Wanted Mombasa White Widow Traced in Foreign Battle Zone

An undated image of Samantha 'White Widow' Lewthwaite at an unknown location.
An undated image of Samantha 'White Widow' Lewthwaite at an unknown location.
The Standard

More than 10 years after she was declared the most wanted woman in the world, Samantha 'white widow' Lewthwaite is still fighting battles in war-torn zones.

In the latest findings, security agencies believe that the Lewthwaite, who is known locally as 'Mombasa white widow' in Kenya, is embroiled in a war between government forces and Al Qaeda groups in Yemen.

A report by The Sun, a UK publication, on Sunday, November 8, indicated that the wanted criminal was fighting rebels in the war-torn country and cannot leave under the prevailing circumstances.

She is believed to have escaped from Africa to Yemen in 2018 after escaping global security for years. The security agencies report that information about her whereabouts is hard to find since there is minimal activity from the Western forces in Yemen.

File image of fugitive Samantha Lethwaite alias White Widow
File image of fugitive Samantha Lethwaite alias White Widow
File

“Lewthwaite’s last-known location is Yemen. But trying to get intelligence there is as tough as in Syria when the IS regime was at its height.

“There’s virtually no Western presence in Yemen because it’s so dangerous. And in the absence of evidence to the contrary, it’s assumed she’s alive and being supported by extremists," The Sun quoted security agencies.

Lewthwaite was married to a suicide bomber Germaine Lindsay who killed himself and 26 other people in UK in July 2005.

She later fled to South Africa in 2009 and moved to Tanzania in 2011 from where she hid out in Mombasa for some time.

During her stay in Kenya, Lewthwaite was accused of financing people linked to Al Shabaab terror group operating in Somalia.

She is also believed to have taken part in the bombing of the Westgate Mall in 2013 which claimed 68 lives.

During a hearing in 2014 in Kenya, a detective disclosed that the 'white widow' dodged officers - even after oblivious cops visited a house she was living in Mombasa because she's able to easily disguise herself. 

“She is a person with multiple identifications. She keeps moving. We think she is using plastic surgery including her nose," stated the detective.

When investigations intensified, Samantha crossed from Somalia with the help of Al Shabaab to Yemen and has largely kept a low profile.

An undated photo of members of the outlawed Al Shabaab sect.
Members of the outlawed Al Shabaab terror group in Mogadishu on May 19, 2021.
Photo
Council on Foreign Relations
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