One of the men who disappeared is believed to have
killed himself in an Oct. 29 suicide bombing in northern Somalia, according to a
U.S. law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the
official was not authorized to speak publicly about the case. That official
confirmed the FBI and Justice Department were investigating.
Another
U.S. law enforcement official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said
authorities are calling it one of the first instances in which a U.S. citizen
has acted as a suicide bomber.
The Oct. 29 bombings included a series of
five seemingly coordinated attacks in the breakaway republic of Somaliland and
the Somalia's Puntland region. More than 20 people were killed.
"We're
aware of the circumstances in Somalia right now and the events of the Oct. 29
bombings. And we are aware that a number of individuals from throughout the U.S.
and Minneapolis have traveled to Somalia to potentially fight for terrorist
groups," said Special Agent E.K. Wilson, an FBI spokesman.
Members of the Somali community in
Minneapolis said small groups of young men have been disappearing over the last
year. Anywhere from 15 to 20 have left Minneapolis in recent months, said Omar
Jamal, executive director of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center.
"We
know for a fact this is happening, but we don't know who is doing it," he said.
Osman Ahmed, a Somali activist, said his 17-year-old nephew is among a
group of at least seven people who went missing Nov. 4.
The Associated
Press is honoring Ahmed's request to withhold the name of the teen for the
youth's safety. Ahmed said the teen came to the U.S. as a young child and was an
American citizen, like the others who left that day.
Ahmed said his
nephew was a high school senior and had a normal routine of going to school,
going home then going to the mosque.
"He was a very nice guy," Ahmed
said. "He was very clever. Very shy. Very cool."
On Nov. 4, he told his
mother a friend would pick him up from school, but he never came home.
"We started checking hospitals, we went to the police station," Ahmed
said.
The family then realized that the teen's U.S. passport was
missing, and Ahmed said authorities found a flight itinerary showing the teen
arriving in Nairobi, Kenya, on Nov. 5.
Within two days, the teen called
his mother, saying only that he was alive, safe and in Mogadishu, Somalia, Ahmed
said. The teen gave no other details and has not been heard from since.
"We are praying to see him one day," Ahmed said.
Ahmed, who has
been talking with other relatives of missing young men, said the families
received similar phone calls.
Some members of the Somali community are
concerned the young men are being recruited to go to Somalia and fight. The
impoverished nation on the Horn of Africa is caught up in an Islamic insurgency
and has not had a functioning government since 1991.
"It has to come to
an end right now," said Jamal. "It has to stop. ... We have so many families
grieving. We don't want any more kids to get brainwashed and programmed."
Jamal and Ahmed said it is suspicious because someone is providing money
and transportation for the men to fly from Minnesota to Africa.
"My
nephew, he doesn't have money for a ticket," said Ahmed. "None of these kids
do."
Jamal said he hopes the situation isn't a black eye for the state's
Somali community, which the U.S. Census numbered at more than 24,000 in 2006.
Local activists claim the actual number is higher than that.
"We hope
that this won't be an issue where the community will be looked at differently,"
Jamal said. "Somalis at large are very peaceful people. ... We don't want the
Somali community to be looked at as a group of suicide bombers."
Source: Fox News
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Remember how I live in a predominantly somalian neighborhood?
Here is another piece of news (almost as serious):
You can utilize the check boxes below my posts to "react" to the post.
(told you it was serious)
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