US Brings Back Suspected American IS Fighter From Syria to Face Charges, 4 More Repatriate
US Brings Back Suspected American IS Fighter From Syria to Face Charges
By Jeff Seldin, VOA
An American suspected of fighting with the Islamic State terror group in Syria is back in the United States, where he is expected to be charged with and tried for terrorism-related crimes.
U.S. defense officials confirmed the transfer of the suspect Thursday, saying U.S. troops assisted in bringing the U.S. national back home for prosecution.
According to a Pentagon statement, the suspect “was previously held by Syrian Democratic Forces as a suspected member of ISIS.” It referred other questions to the Department of Justice. Justice Department officials said they were aware of the transfer, first reported by CNN, but declined to comment.
Four to face charges
Four other U.S. citizens — three men and one woman — who left the country to join IS have also been brought back to face charges.
Most recently, the U.S. brought back Warren Christopher Clark in January.
Last July, the U.S. repatriated Ibraheem Musaibli and Samantha ElHassani from Syria. Musaibli, a resident of Dearborn, Michigan, was charged with joining IS in 2015. ElHassani was charged with providing material support to IS and with helping other individuals join the terror group. Her four children, who also came back with her from Syria, were placed in the custody of officials with the U.S. state of Indiana.
In June 2017, the U.S. brought back Mohamad Jamal Khweis of Alexandria, Virginia. Khweis, who was found wandering in Iraq by Kurdish peshmerga forces, was found guilty of providing material support to IS.
Western nations’ fighters
To help ease the burden on the SDF, the U.S. has been pushing for Western nations especially to repatriate their foreign fighters and prosecute them.
But at times, Washington has balked at taking back some of those with ties to the U.S., such as American-born Hoda Muthana, 24, whose father was a Yemeni diplomat around the time of her birth.
U.S. officials have said they continue to work to verify the U.S. citizenship of those individuals in the conflict zone on a case-by-case basis.
U.S. counterterrorism officials estimate that more than 45,000 foreign fighters flocked to Syria and Iraq following the start of the Syrian civil war, including 8,000 from Western countries.
An independent estimate by researchers at the International Center for the Study of Radicalization, just published by the Combating Terrorism Center’s CTC Sentinel, estimates IS still counts almost 53,000 foreigners among its ranks in Syria and Iraq, including more than 6,900 foreign women and up to 6,600 foreign children.