A California woman has been charged with providing money and personnel to a terrorist group in Somalia to help carry out killings in the African nation, according to a federal indictment.
Nima Ali Yusuf supported Al Shabab, an Al Qaida linked militia trying to create an Islamic state in Somalia, federal prosecutor Sabrina eve said on Tuesday.
Yusuf was the fourth person charged in the past month in San Diego with helping Al Shabab. Authorities described her as a lawful permanent resident of the US.
She was arrested on Friday in San Diego and appeared in federal court on Tuesday.
Yusuf was charged in the indictment with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organisation and making a false statement to government.
The others charged in San Diego were accused of raising money then routing the funds to the radical Islamist group.
Federal prosecutors did not provide further details on the allegations. Since 2007, roughly 20 men have left Minnesota to fight with Al Shabab. It wasn’t immediately clear from the indictment whether Yusuf was connected to those men.
Yusuf also was charged with making a false statement to an FBI agent and Customs and Border Protection officer when she allegedly denied sending money to anyone in Somalia in the past year.
Three other people were arrested in St. Louis and Minnesota this month for also allegedly supporting the radical Islamist group.