Authorities Search for 5 Missing D.C. Area Muslim Men

UPDATE:Pakistani sources have confirmed the 5 men are considered to be the same five reported missing from the Washington D.C. area in yesterdays report.

UPDATE: Shortly after we posted this story, Five foreigners believed to be associated with terrorist activities were arrested in Sargodha after a raid on a house. The arrested foreigners include 2 Yeminis, 1 Egyptians, 1 Swedish and 1 US born Pakistani.

The group has taken the house on 30th November and have been living there ever since. DPO Sargodha Dr. Usman Anwar told Geo News that the police raided the house of Khalid Farooqi, an activist of banned outfit Jaish-e-Muhammad, and arrested five foreign nationals from there.

Initial investigations have identified them as Ahmed Abdullah, Waqar Hassan Khan, Eman Hassan, Yasir and Rami Zamzam.

Security agencies have initiated further investigations in this regard.

Source

The Investigative Project on Terrorism reports Federal investigators are searching for a Howard University dental student and four other missing Muslim men reported missing from the Washington, D.C. area. According to the report, there is concern they may have been sent abroad to train for jihad. The five were last seen November 29.

Press ReleaseFederal investigators are searching for a Howard University dental student and four other missing young Muslim men reported missing from the Washington, D.C. area, the Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT) has learned. There is concern they may have been sent abroad to train for jihad. The five were last seen November 29.

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It is not clear where the men are believed to have gone, but an informed source told the IPT that at least one left behind a farewell video.

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The disappearance comes as U.S. officials are increasingly concerned about the threat of homegrown Islamist extremism.

On the surface, at least, the situation in Washington resembles the case of 20 young Somalis who disappeared from the Minneapolis area a year ago. They are believed to have made their way back to Somalia, where they trained with the Al-Shabaab terrorist group.

At least three of those men have died, including one who became the first known American citizen to carry out a suicide bombing. Fourteen people have been indicted in relation to the Somali recruitment effort.

Source

Press Release