NEWS of the WORLD
By Ian Kirby
Sunday, September 20, 2009
A major operation by MI5 is trying to break up cells sending them to the lawless war-torn East African state.
The young men used to be sent to Afghanistan and Pakistan. But now some camps have transferred from there to Somalia, where they have been able to flourish far from prying eyes and protected by warlords.
Sheikh Ahmed Aabi, a moderate Somali religious leader, said: "More and more young men are leaving here and travelling to Somalia to join the jihad.
"I am hearing it from their parents all the time. This is becoming a big problem."
Britain has accepted tens of thousands of Somali asylum seekers over the past 10 years.
But MI5 believes younger British Somalis are becoming increasingly excluded from society and are easy targets for hate-filled preachers.
Base
More than 100 Brits are thought to have been trained there as hard bitten would-be bombers.
Terror experts have already warned that Somalia is becoming a main base for al Qaeda from where it is easy for them to spread mayhem.
A military operation there by US Special Forces and CIA killed key Islamic militant Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan last week.