WASHINGTON, November 26 (Sputnik) – Two US citizens of Somali origin from Minnesota are being charged with conspiracy to provide material support to the Islamic State (IS) extremist group, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) has revealed.
"As charged, these two young men conspired to join ISIL and travel from Minnesota to the Middle East to engage in a campaign of terror in support of a violent ideology," US Attorney Andrew Luger said in a statement Tuesday.
Meanwhile, DOJ Assistant Attorney General John Carlin said that the perpetrators, Abdi Nur and Abdullah Yusef, are among more than 15 potential terrorists that the United States has charged in conspiring with IS.
"More than 16,000 recruits from over 90 countries traveled to Syria to become foreign terrorist fighters with alarming consequences," Carlin said in a statement Tuesday.
"This is a global crisis and we will continue our efforts to prevent Americans from joining the fight and to hold accountable those who provide material support to foreign terrorist organizations," Carlin stressed.
Yusef is set to make an appearance at a Minneapolis, Minnesota US District Court on Tuesday.
IS, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), is a Sunni jihadi group that has been fighting the Syrian government since 2012. In June 2014, it launched an offensive in Iraq, seizing vast areas in both countries and announcing the establishment of an Islamic caliphate on the territories under its control.
The United States started launching airstrikes against IS targets in Iraq in August.
In September, US President Barack Obama announced his decision to form an international anti-IS coalition. The US-led coalition is currently carrying out airstrikes against Islamic State positions in Iraq and Syria.
