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The U.S. District Attorney Office announced Monday the arrest of six Minnesota men of Somali ancestry for plotting to join the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS).
According to the U.S. Attorney’s complaint, Mohamed Abdihamid Farah, 21; Adnan Abdihamid Farah, 19; Abdurahman Yasin Daud, 21; Zacharia Yusuf Abdurahman, 19; Hanad Mustafe Musse, 19; and Guled Ali Omar, 20, were charged Monday with “conspiracy and attempt to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization.”
In announcing the arrest, U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger said at a press conference in Minneapolis on Monday, “We have a terror recruiting problem in Minnesota” adding, “These were not confused young men. These are focused young men who were intent on joining a terrorist organization by any means possible.”
The U.S. Attorney recounted that these men tried to leave to go fight in Syria by air through the Minneapolis and JFK airports, and by “bus, car, by any means possible.” They were even plotting to go through Mexico, after being blocked from leaving directly from the United States.
The federal case relies, in part, on a member of the group who agreed to cooperate with the FBI and recorded conversations among his friends.
One Minneapolis native, named Abdi Nur, 18 (believed to be in Syria), allegedly helped recruit a group of friends to ISIS.
ABC News reports that Nur slipped out of the United States last spring, “and since then he has played a key role in helping his friends to join him, federal prosecutors allege.”
“From his locale in Syria, Nur recruits individuals and provides assistance to those who want to leave Minneapolis to fight abroad,” according to charging documents filed today in Minneapolis.
The U.S. Attorneys’ arrests of these six men culminated a 10-month investigation in the ISIS-recruiting network.
Assistant Attorney General Carlin said, “One of the National Security Division’s highest priorities is to identify, disrupt, and hold accountable those who provide or attempt to provide material support to designated foreign terrorist organizations. I would like to thank the many agents, analysts, and prosecutors who are responsible for this investigation and the charges in this case.”
This post originally appeared on Western Journalism – Equipping You With The Truth