Pictured: Facebook images of Abdirahmaan Muhumed (left) and Douglas McAuthur McCain taken before they were radicalized.

Abdirahmaan Muhumed , ISIS fighter.

The death of the American Somali Émigré ISIS  Jihadi  Abdirahmaan Muhumed, 29, revealed his employment as a cleaner for Delta Global Services, Inc.  that gave him security access to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.  Muhumed, 29, left behind 9 children in the Twin Cities to become an ISIS jihadi, before his death in Syria.  A Daily Mail report, noted:

A Somali-American who was killed fighting for ISIS in Syria cleaned jetliners for Delta Airlines before he left the United States to fight for the Islamic terrorist group, it has been revealed.

Abdirahmaan Muhumed, 29, had security clearances that granted him special access to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport in his job with Delta Global Services, KMSP-TV reports.

[…]

KMSP reports that multiple sources have revealed that Muhumed had unfettered access to jetliners at the airport, which handles 90,000 passengers a day. He also had access to the tarmac and special security clearance to other parts of the airport.

KMSP reported that it appears Muhumed had no criminal record in the United States that would have prevented him from getting a job at the airport.

[…]

Two weeks ago, Muhumed’s family was sent a picture of his body, confirming he had died.  He is the second American killed fighting for ISIS. Last week, it emerged that Douglas McArthur McCain, who was also from Minneapolis, had been killed after taking up arms with the terrorist group.

At least 15 men and one woman from Minneapolis have traveled to Syria and Iraq to join ISIS, according to authorities.

Most of the fighters are from the city’s large Somali refugee population.

Watch the KMSP Fox 9 report.

Is this an isolated incident or a case of a threat to possible airport and airline security that may be more pervasive?

Last  March  my colleague Lisa Benson reported  on her weekly radio  show the comments of a Southwest Airlines captain who told her  that  aircraft  he flew on out of, Sky Harbor in Phoenix, was cleaned  by a service that only hires Somali community members who have unrestricted access  to the planes at night.  She further noted that the City of Phoenix,  which operates  Sky Harbor, has a  $10 million exclusive contract with  a US subsidiary of the  Danish firm  ISIS Worldwide A/S headquartered in Copenhagen. The US subsidiary  ISS Facility Services, Inc. is based in San Antonio.  ISS Worlwide  employs  over  a half million through their outsourced network of  airport and commercial  facilities  maintenance contracts.  ISS specializes in a broad range of facility management services including janitorial services, especially for airport authorities and major manufacturing  companies.

During the past several years  the U.S. subsidiary has won a number of U.S. airport facility management contracts. Among those was the  one for Sky Harbor in Phoenix that prompted the comment from the Southwest Airlines flight captain, who spotted some Somalis during ground cleaning of his aircraft.  ISS might have tie-ins  with US and foreign refugee resettlement groups hence the alleged employment of Somalis and other  émigré groups .  ISS may draw from this refugee pool throughout its global network, as those positions are at the bottom rung of both pay and training requirements . Further, ISS, like Delta Global Services in the Twin Cities Airport example, may have referral arrangement with major refugee resettlement voluntary agencies in the US who contract with the US State Department and the federal and state Offices of Refugee Resettlement and Coordination.

This revelation following the death of Somali émigré ISIS fighter Abdirahmaan Muhumed, should raise the concerns of both the TSA and Homeland Security regarding screening of airport and aircraft maintenance personnel at  international airports in the U.S. Moreover, without active community policing programs in the major US émigré communities recruitment of both deceased ISIS fighters, Muhumed and McCain, could not have been detected. Muhumed, as we saw in The Daily Mail and Fox Reports, had no criminal record.  Notwithstanding this isolated instance,  the Somali émigré community in the US remains a potential source of jihadi recruits for both al Shabaab and, now, ISIS.

EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared on the New English Review. The featured image is courtesy of the Counter Jihad Report.