Washington (CNN) — Al-Shabaab, the al Qaeda-affiliated militant group in Somalia, has recruited more than 40 Muslim-Americans and 20 Canadians, U.S. Rep. Peter King said Wednesday as he opened a third congressional hearing on Muslim-American radicalization.
Wednesday’s hearing of the Committee on Homeland Security will focus on al-Shabaab and the results of a committee investigation into the threat it poses to the United States, said King, a New York Republican, according to a transcript of his opening statement. “The committee has been briefed by intelligence agencies and we have interviewed dozens of experts on al-Shabaab,” the transcript said.
The committee has learned that more than 40 Muslim-Americans and 20 Canadians have joined al-Shabaab inside Somalia, a finding King called “alarming.” The committee has learned at least 15 of the Americans and three Canadians “are believed to have been killed fighting with al-Shabaab, according to King’s transcript.
“Three Muslim-Americans became suicide bombers, such as Shirwa Ahmed from Minneapolis — the first confirmed American suicide bomber in our history,” the transcript said. Ahmed, 27, killed himself and 29 others in the fall of 2008.
But, King also mentioned “radicalized converts like al-Shabaab commander Omar Hammami, who was raised a Baptist in Alabama, and who has repeatedly threatened the U.S. homeland.” Hammami was one of 14 Americans indicted on terrorism charges last summer.
Tags: Al-Shabaab, Muslim American, radicalization, rep. peter king, Somalia
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