Family: Minn. Somali left to join al-Shabab

A Minnesota man has recently traveled to Somalia to join al-Shabab, renewing fears that the terror group is continuing to recruit U.S. Somalis to fight in their homeland.

A spokesman for the family says 21-year-old Omar Farah left Minneapolis sometime after Ramadan, which ended Aug. 18. Spokesman Abdirizak Bihi says Farah called his aunt about a week after he left to say he was in Somalia _ and that he was with al-Shabab.

The investigation into al-Shabab’s recruitment of young men has been ongoing for years, and authorities have never ruled out the possibility that more men could be traveling to join the group. Still, there have been no public reports of travelers from Minnesota since 2009.

Officials are not confirming whether more men have left Minnesota in recent weeks.