Hassan Abdi Dhuhulow

Hassan Abdi Dhuhulow (1990 – 22 September 2013) was a Norwegian-Somalian Islamist terrorist and Al-Shabaab-member who was one of four perpetrators of the 2013 Westgate shopping mall attack in Nairobi, Kenya that killed 67 people.[1][2][3][4]

Hassan Abdi Dhuhulow
Born1990
Mogadishu, Somalia
Died22 September 2013(2013-09-22) (aged 22–23)
Westgate, Nairobi, Kenya
NationalityNorwegian, Somalian

Early life

Dhuhulow came to Norway from Mogadishu, Somalia as a refugee in 1999,[5][6] settling with what were claimed to be relatives in Larvik. Later, several of the claimed family relations have been exposed as false, including an alleged sister who has been prosecuted for false testimony in connection with the Westgate attack.[7] Dhuhulow and the alleged sister were granted Norwegian citizenship in 2003 on grounds of their family relations.[8] His parents and several other relatives reportedly died or were killed in Somalia.[9]

While described as hot-headed and as having anger issues during his first school years, he had reportedly become a kind and hard-working model student by tenth grade. Although well-liked, he was described by himself and by others as being lonely, and he became very religious as a practicing Muslim who prayed five times a day and started bringing a prayer rug with him during upper secondary school.[9][10] He regularly attended the Larvik Mosque, where he became acquainted with Mohyeldeen Mohammad.[10]

He was a prolific user on web forums, at times displaying clear jihadist sympathies, including on a site hosted by the Islamic Association with 2,500 comments from 2006 to 2008. His activities, including contacts with central members of Profetens Ummah led him to be brought in for talks with the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST).[3][9][10][11]

Westgate shopping mall attack

Dhuhulow returned to Somalia in 2009, where he got married, staying there except for a brief trip back to Norway in 2010. In 2012 he was arrested, suspected of the murder of radio journalist Hassan Yusuf Absuge in Mogadishu. He was eventually acquitted from the charges, while another member of Al-Shabaab was sentenced to death.[10][12][13] Dhuhulow reportedly attended an Al-Shabaab training camp in El Buur, and was involved in operations in Mogadishu and Kismayo,[5] eventually becoming part of a 'martyrdom brigade'.[14]

After the Westgate shopping mall attack in September 2013, it was reported that what appeared to be Dhuhulow was seen firing an AK-47 in CCTV footage, as one of four terrorists affiliated with Al-Shabaab who took part in the attack in which 71 people were killed (including all four terrorists), and almost 200 wounded.[9] Dhuhulow's cell phone traffic suggests he may have been the leader of the terror cell during the attack.[15][16] His presence at the scene was later confirmed by the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST) following forensic dentistry by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).[7][17]

An estimated 20 to 30 Norwegians have reportedly travelled to fight for Al-Shabaab.[1] Al-Shabaab commander Ikrima lived for several years as an asylum seeker in Norway,[18][19] and is believed by Kenyan intelligence to have masterminded the Westgate attack.[20] The perpetrators of the attack were publicly hailed by Ubaydullah Hussain, spokesperson of the Norwegian Islamist group Profetens Ummah.[21]

Dhuhulow is the subject of the 2015 book En norsk terrorist. Portrett av den nye ekstremismen (A Norwegian terrorist. Portrait of the new extremism) by journalist Lars Akerhaug, who has directed strong criticism towards Norwegian authorities for their failed handling of Dhuhulow and "cowardice" prior to the attack, requesting a fact-finding commission similar to the one after the 2011 Norway attacks, believing that the victims of the Westgate attack deserve an explanation from Norwegian authorities.[22][23][24] Researcher Stig Jarle Hansen has voiced similar concerns, holding that the issue of Norwegian Al-Shabaab-fighters is taken too lightly in Norway (the number of fighters is the same as the United Kingdom despite many more Somalis living there).[25][26] Dhuhulow was the subject of a BBC Newsnight report that aired on 17 October 2013,[1] and of the NRK Brennpunkt documentary Terroristen fra Larvik (The terrorist from Larvik) aired on 21 October 2014.[27] He is considered Norway's worst terrorist after Anders Behring Breivik.[9]

See also

References
  1. "Norwegian suspected of being Kenya mall attacker named". BBC News. 17 October 2013.
  2. "Kenya mall attack suspect identified as Norwegian-Somali". CBS News. 18 October 2013.
  3. Libell, Henrik Pryser; Kulish, Nicholas (18 October 2013). "In Kenya Inquiry, Norway Looks at Somali Migrant". The New York Times.
  4. Hall, John (18 October 2013). "Kenyan mall attack: Norwegian suspected of being attacker named as Hassan Abdi Dhuhulow, as chilling new video is released". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-05-09.
  5. "Kenya attack: Westgate mall bodies 'probably gunmen'". BBC News. 18 October 2013.
  6. "Dhuhulow named as Norway's Westgate killer". The Local. 18 October 2013.
  7. Torset, Nina Selbo (3 September 2015). "PST har ventet på FBI. Nå er konklusjonen i Westgate-saken klar". Aftenposten (in Norwegian).
  8. ""Søsteren" frifunnet for løgn" (in Norwegian). NRK. 21 March 2015.
  9. Vedeler, Mathias; Foss, Andreas Bakke; Færaas, Arild (8 September 2014). "Fra mønsterelev i Norge til massemorder i Kenya". Aftenposten (in Norwegian).
  10. Hopperstad, Morten S.; Johnsen, Nilas; Ege, Rune Thomas (21 October 2014). "Norske Hassan Dhuhulow (23) utpekt som terrorist: Slik forandret han seg". Verdens Gang (in Norwegian).
  11. "Den norske Westgate-terroristen ble radikalisert i Norge". Aftenposten (in Norwegian). 9 September 2014.
  12. "Nairobi attack suspect 'was under surveillance several years ago'". The Telegraph. 18 October 2013.
  13. "Mistenkt norsk terrorist frikjent for drap i Somalia" (in Norwegian). NRK/NTB. 16 October 2013.
  14. "Westgate mall al-Shabaab gunmen 'were suicide commandos'". The Telegraph/AFP. 12 November 2013.
  15. "Kilder: Mobiltrafikk tyder på at nordmann ledet angrepet". Verdens Gang (in Norwegian). 20 October 2013.
  16. "VG: Norsk-somalier kan ha ledet terrorangrepet i Nairobi" (in Norwegian). NRK. 20 October 2013.
  17. "Norwegian was terrorist in Kenya mall attack". The Local. 4 September 2015.
  18. "U.S. target in Somalia: An inside story on an Al-Shabaab commander". CNN. 7 October 2013.
  19. "The terrorist who got away: Why SEAL Team 6 was sent to snatch Ikrima from Somalia". NBC News. 17 November 2013.
  20. Cruickshank, Paul (2015). "Learning terror: The evolving threat of overseas training to the West". In Ranstorp, Magnus; Normark, Magnus (eds.). Understanding Terrorism Innovation and Learning: Al-Qaeda and Beyond. Routledge. p. 154. ISBN 9781317538059.
  21. "Ny rettssak mot Hussain: – Oppfordrer til drap" (in Norwegian). NRK. 22 September 2014.
  22. "Bok om Larvik-terrorist" (in Norwegian). NRK/NTB. 22 September 2015.
  23. "Forfatter mener norske myndigheter har vært naive i møte med radikal islam". Dagbladet (in Norwegian). 22 September 2015.
  24. "Vil ha granskning av norsk terrorist". Vårt Land (in Norwegian). 28 September 2015.
  25. "– Dhuhulows vei mot terror må granskes" (in Norwegian). NRK. 8 September 2014.
  26. "Utlover milliondusør for norsk-somalisk terrorist". TV 2 (in Norwegian). 27 March 2014.
  27. "Tipset om norsk terrorist fem og et halvt år før angrep" (in Norwegian). NRK. 20 October 2014.

Further reading
  • Akerhaug, Lars (2015). En norsk terrorist. Portrett av den nye ekstremismen (in Norwegian). Kagge. ISBN 9788248916666.
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