Six men living in Minneapolis area arrested for planning to fight for Isis in Syria

The US attorney for Minnesota said the city has a terror 'recruiting problem'

U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger, left, has admitted that Minesota has a terrorist recruiting problem (EPA)

The US authorities have said they have arrested six young Somali men living in the Minneapolis area on charges of trying to give material support to Isis in Syria and issued a warning that there was a terror “recruiting problem” in the city.

Prosecutors said the six were taken into custody on charges of planning to join and fight for the Islamic State in Syria. Four of the men were arrested in Minneapolis while the remaining two were taken into custody in San Diego after driving there from Minneapolis.

“We have a terror recruiting problem in Minnesota,” US Attorney for Minnesota Andrew Luger said at a news conference announcing the arrests.

Mr Luger said the men had been conspiring for ten months to find a way to leave the US and travel to Syria without detection. “They have spent a great deal of time over the past year trying to get to Syria to fight for ISIL,” he added, using the US government’s acronym for Islamic State or Isis.

Three of the men charged had been stopped in New York last November as they attempted to fly out of the United States and warned of the consequences of persisting with their quest, but they persisted thereafter anyway, the US Attorney indicated.

Those charged were identified as Mohamed Abdihamid Farah, 21; Adnan Abdihamid Farah, 19; Abdurahman Yasin Daud, 21; Zacharia Yusuf Abdurahman, 19; Hanad Mustafe Musse, 19; and Guled Ali Omar, 20.

They had been under investigation by the FBI for a year, Mr Luger said, adding that the men belonged to a network of friends who were all engaged in encouraging each other to leave to join Isis.

The large Somali community in Minneapolis has become a priority for authorities tackling the recruitment of Americans to join Isis and other terror groups. Since 2007, more than 22 young Somali men have travelled from Minnesota to Somalia to join al-Shabaab, according to prosecutors. And four Minnesotans have already been charged in connection with supporting terror groups in Syria, including ISIS.