Ohio man plotted attack in US after receiving training in Syria

An Ohio man has been charged with supporting the ISIL terrorist group and plotting to carry out an attack on US soil after receiving training in Syria, the US Justice Department said Thursday.

Abdirahman Sheik Mohamud, 23, of Columbus, Ohio allegedly trained with al-Qaeda affiliate al-Nusra Front in Syria and returned to the US to carry out a terrorist attack, according to the three-count indictment filed in the Southern District of Ohio.

“According to the charges in the indictment, Mohamud allegedly traveled to Syria to train with and fight alongside terrorists,” said Assistant Attorney General Carlin.

In April 2014, Mohamud left the US to receive training on how to fight with terrorists in Syria. As a naturalized US citizen holding a US passport, he bought a one-way ticket and traveled to Athens, Greece.

During a layover in Turkey, he did not board his connecting flight to Athens and instead completed his prearranged plans to travel to Syria.

Mohamud said he obtained training after he had arrived in Syria and learnt how to shoot weapons, break into houses, use explosives, fight hand-to-hand combat, said a federal indictment.

Upon the completion of the training, he was ordered to travel back to the US and "carry out an act of terrorism."

He arrived in the US in June 2014 and plotted to attack a military facility or a US prison, according to the documents.

He was arrested on Feb. 21 on state charges in Ohio and has been held by local enforcement authorities.

However, he has now been indicted by a federal grand jury for attempting to provide and providing material support to terrorists as well as making false statements to the FBI.

“Mohamud talked about doing something big in the United States,” the documents say. He "wanted to kill Americans, and specifically wanted to target armed forces, police officers or any uniformed individuals."

“He wanted to go to a military base in Texas and kill three or four American soldiers execution style,” the documents add.

US officials have warned the public and law enforcement agencies across the country about young Americans wanting to join the ISIL group in Iraq and Syria.

On April 10, another US man from Kansas was arrested and charged with plotting a suicide car bombing at a US Army base on behalf of the ISIL Takfiri group.

John T. Booker, Jr., 20, of Topeka, Kansas was arrested by FBI agents during a sting operation near the Fort Riley Army installation located in north central Kansas, the US Attorney for Kansas Barry Grissom said.

Booker was charged with three criminal counts including attempting to provide material support to ISIL terrorists, attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and attempting to destroy property.

The ISIL terrorists, many of whom were initially trained by the US Central Intelligence Agency in Jordan in 2012 to destabilize the Syrian government, now control parts of Iraq and neighboring Syria.

AT/AT

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