A former U.S. cab driver is the latest person to go on the FBI's Most Wanted Terrorists list, the FBI announced on Thursday.
Liban Haji Mohamed, 29, is a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Somalia who worked as a taxicab driver in the northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C., ABC News reported. Even though the suspect reportedly left the U.S. two years ago and joined the Somalia-based Al-Shabab terror group in East Africa, the bureau is still offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to his capture and conviction.
"Liban Mohamed is believed to have left the U.S. with the intent to join al Shabaab in East Africa. We believe he is currently there operating on behalf of that terrorist organization," said Carl Ghattas, special agent in charge of the Counterterrorism Division at the FBI's Washington Field Office.
"We know he's received training with weapons," Lindsay Ram of the FBI's Washington Field Office told ABC News. "We don't want him using his passport to come back into the United States. He knows the language, the [Washington] area, the culture and even the transportation of the region, so we are concerned that he may try to come back to utilize those skills."
Mohamed, who grew up in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., has been charged with providing material support and resources to al-Qaeda and al-Shabaab while he made his living driving a taxi in the area, according to CBS News.
"While living in Northern Virginia, Mohamed was a recruiter and radicalizer for al-Shabab, which historically has targeted Westerners to go to Somalia and fight for them," Ghattas said.
In July 2012, the 29-year-old used his U.S. passport to travel to East Africa and join the terrorist groups' al-Shabab and al-Qaeda.
"Not only did Mohamed choose to go to Somalia and fight with al Shabaab, he took a prominent role in trying to recruit people and have them train with weapons."
Al-Shabab, designated as a foreign terrorist organization in 2008, "has claimed responsibility for many bombings in Somalia and Uganda and is known to have recruited westerners," the FBI said in a statement, adding that the terrorist group was also behind the Kenya mall massacre in 2013, which left 67 people dead.
In an effort to push back in the propaganda wars, the FBI has set up a Facebook page in the Somali language, and is circulating wanted posters of Mohamed in Somali as well, NBC News reported.
Anyone with information about Liban Haji Mohamed should contact the FBI or the nearest American Embassy or Consulate. Tips can be submitted anonymously online.
Meanwhile, the Interpol has also issued a red notice to seek Mohamed as a wanted fugitive.
