WASHINGTON (CNN)  -- There is an increasing threat of homegrown terror stemming from segments of a deeply isolated and alienated Somali-American community, a U.S. Senate committee hearing concluded Wednesday. Sen. Joseph Lieberman says a number of Somali-Americans support terrorist groups. The hearing, conducted by the Senate Homeland and Governmental Affairs Committee, focused on the attempted recruitment of young Somali-American men by al-Shabaab, "a violent and brutal extremist (Somali) group" with significant ties to al Qaeda, according to the U.S. State Department. "Over the last two years, individuals from the Somali community in the United States, including American citizens, have left for Somalia to support and in some cases fight on behalf of al-Shabaab," noted the committee's chairman, Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Connecticut.
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Committee focused on recruitment of Somali-Americans by group with al Qaeda ties
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Hearing highlighted case of the first suicide bombing by a naturalized U.S. citizen
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Recruitment is a result of "refugee experience" and "isolation," official says
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"Despite significant efforts to facilitate their settlement into @placeholder communities, many Somali immigrants face isolation," Liepman said.
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"The (tough) adjustment to @placeholder society has reinforced their greater insularity compared to other more integrated recent immigrant communities and has aggravated the challenges of assimilation for their children," he said.
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Many refugees, he said, "lack structure and definition in their lives" and are "torn between their parents' traditional tribal and clan identities and the new cultures and traditions offered by @placeholder society."