At least 18 young Somali men have left the Minneapolis area to fight the jihad in Somalia. Authorities found pieces of one of the missing men Shirwa Ahmed in Somalia in October. Shirwa had blown himself up killing himself and 29 of his countrymen. His scattered remains were flown back home to Minnesota last week for burial.
Several other Minnesota Somali men went missing this past year:
Now, three of the Somali families are speaking out about their missing sons.
They really don’t want to see chunks of their family members flown back home in a box.
TwinCities.com reported:
Local Somali families spoke out Saturday about the sons and nephews they say have gone missing. The boys and men, they fear, are fighting a jihad in their war-torn native country.
Despite worries over retaliation here and abroad, the families spoke to Twin Cities media in hopes of spreading their message: They want their children back.
Nearly a dozen local boys and young men have gone missing in the past two years, said Somali community leader Abdirizak Bihi, whose nephew is among them. There likely are more, he said.
Some of the men and boys have called home saying they are in Somalia, without specifying why. There is concern they were brainwashed and then left to fight in the civil war their parents fled from, local leaders said Saturday.
Without specifying who they believe recruited the young men for such a mission, leaders said investigators should look closely at the money at local Muslim institutions.
“(The missing men and boys) have been financially supported to leave the country with the promise of utopian society,” Bihi said. “(But) they are in harm’s way.”
Local concerns grew after a Minneapolis man, Shirwa Ahmed, disappeared and killed himself in a suicide bombing in northern Somalia on Oct. 29.
Previously:
Minnesota Man Blows Himself Up in Somalia (Video)
Suicide Bomber Who Killed 29 Is Laid to Rest Back Home In Minnesota
