Wednesday August 7, 2024
FILE - A screen grab from a video released by an ISIS affiliate in Somalia features a masked man from Canada urging jihad.
PHOENIX, Arizona (HOL) — Two Somali citizens living in Tucson have pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to provide material support to the Islamic State group (ISIS). Ahmed Mahad Mohamed, 26, and Abdi Yemeni Hussein, 25, were arrested on July 26, 2019, as they prepared to leave for Egypt to join ISIS in the Sinai Peninsula. Sentencing is scheduled for October 11, 2024, before U.S. District Judge Jennifer G. Zipps.
Starting in August 2018, Mohamed sought out ISIS supporters online, expressing his desire to join ISIS and become a martyr. He indicated that Hussein shared his goal. The two men met in person in 2019 to finalize their plans. Hussein suggested that if they couldn't join ISIS, they should attack the White House instead.
By June 2019, they had sold their cars and bought plane tickets from Tucson to Cairo. On July 26, they checked in for their flight at Tucson International Airport, passed through security, and reached their departure gate. Mohamed was carrying $10,000 for travel expenses and to buy firearms. They planned to smuggle themselves into ISIS-controlled territory in Egypt. However, FBI agents arrested them before they could board their flight.
Both men face up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. After serving their sentences, they will be deported to Somalia.
At the time of their arrest, former President Donald Trump emphasized the need for vigilance against such threats and touted his highly contentious 2017 travel ban on Muslim countries, which included Somalia.
Somalia's National Security Advisor, Hussein Moalim Mohamud, recently downplayed the threat posed by ISIS in the country, asserting that the group's presence is far less significant than that of the more entrenched al-Shabab. He emphasized that ISIS has a limited number of Somali fighters and is confined to a small area in the Puntland region.
The leader of ISIS in Somalia, Abdiqadir Mu'min, has a history of radical activities in the U.K. before joining al-Shabab in 2010 and defecting to ISIS in 2015. Despite his efforts, his group remains small compared with other Islamist insurgencies, with estimates of 100-200 fighters, primarily foreigners. Mu'min has been the target of several U.S. counterterrorism operations, including a recent airstrike in May 2024, which he allegedly survived.
Despite the limited size of Mu'min's faction, he remains a designated "specially designated global terrorist" by the U.S. Department of State. The ongoing rivalry between ISIS and al-Shabab contributes to regional instability, particularly in the Bari region, where ISIS exerts influence through extortion and violence.