al Shabaab – Terror Group Linked To al Qaeda May Target U.S.
October 2, 2009 by Homeland Security NTARC News
Filed under Homeland Security News
al Shabaab, the al Qaeda linked terror group made up primarily of Somali Islamists, appears to no longer be satisfied committing acts of terror in Somalia alone and according to a Fox news report, could be setting it’s sites on attacking the U.S.
From Fox News
They could strike the United States. That grim assessment is the first time the FBI director or any other senior law enforcement or intelligence official has stated on the record that the Al Qaeda-linked group al-Shabaab is no longer content to strike within the East African nation of Somalia.
During a hearing on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, FBI Director Robert Mueller was asked if members of al-Shabaab, which translates as “mujahideen youth,” would send American recruits back to the U.S. to launch attacks.
“I would think that we have seen some information that the leaders would like to undertake operations outside of Somalia,” Mueller told the Senate Homeland Security Committee.
Mueller said he is “absolutely” concerned that Americans who traveled to Somalia to train as terrorists would have U.S. legal status and would therefore be able to return to the United States and carry out attacks.
A U.S. counterterrorism official told FOX News that al-Shabaab has exploded since 2006, and it is becoming a full-fledged Al Qaeda affiliate, similar to Al Qaeda in Iraq. Initially the group’s militias fought against the Somali government and Ethopian forces who are against an Islamic state in East Africa, the official said, but now the group’s focus is turning toward the establishment of a “caliphate” or broad Islamic state not limited to Africa.
