MOGADISHU, Somalia — A 15th Christian leader in Somalia has been killed by Islamic extremists, according to the Washington-based human rights organization International Christian Concern (ICC).
As reported by ICC in a Nov. 16 news release, Ali Hussein Weheliye, pastor of an underground church in Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital, was returning home from a worship service Oct. 10 when he was ambushed and shot by two masked men that ICC described as members of al-Shabaab, an insurgent Muslim group that has risen to prominence in recent months.
“The Islamists left the pastor for dead,” ICC reported, recounting that Weheliye was taken to a hospital where he died of his wounds Oct. 20. “Ali converted from Islam to Christianity in 1999 while working in Somalia’s capital as a linguist. In 2002, he started pastoring an underground house church,” ICC stated. “He is survived by his wife and a daughter who are now in hiding, fearing for their lives.”
Al-Shabaab, a rebel group linked to al-Qaeda that has taken over large parts of Somalia, has “declared Somalia as an Islamic state, vowing to eradicate Christians,” ICC stated, listing Weheliye as the 15th Christian leader killed so far this year.
A number of Christian workers have been beheaded and a number of Christians have fled the country due to the intense persecution.
ICC urged Christians to “pray for God to comfort and strengthen Pastor Ali’s wife and daughter. Please pray for courage and wisdom to underground churches in Somalia.”
Somalia’s Christians comprise less than 1 percent of the African nation’s 9.8 million people.
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