(30-12-23) MOGADISHU (Halqabsi News) — A United States citizen, Karrem Nasr, aged 23, from Lawrenceville, New Jersey, has been arrested and charged with attempting to provide material support to Al-Shabaab, a designated foreign terrorist organisation. Nasr, also known by the alias Ghareeb Al-Muhajir, was apprehended on December 14 in Nairobi, Kenya, where he allegedly planned to connect with members of Al-Shabaab before travelling to Somalia for training.
Federal prosecutors in the United States assert that Nasr, a resident of Egypt before his arrest, sought to wage violent jihad against America and its allies. He was extradited to the United States and is set to appear before a federal magistrate in Manhattan. If convicted, Nasr faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
The absence of a legal representative for Nasr was noted in court records. The criminal complaint against him, which was unsealed today, sheds light on his activities and intentions. It is reported that Nasr expressed his ambitions to join Al-Shabaab through online postings and communications with a paid FBI informant, who posed as a facilitator for terrorist organisations.
In his interactions with the informant, Nasr is said to have declared the United States as the “No. 1 enemy” and the “head of the snake.” His social media activities included a post on X, previously known as Twitter, where he indicated that jihad was imminent in the United States, accompanied by provocative emojis.
The criminal complaint details that Nasr commenced communications with the FBI informant in November, using an encrypted messaging application. He purportedly revealed his long-standing consideration of waging jihad, a resolve that solidified following recent events involving Hamas and Israel.
Halqabsi News
