Suicide Bomber From U.S. Came Home Before Attack New York Times (07/31/14) Schmidt, Michael S.; Mazzetti, Mark U.S. authorities say that Moner Mohammad Abusalha, the American man who carried out a suicide bombing in Syria in May, returned to the U.S. for several months after receiving training from the Syrian militant group the Nusra Front. After spending some time in the U.S., authorities say, Abusalha went back to Syria and carried out his attack. Those findings seem to lend credence to concerns among counterterrorism officials in the U.S. and Europe that Westerners are indeed traveling to Syria, receiving training from militant groups, and returning home. But while there have been concerns that such individuals would return to their home countries to carry out attacks, Abusalhas case shows that not all Western militants who have trained in Syria have such aspirations. Indeed, the Nusra Fronts primary goal is to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad rather than to attack the West. Meanwhile, an FBI official said that Abusalhas case underscores the difficulties the bureau faces in identifying Americans who travel to Syria to participate in jihad. While both the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security were aware that Abusalha had gone to Syria, they had no knowledge he had received training from the Nusra Front or that he was was planning to participate in an attack.
Posted on: Thu, 31 Jul 2014 18:40:09 +0000
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