WASHINGTON — The federal government announced Thursday that it has charged 14 people as participants in “a deadly pipeline” to Somalia that routed money and fighters from the United States to the terrorist group al-Shabab.
The indictments unsealed in Minneapolis, San Diego and Mobile, Ala., reflect “a disturbing trend” of recruitment efforts targeting U.S. residents to become terrorists, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder told a news conference. In one case, two women pleaded for money “to support violent jihad in Somalia,” according to an indictment.
The attorney general credited U.S. Islamic community leaders for regularly denouncing terrorism and for providing critical assistance to law enforcement to help disrupt terrorist plots and combat radicalization.
“We must . . . work to prevent this type of radicalization from ever taking hold,” Holder said.
At least seven of the 14 people charged are U.S. citizens, and 10, all from Minnesota, allegedly left the U.S. to join al-Shabab. Seven of the 10 had been charged previously in the probe.
Al-Shabab is a Somali insurgent faction embracing a radical form of Islam similar to the harsh, conservative brand practiced by Afghanistan’s Taliban regime. Its fighters, several thousand strong, are battling Somalia’s weakened government and have been branded a terrorist group with ties to al-Qaeda by the U.S. and other Western countries.
Terrorist organizations such as al-Shabab continue to radicalize and recruit U.S. citizens and others to train and fight with them, said Sean Joyce, the FBI’s executive assistant director for the national-security branch.
On Thursday, a newly released State Department annual report on worldwide terrorism noted with concern that al-Qaeda — particularly in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia — appeared to be attracting growing numbers of radicalized Americans to its cause.
