NAIROBI, Kenya — Islamic extremists shot the leader of an underground church to death outside the capital city of Somalia and have threatened to kill his wife, his widow said.
Having learned that he had left Islam to become a Christian, Somali militants from the Islamic extremist al-Shabaab murdered 41-year-old Mohammed Ahmed Ali at about noon Jan. 1, Amina Ibrahim Hassan said.
He was killed after leaving his home in Hodan, on the outskirts of Mogadishu, she said.
Ali had led an underground church. Christian sources said members of al-Shabaab, said to have links with al-Qaida terrorists, had been monitoring Ali and his wife because of indications that they had left Islam.
Ali had organized New Year’s Day festivities for Christians to take place outside of Mogadishu. Al-Shabaab extremists killed him after word of the planned party leaked to them, said Hassan, who has since fled to Nairobi with their 2-year-old son.
Hassan said she received threatening calls from members of al-Shabaab on Jan. 3.
“We know who you are working for,” Hassan said one extremist told her. “We also know your home and that you are a follower of the Christians, and we are going to kill you the way we killed your husband.”
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