Somali teen who left Minnesota dead: Justice for Burhan Hassan

[General Duke]

MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (CNN) -- A Somali teen who left Minnesota to return to his native country last November has been reported killed.

 

The 17-year-old, who was not named, was reportedly killed Friday in artillery fire in the violence-ravaged nation's capital of Mogadishu, said the Somali Justice Advocacy Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

 

The center is asking federal officials for help in bringing the teen's body back to the United States for burial, executive director Omar Jamal said.

 

The teen was among a group of young Somali-American men who left Minneapolis last year and were feared recruited by the extremist group, al-Shabaab, that has ties to al Qaeda, according to the U.S. State Department.

 

Al-Shabaab is blamed for a surge of violence in Somalia, as insurgents group fight the government to implement sharia, a stricter form of Islamic law.

 

The rebel group has said it has recruited many fighters in its battle.

 

Al-Shabaab, also known as the Mujahedeen Youth Movement, was officially designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. government in March 2008.

 

In October, Shirwa Ahmed, 27, a Somali-American who had been radicalized by al-Shabaab in his adopted home state of Minnesota, traveled to Somalia and blew himself up and 29 others.

 

The incident, the first-ever suicide bombing by a naturalized U.S. citizen, raised red flags throughout the U.S. intelligence community.

 

Somalis began arriving in the United States in significant numbers after the U.S. intervention in Somalia's humanitarian crisis in 1992.

 

The Somali-American population is now concentrated in clusters primarily in Minneapolis; Columbus, Ohio; Seattle, Washington and San Diego, California.

 

The potential recruitment of young Somali-American men has been made possible by "a number of factors that come together when a dynamic, influential and extremist leader gains access to a despondent and disenfranchised group of young men," Andrew Liepman, deputy director for intelligence at the National Counterterrorism Center, said earlier this year.

 

Many refugees, he said, "lack structure and definition in their lives" and are "torn between their parents' traditional tribal and clan identities, and the new cultures and traditions offered by American society."

[General Duke]

Somali activist: Man from US reported killed

 

Associated Press

2009-06-07 07:23 AM Fonts Size:

 

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A Somali activist says one of the young Somali men who left Minneapolis to return to their homeland last November has been reported killed in Mogadishu.

Omar Jamal is executive director of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center. He did not release the name of the man, who was about 18, but said his group is looking into the case.

 

Groups of young Somalis in Minneapolis went missing last year and were feared to have been recruited by radical elements in Somalia. That nation has seen a recent surge of violence as insurgents try to install a strict Islamic state.

 

Jamal said someone should be held accountable because "to mislead kids and take (them) away from their parents and put them in harm's way is a crime."

 

He offered condolences to the man's mother in the Minneapolis area.

[General Duke]

Somali youth from Minneapolis dies in homeland

The Minneapolis family of Burhan Hassan learned that he died in Somalia --another in a group of Somali youth who vanished last fall.

 

By ALLIE SHAH, Star Tribune

 

Burhan Hassan, a studious teenager from Minneapolis, died in Mogadishu and was buried there, an uncle said Saturday evening.

 

"We received a call from those people in Mogadishu. They confirmed the unfortunate news that our son was killed," said Abdirizak Bihi, whose sister is Hassan's mother.

 

FBI officials could not confirm the news Saturday night.

 

Bihi said his sister received a call Friday morning informing her that Hassan had been killed and that he did not die in combat.

 

"Somehow he was killed," he said. "They did not give us details. But they said there was no fighting from the enemy. Somehow they found him dead, the man said, and he was buried."

 

Groups of young Somalis went missing from the Twin Cities last year and were feared recruited by radical elements in Somalia.

 

Federal authorities have been investigating the possible connection between terrorist groups and the disappearances of up to 20 young Somali men in the Twin Cities since last fall, when Shirwa Ahmed, a 26-year-old college student from Minneapolis, apparently blew himself up in Somalia in a coordinated attack that killed up to 30 people.

 

In recent days, fighting has intensified in Mogadishu, Somalia.

 

Hassan had a health problem, Bihi said, and was confined to a house during the recent fighting.

 

"There has been a bad war going on in Mogadishu these last few days," he said, adding that the family had last spoken to Hassan a week ago. Bihi said the family had been working with a group to try to bring Hassan to the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, this month. Bihi said the family suspects that Hassan was killed by members of Al-Shabaab, which U.S. authorities have identified as a terrorist group.

 

Omar Jamal, executive director of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center in Minneapolis, said his group is looking into the death of the 17-year-old and asking federal officials for help in getting his body returned for burial. He said the teen was killed in artillery fire.

 

Bihi said his sister received many visitors offering condolences on Saturday. He added that family members were planning to hold a strategy session Sunday because they're frustrated by the lack of progress with the investigation.

 

"We don't want to sit down and wait for answers. We want to take action."

 

Burhan Hassan, 17, was an infant when his family fled Somalia.

 

The Associated Press contributed to this report Allie Shah • 612-673-4488

[BOB]

The center is asking federal officials for help in bringing the teen's body back to the United States for burial, executive director Omar Jamal said.

Inna Lillahi Wa Inna Ileyhi Raajicuun...!

 

 

Peace, Love & Unity.