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Jul 11, 2009 10:45 pm US/Central
Sources: Somali Teen Missing From Mpls. Killed
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) ―
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Twenty-year-old Jamal Bana went missing from Minneapolis November 4, 2008. His family found graphic pictures of his body on a Somali news Web site Saturday.
Bana Family
Another Minneapolis man has been found dead in Somalia. Twenty-year-old Jamal Bana was reportedly killed east of Mogadishu in what his family calls a clash between Somali troops and insurgents.
Bana was one of several Somali-Americans who disappeared from the Twin Cities November 4, 2008.
The Somali government showed pictures of a body it said was an Afghan national fighting with an opposition group. Bana's family says the picture is that of the missing 20-year-old.
"The family found out because of the Somali internet," said Bana family spokesman Abdirizak Bihi.
Bihi says Somali news Web site Jowhar.com broke the news about Bana's death. Bihi adds that the Bana family learned of his passing by finding graphic pictures of his body posted there. They say they do not know the specifics behind his death.
Bihi says the family was told Bana was killed in the early morning hours on Thursday. A raid on an Al-Shabaab camp by government police during prayer led to Bana's capture east of Mogadishu, and eventually to his death.
Bana is the third Somali-American from the Twin Cities to die in Somalia.
"Three of them are dead now, confirmed. One carried out a suicide bombing, one was murdered, shot in the head and this one today was killed in combat," said Omar Jamal.
Bana was a graduate of Roosevelt High School and according to Bihi, was attending junior college in the Twin Cities before he disappeared.
The United Nations says hundreds of foreigners are fighting alongside Al-Shabaab in Somalia. The country has been without a strong central government since 1991.
The FBI is investigating whether someone is recruiting young men in the Twin Cities to fight in Somalia.
"They want to have someone held responsible for this, for the loss of their son," said Jamal.
Bana's family says they believe someone is working to recruit young Americans to fight the war. They have no idea who, but hope authorities find out before its too late for anyone else.
A spokesman for the FBI says they have heard about the recent fighting in Mogadishu and rumors about the death of an American, but cannot confirm Bana's death.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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