Good News From Minneapolis

For some months now, we’ve followed the story of young Somali men (in some cases, boys) from the Twin Cities who have been recruited to travel to Somali to participate in jihad there. As many as 20 young men from this area have disappeared and are believed to have gone to Somalia; several have died there, including at least one who was a suicide bomber. Another death was confirmed just a few months ago.

A major break in the case occurred yesterday afternoon, when Osman Ahmed of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, was arraigned in federal court here in the Twin Cities. Ahmed and another man from Seattle were indicted in February in connection with the Somali disappearances, but the indictment was kept sealed until yesterday.

The indictment charges Ahmed and the other man, Abdifatah Yusuf Isse, with “provid[ing] material support and resources, namely personnel, including themselves, knowing and intending that the material support and resources were to be used in preparation for and to carry out a conspiracy to kill, kidnap, maim or injure persons in a foreign country” from September 2007 through December 2008.”

Notice: All comments are subject to moderation. Our comments are intended to be a forum for civil discourse bearing on the subject under discussion. Commenters who stray beyond the bounds of civility or employ what we deem gratuitous vulgarity in a comment — including, but not limited to, “s***,” “f***,” “a*******,” or one of their many variants — will be banned without further notice in the sole discretion of the site moderator.

Responses