St. Paul (Somalia Today) — A 23-year-old man from Minnesota was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in federal prison for attempting to travel to Somalia to fight for the Islamic State group, the US Justice Department said.
Abdisatar Ahmed Hassan’s sentencing on Wednesday comes as US forces and Puntland authorities have intensified operations against ISIS-Somalia, a faction based in northern Somalia that US counterterrorism officials say recruits fighters internationally, raises money and supports wider ISIS activity.
US District Judge Donovan W. Frank handed Hassan a 102-month prison term, followed by 15 years of supervised release. Hassan had previously pleaded guilty to attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organisation.
Federal prosecutors had sought a 17-year sentence, arguing his efforts to join the jihadists were “persistent, calculated, and undeterred.” His defence attorneys requested five years, noting that he did not recruit others, send money overseas or successfully complete his travel.
“Abdisatar Hassan took active steps in an attempt to join and support ISIS — a brutal foreign terrorist organisation responsible for the violent deaths of thousands of innocent people,” Christopher Dotson, the FBI’s special agent in charge in Minneapolis, said in a statement.
“The sentence handed down today takes a would-be terrorist off the streets and sends a clear message that the FBI and our partners will unremittingly pursue anyone seeking to join or support a foreign terrorist organisation.”
‘Commander’ and ‘uncle’
Court documents show Hassan began consuming propaganda from ISIS and other extremist groups in early 2024. He later told federal agents that his radicalisation intensified after the Israel-Hamas war erupted in October 2023.
He downloaded violent videos and articles from an ISIS media wing, including titles such as “The life of a Mujahideen” and “The return of the Caliphate.”
Prosecutors said he also obtained Arabic-language manuals detailing how to manufacture highly explosive materials such as C4 and urea nitrate, researched sniper-training skills, and contacted an online school specialising in gunsmithing and drone technology.
By November 2024, Hassan was frequently communicating with ISIS recruiters operating in Somalia. According to prosecutors, he referred to his contacts as “commander” and “uncle” while requesting help to reach ISIS-controlled territory.
After quitting his job and liquidating his savings, Hassan purchased a one-way ticket to Somalia in December 2024, posting online: “I will become ISIS straight away.”
FBI agents monitored his first attempt to fly out of Minneapolis on December 13, 2024, but he was turned away at the airport for lacking proper travel documents.
Two weeks later, he tried again, flying to Chicago to catch an international connection. Customs and Border Protection officers intercepted him before he could board. Inside his carry-on bag, agents found his birth certificate, naturalisation certificate and high school diploma.
Though he initially denied malicious intent, he eventually admitted his support for ISIS and his desire for an Islamic caliphate. He told CBP agents he “did not believe in democracy” and claimed that America’s justice system was “in fact terrorism.”
Growing Somalia threat
Hassan’s attempts to reach Somalia coincided with growing US concern over ISIS-Somalia’s role in the wider global network of the jihadist group.
While Somalia has long been dominated by the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab insurgency, the ISIS-Somalia faction, based in the rugged Cal Miskaad and Golis mountains of the semi-autonomous Puntland region, has attracted foreign fighters and expanded its role in recruitment, financing and propaganda.
In early 2025, Puntland security forces launched Operation Hilaac to dislodge the militants from their mountain hideouts, with US Africa Command later carrying out airstrikes in coordination with Somalia’s federal government. Washington says the group poses a threat to US interests, American citizens abroad and the wider region.
Despite failing to reach Somalia, Hassan continued to express radical views after returning to Minnesota.
In January 2025, he publicly praised the perpetrator of a deadly ISIS-inspired truck attack in New Orleans that killed 14 people and injured dozens more. Hassan referred to the attacker as a “Muhaajid” and a “legend that killed the Americans,” prosecutors said.
In late February 2025, just days before his arrest, Hassan posted videos of himself driving at night with an open, long-bladed buck knife on his lap while holding a homemade black ISIS flag. When the FBI arrested him on February 27, he had the same knife on his person and the flag in his car.
“Hassan celebrated the 2025 murder of 14 innocent Americans in New Orleans… and when unable to get to his destination, promoted ISIS and al-Shabaab propaganda encouraging others to fight against the United States,” Dotson said.
US officials have warned that ISIS-Somalia’s remote mountain bases in Puntland have become increasingly important to the group’s global network, despite sustained Somali and US pressure.
