FBI Arrests 6 in Minnesota, California for Alleged Islamic State Plot

The Federal Bureau of Investigation announced this week that it had successfully arrested six men in California and Minnesota who were reportedly plotting to travel aboard to join the Islamic State terror group in Syria. 

The arrests were a part of a year-long probe into possible Islamic State sympathizers in the U.S., with FBI officials focusing specifically on the large Somali immigrant population in Minnesota.

A Somali mother living in Minneapolis told the Minnesota Public Radio News that two of her sons, one living in Minnesota and one living in San Diego, were among the six arrested in the weekend's sting. FBI officials reportedly arrived at her doorstep around noon on Sunday and arrested one of the sons, while the other was arrested in San Diego.

Police reportedly confiscated a tablet computer from the home of the two brothers.

The FBI has given few details regarding this weekend's arrests, but Minnesota U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger is expected to hold a press conference Monday to elaborate on the arrests.

According to the Associated Press, the six men arrested over the weekend have reportedly been charged with trying to travel to Syria to join the Islamic State.

The men had reportedly been trying to travel to Syria from New York City and San Diego when they were stopped by authorities. The men identified in Monday's unsealed complaint include Mohamed Farah, Adnan Farah, Abdirahman Daud, Guled Omar, Hanad Musse and Zacharia Abdurahman.

"The community is in a state of confusion," Somali activist Omar Jamal told the Minneapolis Star Tribune in a recent interview. "They don't know what is going on. [...] This is a very serious issue. We as a community are concerned about losing our kids to [ISIS]."