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Minneapolis-St. Paul’s Somali Community Comes Under Scrutiny

Minneapolis-St. Paul’s Somali Community Comes Under Scrutiny

From The Grio

Reports are surfacing that the U.S. conducted raids with the aim to take terrorists connected to al-Qaida into custody.

In the wake of the recent al-Shabaab attack on a shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya, officials sought a high-profile member of al-Shabab, a group linked to al-Qaida.

There are conflicting reports concerning whether American citizens were involved in the planning and execution of the Nairobi incident. Many believe some of the Americans who allegedly participated were recruited from Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota and its thriving Somali community.

This tragedy has reignited the world’s interest in a group still struggling to find its footing in a cultural landscape radically different from its origins. Over 8,000 miles separate the Twin Cities of Minnesota and the Horn of Africa. Yet, since the onset of Somalia’s bloody civil war in 1991, Minneapolis-St. Paul has become the unlikely home of the largest population of Somali refugees and immigrants in North America.

Read more at The Grio.