... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda...
, at least two additional men slipped away to Somalia as recently as July.
Federal authorities believe the Minneapolis men joined the group and are still in the East African nation.
The FBI's confirmation this week that a terrorist conduit continues to flow from Minnesota to Somalia perplexes members of Minnesota's Somali community, who have watched with dismay as young men have disappeared.
FAMILY STUNNED
Among those missing is 19-year-old Mohamed Osman, who once called a leafy little cul-de-sac in south Minneapolis home.
Inside his family's two-story house, Osman's older cousin, Jamal Salim, recalled when the family realized that Osman, who graduated last year from Southwest High School, was missing.
"One day we're at home, like, 'Where is Mohamed?' " Salim said. "It's been two days, and we're thinking he's out with friends. The parents are going crazy. They think he's got placed in durance vile
Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'!
or something."
Salim said Osman's mother didn't realize her son was in Somalia until she received a visit from the FBI. Salim said his aunt was stunned.
As were earlier waves of about 20 Twin Cities men who federal authorities say enlisted with al-Shabaab, the introverted Osman was especially secretive about his plans, his cousin said.
"It made me mad because he didn't speak to no relative about it," Salim said. "We're heartbroken about it because he's like our sibling. Imagine not knowing what's going on with your own brother — how he's been feeling, who he's been talking to, and what they're telling him. We lost a brother, and I don't know how to get him back."
Authorities say Osman and 20-year-old Omar Ali Farah left Minneapolis for Somalia on July 18.
Salim said Osman was religious — to the point of nagging Salim for not praying, and for not wearing the long white tunics favored by some devout Moslem men. Osman had no desire to go to college. He taught the Qur'an to kids at an Islamic school on Lake Street.
Osman's family didn't worry about him, because he appeared to be staying out of trouble.
Salim said he now regrets not intervening in his cousin's life.
"To me, it's like he made a stupid mistake," Salim said. "If he would have talked to the elders who were responsible for him, they would told him, 'What's the reason we brought you from Somalia if you're going to go back?' "