THE October al-Qaida video shows a light-skinned man handing out food to families displaced by famine in Somalia. But the masked man is not Somali, or even African - he's a Wisconsin native who grew up in San Diego.
A handful of young Muslims from the US are taking high-visibility propaganda and operational roles inside an al-Qaida-linked insurgent force in Somalia known as al-Shabab.
Officials fear another terrorist attack in East Africa. Kenya announced on January 7 that it had thwarted attempted al-Shabab attacks over the holidays. The same day, Britain's Foreign Office urged Britons in Kenya to be extra vigilant, warning that terrorists there may be "in the final stages of planning attacks".
More than 40 people have travelled from the US to Somalia to join al-Shabab since 2007, and 15 of them have died, according to a report from the House Homeland Security Committee. Federal investigations into al-Shabab recruitment in the US have centred on Minnesota, which has more than 32000 Somalis.
At least 21 men have left Minnesota to join al-Shabab in that same time. The FBI has confirmed that at least two of them died in Somalia as suicide bombers. A US citizen is suspected in a third suicide bombing, and another is under investigation in connection with a fourth bombing on October 29 that killed 15 people.
The star of the al-Qaeda video was Jehad Mostafa, 30, a Californian who handed out food using the name Abu Abdullah al-Muhajir, according to the SITE Monitoring Service.
The Washington Post reported last year that Mostafa served as top lieutenant to Saleh Nabhan, a senior al-Qaeda operative killed by Navy SEALs in a helicopter attack inside Somalia in 2010.
Mostafa and the Alabaman, Omar Hammami, 27, are among about a dozen men who have been charged in federal court in the US and are believed to be in Somalia.
The Americans appear to have been motivated by the Ethiopian army's intervention in Somalia in 2006. However, many experts believe it's only a matter of time before al-Shabab turns its wrath on the US, which in February 2008 designated it as a terrorist organisation. The group killed 76 people in terrorist bombings in Uganda in 2010 during the World Cup final.
Americans rise in rank inside jihadi group
THE October al-Qaida video shows a light-skinned man handing out food to families displaced by famine in Somalia. But the masked man is not Somali, or even African - he's a Wisconsin native who grew up in San Diego.
A handful of young Muslims from the US are taking high-visibility propaganda and operational roles inside an al-Qaida-linked insurgent force in Somalia known as al-Shabab.
Officials fear another terrorist attack in East Africa. Kenya announced on January 7 that it had thwarted attempted al-Shabab attacks over the holidays. The same day, Britain's Foreign Office urged Britons in Kenya to be extra vigilant, warning that terrorists there may be "in the final stages of planning attacks".
More than 40 people have travelled from the US to Somalia to join al-Shabab since 2007, and 15 of them have died, according to a report from the House Homeland Security Committee. Federal investigations into al-Shabab recruitment in the US have centred on Minnesota, which has more than 32000 Somalis.
At least 21 men have left Minnesota to join al-Shabab in that same time. The FBI has confirmed that at least two of them died in Somalia as suicide bombers. A US citizen is suspected in a third suicide bombing, and another is under investigation in connection with a fourth bombing on October 29 that killed 15 people.
The star of the al-Qaeda video was Jehad Mostafa, 30, a Californian who handed out food using the name Abu Abdullah al-Muhajir, according to the SITE Monitoring Service.
The Washington Post reported last year that Mostafa served as top lieutenant to Saleh Nabhan, a senior al-Qaeda operative killed by Navy SEALs in a helicopter attack inside Somalia in 2010.
Mostafa and the Alabaman, Omar Hammami, 27, are among about a dozen men who have been charged in federal court in the US and are believed to be in Somalia.
The Americans appear to have been motivated by the Ethiopian army's intervention in Somalia in 2006. However, many experts believe it's only a matter of time before al-Shabab turns its wrath on the US, which in February 2008 designated it as a terrorist organisation. The group killed 76 people in terrorist bombings in Uganda in 2010 during the World Cup final.
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