Men Charged In New York With Training With Somali Terrorist Group

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Three men who were arrested several months ago in Africa were charged in New York this week with training with a terrorist group in Somalia.

Ali Yasin Ahmen, 27; Mahdi Hashi, 23; and Mohamed Yusuf, 29, appeared in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn Friday to face charges that they trained as suicide bombers with the Islamic militant group Al Shabaab, the New York Times first reported.

It was not clear why the case is being brought in the United States.

The defendants were arrested while traveling to Yemen. The Times reported that a Swedish interpreter participated in the court hearing.

Prosecutors have released few details about the case. Court documents have not outlined any particular threat against the U.S.

This is the second case involving foreign support of the militant group this year. In June, Eriitrean citizen Mohamed Ibrahim Ahmed also pleaded guilty in Manhattan to conspiring to support Al Shabaab, the Times reported.

Al Shabaab is considered a splinter group of the now-defunct Islamic Courts Union in Somalia. The group controls most of southern and central Somalia, and is fighting an insurgency against the United Nations-backed Transitional Federal Government, according to Critical Threats.

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