WASHINGTON: Six Americans arrested at a house allegedly linked to a militant group in eastern Pakistan have told investigators they came to the country to take part in jihad, police said Thursday.
The men, ages 19 to 25, and one of the men’s father, were picked up Wednesday at a house in the city of Sargodha that has been linked to the banned militant organization Jaish-e-Mohammed, alleged to have ties to Al-Qaeda.
American officials familiar with the case said they disappeared at the end of November.
The FBI said in a statement that it was in contact with the families of the five as well as law-enforcement authorities in Pakistan.
A team of FBI agents traveled to Sargodha, 120 miles south of Islamabad, to meet the five young men on Wednesday. The agents examined their passports and other identification documents and confiscated some personal belongings, according to the source. Three were understood to be of Pakistani heritage and the other two men of Egyptian and Yemeni heritage.
The five are men were reported missing more than a week ago by their families in the Washington, D.C., area. The families asked the FBI for help after finding a farewell video left by the men showing scenes of war and casualties and saying Muslims must be defended.
The FBI had been searching for the men since their families reported them missing and expressed fears they may have gone to Pakistan. One was a dental student at Howard University in Washington, a traditionally black university.
One of the five left behind what investigators believe was a “farewell” video message, in which he talked about protecting Muslims and showed images of American casualties.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said it brought the case to the attention of the American authorities after relatives told the group about the disappearances.
