Suicide bomber in Somali attack was reportedly from Minneapolis
:
A man who blew himself up in an attack in the Somali capital on Saturday reportedly grew up in Minneapolis and was known by the FBI as one of 20 Somali Americans to have joined an al-Qaida-linked militant group.
Abdisalan Hussein Ali, 22, was suspected of being a member of al-Shabab, the FBI told msnbc.com.
Kyle Loven, the FBI's chief division counsel for Minneapolis, said Ali was a subject of "Operation Rhino," an ongoing investigation into Somali youth traveling from the U.S. to Somalia to fight for al-Shabab.
Loven could not confirm whether Ali was indeed the bomber but told msnbc.com that the FBI was "awaiting results from DNA checks at this point."
Al-Shabab posted an audiotape that they said was made by Ali before he blew himself up during an attack Saturday on an African Union base in Mogadishu that left at least 10 people dead.
The FBI could not confirm whether the audiotape was authentic but was investigating its credibility.
In the tape, the young man, who would be at least the fourth American to become a suicide bomber in Somalia, urges other young people to not "just chill all day" and instead fight nonbelievers around the world.
The website Somalimemo.net (website not in English), often used by the al-Shabab militia, said the Somali-American bomber had emigrated to the U.S. when he was two years old.
Ah diversity, it truly does make us stronger, right? I mean, except when those embraced under its umbrella aren't blowing people up.
