American, US Resident Extremists Defect in Somalia

The defections of two fighters, an American and a U.S. resident, from Somalia’s Islamic extremist rebels highlight tensions within al-Shabab over whether it should remain affiliated to al-Qaida or switch allegiance to the Islamic State group, an al-Shabab commander said Tuesday.

An armed member of the terrorist group al-Shabab attends a rally in support of the merger of the fundamentalist Somalia Islamic group with al-Qaida, on the outskirts of Mogadishu, Somalia, on Feb. 13, 2012. AP Photo

MOGADISHU, Somalia—The defections of two fighters, an American and a U.S. resident, from Somalia’s Islamic extremist rebels highlight tensions within al-Shabab over whether it should remain affiliated to al-Qaida or switch allegiance to the Islamic State (ISIS), an al-Shabab commander said Tuesday.

Foreign fighters are being alienated and feel trapped in Somalia over suspicions that they are plotting to switch allegiance to the Islamic State group fighting in Syria and Iraq, Abu Mohammed, a military commander with al-Shabab told The Associated Press. The “ambitions” by some foreign fighters in al-Shabab to join ISIS had led to them to be isolated within the Somali group and even face death at the hands of their erstwhile comrades-in-arms.

An American who had been fighting with al-Shabab left the rebels and was arrested by Somalia’s security forces on Monday. Abdimalik Jones, who said he is from San Diego, was arrested in the southern port of Barawe, said African Union spokesman Col. Paul Njuguna.

This undated photo provided by the FBI shows Mohamed Abdullahi Hassan, who turned himself in to authorities in Africa, the U.S. State Department said Monday, Dec. 7, 2015. A former Minnesota resident, Hassan joined al-Shabab in Somalia more than seven years ago and more recently went online to urge others to carry out violence on behalf of the Islamic State, authorities said. FBI via AP