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Jul 12, 2009 10:40 pm US/Central
Mpls. Mother Says Her Son Was Killed In Somalia
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) ―
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Twenty-year-old Jamal Bana went missing from Minneapolis Nov. 4, 2008.
Bana Family
A Minneapolis family is in shock and wondering why their son died in Somalia. Twenty-year-old Jamal Bana was 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 last fall. It is the third Somali-American family from Minneapolis to have a family member die in Somalia recently. Bana's family and others in community think someone is systematically luring young Somali men from Minneapolis to sacrifice themselves.
Though distraught and in shock, Bana's mother, Abayte Ahmed, wants everyone to know her oldest son was a good man. She spoke to the media through Somali-American community leader Omar Jamal.
"He was very kind and we will greatly miss him," said Omar Jamal on behalf of Ahmed.
Bana came to Minneapolis with his family in 1996. He graduated from Washburn High School and was studying engineering at MCTC and Normandale College. He disappeared along with several other Somali American men from the Twin Cities last November. His family received one phone call from him since then.
"Mid-November, only one time he placed a phone call and he didn't say much. He talked as if he was being held hostage," said Omar Jamal on behalf of Ahmed. "He couldn't talk freely."
Ahmed also said through an interpreter that her son had never thought of leaving Minneapolis. She said he didn't pay attention to what was happening there and didn't even know where Somalia is located. The family left the country when he was just a toddler.
"Somebody must have put something in his mind. He must have been somewhat disillusioned and indoctrinated, because he didn't have any clue about Somalia at all," said Ahmed through Omar Jamal.
Other young Somali-American men have been talking about what happened to Bana and the two other men who died in Somalia. They also have a lot of questions.
"It don't make sense. We came out here for peace. For a young kid to go back out there, go back into the battlefield just don't make sense," said 21-year-old Mohamud Nor.
The family's first priority is to get Bana's body back to the United States for burial. They have asked the FBI for help. But, they are also worried about other young men and who might be targeting them. Local Somali leaders said they know of at least two other men from Minneapolis who are missing and feared dead.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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