Hassan 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 71 people.

Early life Dhuhulow came to Norway from Mogadishu, Somalia as a refugee in 1999, 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. His parents and several other relatives allegedly died or were killed in Somalia. He regularly attended the Larvik Mosque, where he became acquainted with Mohyeldeen Mohammad.

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. Dhuhulow reportedly attended an Al-Shabaab training camp in El Buur, and was involved in operations in Mogadishu and Kismayo,

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. 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).

An estimated 20 to 30 Norwegians have reportedly travelled to fight for Al-Shabaab. and is believed by Kenyan intelligence to have masterminded the Westgate attack. The perpetrators of the attack were publicly hailed by Ubaydullah Hussain, spokesperson of the Norwegian Islamist group Profetens Ummah.

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. 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). Dhuhulow was the subject of a BBC Newsnight report that aired on 17 October 2013, He is considered Norway's worst terrorist after Anders Behring Breivik.