Reston Woman Accused of Sending Money to Terrorist Group in Somalia

A 36-year-old woman from Reston is one of two people accused of sending money to Al-Shabaab, a terrorist group based in Somalia that is affiliated with Al-Qaeda.

Muna Osman Jama of Reston and 46-year-old Hinda Osman Dhirane of Kent, Wash., were arrested in 2014 and are charged with providing material support to terrorists, according to the Associated Press.

Authorities said they funneled small amounts of money to the group, which became affiliated with Al-Qaeda in 2012. The bench trial for Dhirane and Jama opened Monday in federal court in Alexandria and is expected to take two weeks, according to the report.

Both Jama and Dhirane are accused of using coded communications to hide what they were doing, calling Al-Shabaab "the family" and the supplies they were sending "camels." Their defense lawyers counter that they were simply sending money to their home country for mundane purposes.

The total amount in question is reportedly less than $5,000.

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