Two men had been arrested by the Department of Justice for ‘conspiring to provide material support to ISIS.
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The two Somalian refugees had spoken with an undercover FBI agent “whom they believed was a supporter of ISIS ideology,” the DOJ said in a press release.
“These communications revealed the defendants’ desire to travel overseas in order to fight on behalf of ISIS or to conduct an attack within the United States if they were unable to travel. Ultimately, the defendants purchased airline tickets to travel to Egypt, with the intention to travel on to Sinai and join ISIS,” the DOJ added.
20-year-old Abdi Yemani Hussein and 21-year-old Ahmed Mahad Mohamed were arrested after they checked in at the Tucson International Airport for their flight to Egypt.
The release said that while the two came to the United States as refugees, Mohamed “had obtained lawful permanent resident status and Hussein remained a refugee.”
Special Agent Mike Mutari wrote in the affidavit that the two men planned to join ISIS after leaving the US. He said that the investigation into Mohamed started in August 2018 “based on information which indicated Mohamed had a desire to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, that is, ISIS.”
Mohamed allegedly sent messages to an FBI Online Convert Employees he believed was staying overseas. He said he supported ISIS and wanted to make ‘hijrah’ to also join.
The FBI noted in the affidavit that hijrah “in the context of this investigation, is an Arabic phrase referring to a foreign fighter’s journey from his/her country of origin to join and fight in terrorist-held territories.”
Mohamed also said to the undercover FBI agent: “I love jihad so much wallahi (I swear by Allah). I give my life jihad, I only think about jihad everywhere I go but my father and mom they don’t like jihad if they knew me I want to make hijrah they would spy me.”
Another undercover FBI agent was introduced to Mohamed and he also said the same thing. He hsaid he had saved $2,000 to travel and join ISIS.
On March 12, 2019, he met with the undercover FBI agent and brought Hussein with him. Hussein said he also supported Al-Shabaab and would go to Egypt with Mohamed. The two were arrested before they boarded their flight.
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