million for information leading to his capture.

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