Killed: Hammami, right, joined al-Shabab in 2006. He is pictured with
deputy leader of al-Shabab. Sheik Mukhtar Abu Mansur Robow, left, in
2011 but he went on the run after falling out with the group
A British bomb-maker who was on the
run with the world's most wanted woman - dubbed the 'White Widow' - has
been executed in a gun battle in Somalia alongside an American fellow
terrorist.
Habib Ghani had been in hiding with the widow of a London 7/7 bomber, Samantha Lewthwaite, 29, in a remote part of the war-torn country when his killers struck, according to reports.
The 28-year-old and Omar Hammami, 29, from Alabama - known for jihadi rap videos he posted to YouTube - are thought to have fallen out with commanders from militant group al-Shabab, provoking a bloody revenge.Ghani, from Hounslow, west London,
and
Hammami, also called al-Amriki (The American), are thought to have been
together when their former comrades from al-Shabab cornered them.The gunmen overpowered their bodyguards in a
village where they had been in hiding since fleeing the terror group in
June.Ghani, who also called himself Osama
al-Britani, was a key ally of Muslim convert Lewthwaite, who was married
to King’s Cross bomber Jermaine Lindsay.
The
so-called ‘White Widow’, who is the world’s most wanted woman, has been
on the run in East Africa after police foiled a Christmas bomb plot
against Western tourists in the coastal resort of Mombasa in 2011.
Police believe the soldier’s daughter
from Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, had been working with Ghani for several
years, although she was not thought to have been present when gunmen
struck early yesterday
'Dead': Militants in Somalia have claimed that
American jihadist Omar Hammami has been killed. In April, he tweeted
this pictured, right, following what he called an assassination attempt
as he was in a tea shop
Residents in al-Baate village in southern Somalia said their bodies were dragged away by rebels.
‘This morning al-Amriki and his comrades were attacked by well-armed fighters,’ said Hussein Nur.
Convert: Soldier's daughter Samantha Lewthwaite pictured at school
‘After a brief fight, al-Amriki and his two colleagues were killed. Several of their guards escaped.’
The al-Shabab gunmen struck at 5.30am, just after morning prayers, capturing the jihadists unawares.
Sources said the gunmen had lain in wait for several days, posing as camel herders.
Ghani
and Hammami were allies of Somali Islamist Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys,
who split from al-Shabab in June, causing a rift in the group’s ranks.Since the split, al-Shabab has been hunting down and killing allies of Aweys.Al-Amriki - the son of a Christian mother and a Syrian-born Muslim father - was on the FBI’s Most
Wanted terror list and a $5million (£3.1million) bounty was offered for
information leading to his capture.
He had been active on Twitter but his last post was on September 5 in which he said: 'I'm still a terrorist.'
A
more prophetic Tweet came in April in which he said: 'May not find
another chance to tweet but just remember what we said and what we stood
for. God kept me alive to deliver the mssg 2 the umah'.
Reports of Hammami's death crop up every few months in Somalia, only for him to resurface alive and well a short while later.
But
a U.S. terrorism expert who closely follows the inner workings of
Somalia's al-Qaida-linked terror group says he thinks that the current
reports of the death are accurate.'I think it's very likely true based on the sources I am seeing,' said J.M. Berger, who runs the website Intelwire.com.
Ghani
was born in the UK to a Pakistani father and a Kenyan mother. According
to police sources, he left his home in Hounslow several years ago and
gained bomb-making experience in Pakistan.
Last night details emerged about Ghani’s secret life in Somalia where he was also known locally as Sheikh Towfiq.
Target: One of Americas most wanted terrorists,
Omar Hammami(above), was killed alongside Ghani. Lewthwaite and Ghani
had been on the run since 2011 when police swooped on another extremist,
Jermaine Grant (below)
Wanted: He ascended the ranks of Somalia's
al-Qaida-linked militant group al-Shabab high enough to attract a $5
million U.S. government bounty. This FBI listing shows their description
of Hammami
The bearded Briton was
living with his Somalian wife Habibo and two children, a boy aged three
and a baby girl just a few months old, in the remote town of
Hawalbarbar which has no electricity.He owned a small kiosk, where he charged phone batteries with his solar-powered adapter for a fee.Ghani
and Lewthwaite were said to have fled Kenya in December 2011 as police
swooped on a third and unconnected British extremist, Jermaine Grant,
who was living on the other side of Mombasa.Police
feared she and Ghani were planning to unleash a terror attack as the
tourist season got under way but she managed to slip the net.
Lewthwaite is believed to be a vital conduit between Al Qaeda groups in Pakistan and East Africa.
White Widow: Samantha Lewthwaite converted to Islam and married 7/7 bomber Jermaine Lindsay (pictured)
Slaughter: Shehzad Tanweeer, Jermaine Lindsay
and Mohammad Sidique Khan with their rucksacks at Luton railway station
while carrying out a dry run days before the blasts killed 52
The mother of four converted to Islam at the age of 17 and married Lindsay in 2002 after meeting him on the internet.She
was seven months pregnant when Lindsay, a Jamaican convert from
Huddersfield, killed 26 people when he blew himself up on a Piccadilly
Line train in July 2005.
Since
her disappearance, Lewthwaite has been linked to a spate of grenade
attacks in Mombasa, including one which killed three people.Ghani’s
family, who live in a modest £270,000 terraced house in a quiet
suburban street, refused to speak to reporters last night.A
Foreign Office spokesman said: ‘We are aware of reports of the death of
a British national in Somalia and are looking into this.’
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