US officials have charged 14 people with providing money, personnel and services to the Somali militant¹ group al-Shabab.

美国官方以向索马里武装集团青年党提供资金、人员以及其它服务等罪名起诉14人。

Al-Shabab has taken control of large parts of Somalia and claims to have links with al-Qaeda

The charges stem from four separate indictments³（起诉书，控告） in the US states of Minnesota, Alabama and California.

Concerns about al-Shabab have grown after the group carried out a bomb attack in Uganda.

On Wednesday, a man was charged with attempting to support al-Qaeda and al-Shabab.

Prosecutors⁴ said Shaker Masri of Chicago had sought to travel to Somalia to join al-Shabab, which the US and UK consider a terrorist group.

'Providing resources'

The indictments unsealed on Thursday make reference to（提到，谈及） four specific individuals as well as a group of 10 men charged with providing resources to al-Shabab, which has close ties to al-Qaeda.

In two separate indictments, prosecutors charged Shafik Hammami, a former resident of the US state of Alabama, and Jehad Serwan Mostafa, formerly⁵ of California, with providing material support to al-Shabab.

In the District of Minnesota, prosecutors unsealed an indictment² charging Amina Farah Ali and Hawo Mahamed Hassan with providing funds to the Somalia-based militant group. Both defendants⁶, who are naturalised citizens were arrested on Thursday.

The two are accused of having raised money in Somali communities in the US and Canada, telling people the funds would help the poor and needy⁷ in Somalia.

Prosecutors in Minnesota also charged 10 men with terrorism offences for leaving the United States to join al-Shabab - seven of them have been previously⁸ charged.

US Attorney General Eric Holder⁹ said in a news conference a total of 19 defendants had now been charged in connection with the ongoing¹⁰（进行的） investigation¹¹.

Mr Holder said nine of the suspects had been arrested, with five pleading guilty.

"The indictments unsealed today shed further light on a deadly pipeline¹² that has routed funding and fighters to the al-Shabab terror organisation¹³ from cities across the United States," Mr Holder said.

He said the latest charges reflected a growing trend in the US - one which leaders of Muslim communities were trying to help the authorities address.

"As demonstrated by the charges unsealed today, we are seeing an increasing number of individuals - including US citizens - who have become captivated by extremist ideology¹⁴（思想意识） and have taken steps to carry out terrorist objectives, either at home or abroad

"It's a disturbing trend that we have been intensely investigating in recent years and will continue to investigate and root out（根除，发现） . But we must also work to prevent this type of radicalisation from ever taking hold," he added.