Minnesota Men Suspected of Joining Somali Terrorist Group Posted: March 31, 2009

Approximately 20 young Somali-American men between the ages of 17 and 27 - most from the Minneapolis area - have traveled to Somalia to join a terrorist group in the last 18 months, according to U.S. authorities.

The FBI alleges that Al Shabaab (Arabic for "the Youth"), a U.S. designated terrorist group that seeks to overthrow the Somali government, has made an "active and deliberate attempt" to recruit these young men both in person and on the Internet.

On March 31, 2009, Al Shabaab released a propaganda video urging foreigners "to come and live the life of a mujahid."  The video features an English speaking militant named "the American."  

The FBI has expressed concern that the young men may return to the U.S. with their American passports and attempt to carry out an attack on U.S. soil.  "The prospect of young men, indoctrinated and radicalized in their own communities…is a perversion of the immigrant story," FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III said.  Other U.S. officials, however, believe they will continue to participate in terrorism activities in Somalia instead.

Many of the missing men attended the Abubaker As-Saddique Islamic Center in Minneapolis. The mosque states on its Web site that it "unequivocally condemns suicide bombing and all acts of indiscriminate violence."  The leaders of the mosque and the mosque itself have not been accused of anything, but the FBI reportedly suspects that classes in the mosque radicalized the young men.  The FBI has issued grand jury subpoenas in an effort to find who the teachers of these young men were, what they were taught, and who helped the young men plan their trip to Somalia.

Three of the missing Minneapolis men – Burhan Hassan, 17, Mohamoud Hassan, 18, and Abdisalam Ali, 19 – were very active in the Abubakar As-Saddique Islamic Center.  The men left their homes on November 4, 2008; each traveling to Somalia on different flights.

Another member of the mosque, Shirwa Ahmed, 19, left his home for Somalia in August 2008. Ahmed, a naturalized U.S. citizen, was one of five terrorists that carried out a suicide attack on the United Nations compound, the Ethiopian Consulate and the presidential palace in Hargeisa, capital of the Somaliland region, in October 2008, killing 24 people. He is reportedly the first American citizen to carry out a suicide attack. "We certainly believe that [Ahmed] was recruited here in the United States, and we do believe that there may have been others that have been radicalized as well," Mueller said.

Community leaders have reported that at least one young man, and perhaps as many as four, have returned to Minneapolis from fighting with Al Shabaab in Somalia.  One of the men, identified by some community leaders only as Kamal, allegedly returned because he had a change of heart, according to a local community leader.

Authorities say young Somali men have disappeared from several different cities in the U.S. over the past two years, including Minneapolis, Boston, and Columbus, Ohio. The FBI has launched investigations into the disappearances in these cities and others across the country.

In another incident, a missile strike in Somalia in the fall of 2008 killed Ruben Shumpert, a Muslim convert from Seattle who allegedly fled to Somalia while free on bond after pleading guilty to possession of a firearm and transferring counterfeit U.S. currency.  Officials suspect he was working with Al Shabaab when he was killed.

Some U.S. officials reportedly believe that Al Shabaab may be preparing to merge with Al Qaeda.  Osama bin Laden released an audio message on March 19, 2009, in which he urged mujahideen to "continue their steps on the path of Jihad" by overthrowing Somalia's new president Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.  Al Shabaab may also be linked to Al Qaeda through leadership contacts, training and joint operations in the Horn of Africa, according to U.S. officials.

Al Shabaab receives funding from Somalis in the U.S., according to U.S. authorities.  Most of the money from the U.S. is sent to Somalia through the hawala system, which legally transfers money across borders using a network of individuals instead of banks. 

Somali officials estimate that Al Shabaab has recruited up to 450 foreign fighters since 2006, from countries in North America, Europe and the Middle East.

On at least two other occasions, American citizens have attempted to aid or fight with Somali terrorist groups.  For example, in July 2007, Daniel J. Maldonado was sentenced to 10 years in prison for training in Somalia with Islamic Courts Union (ICU), a terrorist group that has worked with Al Qaeda to train recruits to fight for an independent Islamic state in Somalia.  Maldonado, the first U.S. citizen to be charged with participating in terrorist activities in Somalia, grew up in New Hampshire.

In 2005, Mark Robert Walker was sentenced to two years in prison for attempting to provide goods and services to the Somali terrorist group Al Ittihad Al Islami (AIAI).  AIAI, a U.S. designated terrorist group, is closely allied with Al Qaeda and like Al Shabaab, is fighting to establish an Islamic regime in Somalia.  During an interview with federal agents after his arrest, Walker, a student at Wyoming Technical College in Laramie, reportedly acknowledged that he was planning to send equipment to the AIAI and that he intended to meet with an individual at the El Paso International Airport to talk about traveling to Somalia.  Agents found Kevlar vests and information about ammonium nitrate, nitric acid and weapons in Walker's vehicle at the time of his arrest.