Two Minnesota men are facing terrorism charges after allegedly trying to travel to Syria to join ISIS, federal authorities said Tuesday, and one of them – as well as an unidentified third man, also from Minnesota – may be fighting with the terrorist group.
Abdi Nur, 20, and Abdullah Yusuf, 18, are charged with conspiracy to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization. Nur remains at large and is believed to be overseas, while Yusuf was expected to make an initial appearance Tuesday afternoon in federal court in Minneapolis.
Prosecutors say Yusuf, a Somali American, obtained a passport and then bought a $1,417.05 airline ticket from Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, intending to travel to Istanbul, Turkey, on May 28. He was arrested at the airport shortly before his flight.
Prosecutors say his parents had no idea that he had a passport and planned to travel to Turkey, nor did they know how he acquired the money to buy the ticket.
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Investigators say Yusuf is associated with another Minnesota man who's now believed to be fighting in Syria. He is referred to in court documents only as "H.M."
Prosecutors say the other man, Abdi Nur, left the Twin Cities on a flight to Istanbul on May 29. He was scheduled to return to the United States on June 16, but did not.
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Court documents say he has since sent Facebook messages to a person the U.S. saying that he has gone "to the brothers," and that we "will see each other in the afterlife, inshallah," and "I'm not coming back."