ST PAUL: Six US nationals, all from Minnesota state, were charged with terrorism in a criminal complaint unsealed on Monday, the latest Westerners accused of travelling or attempting to travel to Syria to join the self-styled Islamic State.

The six, whom authorities described as friends who met secretly to plan their travels, were accused of conspiracy to provide material support and attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organisation. The complaint said the men planned to go to Syria by flying to nearby countries from Minneapolis, San Diego or New York City, and lied to federal investigators when they were stopped.

The six were identified as 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. “These were focused men who were intent on joining a terrorist organization,” attorney Andy Luger said at a news conference on Monday.

They are the latest people from Minnesota to be charged in an investigation stretching back months into the recruitment of Westerners by IS. Authorities said earlier that a handful of Minnesota residents had traveled to Syria in the past year to fight militants, and at least one has died.

The Minneapolis area is home to the largest concentration of Somali immigrants in the United States. Since 2007, at least 22 young Somali men have traveled from Minnesota to Somalia to join the Al Shabab group.

Published in Dawn, April 21st, 2015

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