The FBI is offering a $5 million reward for information leading to the capture of the highest-ranking overseas American terrorist.
The feds say Jehad Serwan Mostafa, 37 — who was born in Waukesha, Wis., and raised in San Diego, Calif. — is believed to be in Somalia, where he plays a “critical role” in the country’s terror group al-Shabaab.
“We believe this defendant is the highest-ranking US citizen fighting overseas with a terrorist organization,” said US Attorney Robert Brewer in a statement. “Al-Shabaab’s reign of terror threatens US national security, our international allies and innocent civilians.”
Mostafa is believed to have left San Diego at age 23 in 2005 and headed to Yemen, then Somalia.
“Al-Shabaab, meaning ‘The Youth’ in Arabic, is a violent and brutal militia group that has used intimidation and violence to undermine the Somali government and the foreign military presence supporting it,” says the press release from Brewer’s office.
Mostafa plans and participates in the group’s assaults, the feds say.
The group has claimed responsibility for such deadly attacks as the 2010 suicide bombing of a bar during a World Cup match in Kampala, Uganda.