Friday, April 26, 2013

Christian Widow in Somalia Killed Four Months after Husband Slain


Islamic extremists shoot her to death; five children orphaned.

Clothing on Fartun Omar when her body was found outside Buulodbarde, Somalia, after Islamic extremists shot her to death.
Clothing on Fartun Omar when her body was found outside Buulodbarde, Somalia.
NAIROBI, Kenya (Morning Star News) – Islamist militants in Somalia have killed the widow of a Christian who was slain for his faith in December, leaving the couple’s five children orphaned, sources said.
Islamic extremist Al Shabaab rebels shot 42-year-old Fartun Omar to death on April 13 in Buulodbarde, 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Beledweyne, according to Abdi Aziz Suleiman of Radio Shebelle in Beledweyne. The extremists had been searching for her for several months, as they knew that she was a secret Christian like her late husband, Mursal Isse Siad, sources said.
Siad had been receiving death threats for leaving Islam. After his death, initially Omar fled the area with her five children and at one time had received protection from from African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) soldiers, sources said.
“A week before she was killed, rumors were flying that the Al Shabaab were looking for her,” one of Omar’s neighbors said.
Due to the threat of persecution, Omar on April 10 decided to leave the central Somalian city of Beledweyne by bus with another neighbor to seek refuge with relatives, the first neighbor said. On reaching Buulobarde, which is controlled by Al Shabaab, militants at a roadblock ordered passengers to disembark and questioned them one by one.
“Unfortunately, she was not cleared by the Al Shabaab,” said the neighbor who accompanied her. “I only heard one of them saying, ‘This is the woman whose husband was killed last year. Do not let her in.’”
The other passengers were allowed to board again, and the bus left, with Omar’s neighbor suddenly responsible for caring for her children. The oldest is a 15-year-old girl.
“On April 13, I received news from Beledweyne that a woman in Buulobarde had been killed by the Al Shabaab,” the neighbor said. “Soon I found out that it was Fartun Omar.”
Sources said Omar was found dead on the outskirts of Buulobarde with bullet wounds to her right side.
“The children are in safe hands, and I am trying to look for some of the relatives of Omar,” the neighbor said. “The only problem that I am experiencing at the moment is that the small children are crying for their mother.”
The neighbor added that the children need help meeting their daily needs.
Two unidentified, masked men on Dec. 8, 2012 shot Omar’s 55-year-old husband, Siad, outside his home in Beledweyne, 206 miles (332 kilometers) north of Mogadishu, for leaving Islam, Muslim and Christian sources said (see Morning Star News, Dec. 14, 2012). The area was under government control, but Al Shabaab rebels who have vowed to rid the country of Christianity were present in nearby Buulodbarde.
Al Shabaab has lost control of several areas of Somalia since Kenyan military forces helped to dislodge them in the past year, but they are suspected in the shooting death of a Christian pharmacist on the outskirts of Kismayo in February. Two masked men killed Ahmed Ali Jimale, a 42-year-old father of four, on Feb. 18 as he stood outside his house in Alanley village (see Morning Star News, Feb. 28).
In the coastal city of Barawa on Nov. 16, 2012, Al Shabaab militants killed a Christian after accusing him of being a spy and leaving Islam, Christian and Muslim witnesses said. The extremists beheaded 25-year-old Farhan Haji Mose after monitoring his movements for six months, sources said (see “Morning Star News, Nov. 17, 2012).
Mose drew suspicion when he returned to Barawa, in Somalia’s Lower Shebelle Region, in December 2011 after spending time in Kenya, according to underground Christians in Somalia. Kenya’s population is nearly 83 percent Christian, according to Operation World, while Somalia’s is close to 100 percent Muslim.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

mission bearing fruits in Kismayo,and gospel will be preached everywhere,the kingdom suffers violence since the tym of John the baptist,we r takin it by force,today in Kismayo town,since yesterday binding the strong man,pray with me believers,this period my mission will be sinking the boats n breaking nets,Father let your will b done as we pray for mega church,underground has been long,hear our praises God

Anonymous said...

blah blah blah, what are you trying to say here? anyway check the following verse from your bible:

''But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel'' (Matthew 15:24).

Anonymous said...

May The Lord be with those orphaned children . We stand in faith alongside them.

Anonymous said...

May she rest in Peace, Amen.