Islamist Extremism: al Shabaab Recruits Somali Youth in America

The U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs held a Hearing on March 11, 2009 on the evidence and implications that al Shabaab, an extremist Islamic group, was recruiting U.S. citizens for terrorist activities.

Al-Shabaab is a group of Somali Islamists operating in parts of Mogadishu and southern Somalia. Though the terror groups is not a direct threat to the U.S. its ability to recruit U.S. citizens for terror missions in Somalia emphasizes the dangers of homegrown terrorism in the U.S. Moreover, Al-Shabaab’s potential affiliation to the Al-Qaeda makes it a potent threat for the U.S. Young members of the Somali immigrant families living in Minneapolis have been exposed to the dangers of radicalization and many have left their homes to receive training in terror tactics. The threat is more immediate than what many would anticipate. There are confirmed reports that Shirwa Ahmed, U.S. citizen of Somali origin, was involved in a suicide bombing mission in Somalia in October 2008 killing 30 people. Senator Susan M. Collins succinctly points to the challenges confronting the U.S. in the wake of the recent al Shabaab recruitment drive: “Radicalized individuals trained in terror tactics and in possession of American passports can pose a threat to the security of the U.S.”

The F.B.I and National Counter-Terrorism Centre are devising strategies for dealing with the ensuing threat from al-shabaab. Nonetheless, the roots of the problem cannot be addressed through the official strategy of counter-terrorism. Abdirahman Mukhtar in his testimony before the Senate Committee elaborated on the issues of identity crisis, cultural conflict, economic challenges and language barrier faced by the Somali youth as possible factors preventing their assimilation with the mainstream American population. Complimenting the above views, Osman Ahmed, U.S. citizen of Somali descent, refers to the socio-psychological problems confronting his community in the U.S.  The U.S. Government needs to evolve a holistic strategy moving beyond a purely politico-legal approach for countering spread of extremist within the national frontiers.