DOJ Says Six Men in Minnesota Charged With Conspiring to Support ISIL

The six US citizens aged 19 to 21 were charged with conspiracy to provide material support to the Islamic State (ISIL) terrorist organization, according to US Department of Justice (DOJ).

MOSCOW(Sputnik) — Six men from the US state of Minnesota have been charged with conspiracy to provide material support to the Islamic State (ISIL) terrorist organization, US Department of Justice (DOJ) said Monday.

The six US citizens aged 19 to 21 were arrested on Sunday, four of them in Minneapolis and the rest in California.

“A criminal complaint was filed today charging six Minnesota men with conspiracy and attempt to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, namely, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL),” DOJ said.

“The six defendants charged in the complaint allegedly planned to travel to Syria as part of their conspiracy,” Assistant Attorney General Carlin said as quoted on the Department of Justice website.

DOJ added that the investigation carried out by the FBI-led Joint Terrorism Task Force, US Attorney’s Office of the District of Minnesota and the Counterterrorism Section of the Department of Justice National Security Division lasted 10 months.

The current case brings the number of Minnesotans charged with attempting to help the ISIL to at least nine. All nine are alleged to be associates.

In February 2015, Minnesota authorities unveiled a plan to combat radicalization among youth with the help of “community intervention teams” of religious and business leaders whom one may approach if they suspect a relative or a friend is getting involved with an extremist organization.

The ISIL is a Sunni extremist group that currently controls large territories in Syria and Iraq.

Earlier in April DOJ said a man from the US state of Ohio has been charged with providing material support to terrorists after he returned from reported military training in Syria.