American jihadist killed in Somalia
JOHANNESBURG — He has been reported dead before. But Thursday, witnesses and analysts expressed confidence in word that Abu Mansoor Al-Amriki, an American militant on the U.S. “most-wanted” list with a $5 million bounty on his head, had been slain in Somalia.
The Islamist who left home in Alabama to fight in Somalia wasn’t killed by a U.S. drone, the reports said, but was ambushed in a forest by former colleagues and now enemies in the militant group al-Shabab.
Born Omar Hammami of a Syrian Muslim father and a Baptist mother, he went to Somalia in 2006 and rose swiftly through al-Shabab’s ranks, making propaganda recordings for them. Hammami, known as Al-Amriki, or the American, rapped on a YouTube video to recruit young Westerners to join the jihad. Wanted by FBI
After he was said to have been slain in 2011, he reportedly posted a rap song mocking reports of his death, although some analysts say he didn’t perform many of the raps attributed to him.
Hammami, 29, was wanted by the FBI for allegedly offering support to a terrorist group.
He was reportedly killed at a hideout in the Gedo region southwest of the capital of Mogadishu with several other allies, including a Pakistan-born Briton known as Osama al Britan.
Terrorism analyst J.M. Berger, author of the blog Intelwire and “Jihad Joe,” a book about Americans who went to war for terrorist groups, said on Twitter he believed the reports to be true because “multiple, highly credible jihadi sources” had reported Hammami’s death. Berger said when Hammami was rumored dead on previous occasions, there had been no chatter on jihadi networks. Witnesses’ accounts
Reuters reported two residents in the nearby village of al Baate said they had heard Hammami was dead. France 24 and AFP also reported several residents of a nearby town saying he was dead after a gun battle.
His seven-year Somalia adventure was no advertisement for the life of a jihadist.
On Twitter, he sometimes complained of discomforts “living off the tribe,” such as not having had a decent shower for years and having to boil his water.
Hammami posted tweets April 25 describing an assassination attempt as he sat in a tea room: “Just been shot in neck by Shabab assassin. Not critical yet.”
In his last interview with Voice of America, Hammami said he had not been with al-Shabab or al-Qaida for some time but said he was “definitely a terrorist.”
Hammami ruled out returning home: “That’s definitely not an option, unless it’s in a body bag.”