The FBI has arrested an American girl who federal prosecutors stated had risen by the ranks of the Islamic State group in Syria to change into a battalion commander, coaching ladies and youngsters to make use of assault rifles and suicide belts, the Justice Department disclosed Saturday.
The girl, Allison Fluke-Ekren, 42, a former instructor from Kansas, was charged with offering materials assist to a terrorist group. The circumstances of her seize in Syria weren’t instantly identified, however the FBI flew her to Virginia on Friday to face prosecution.
Prosecutors described Fluke-Ekren as enjoying an unusually outsized position within the Islamic State as a lady and an American. Charges in opposition to American ladies concerned with the militant group have been uncommon.
Fluke-Ekren was smuggled into Syria in 2012 from Libya, courtroom paperwork stated. She traveled to the nation, in keeping with one witness, as a result of she wished to wage “violent jihad,” Raj Parekh, a federal prosecutor, wrote in a detention memo that was made public Saturday.
According to a felony criticism that was filed in 2019, a witness informed the FBI that Fluke-Ekren and her husband introduced $15,000 to Syria and used the cash to purchase weapons. Her husband, the witness stated, was the commander of snipers for the Islamic State group; he later was killed by an airstrike whereas making an attempt to conduct a terrorist assault, investigators stated. Fluke-Ekren had met him within the United States, in keeping with courtroom paperwork.
The similar witness additionally informed the FBI that Fluke-Ekren had a plan in 2014 to assault a university within the United States utilizing a backpack stuffed with explosives. Prosecutors didn’t reveal which faculty she had wished to focus on. The felony criticism stated her plan was introduced to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the chief of the Islamic State on the time, who authorized funding for it, however that the assault was placed on maintain after Fluke-Ekren realized she was pregnant. Fluke-Ekren had a number of kids, however it’s not clear what number of.
Prosecutors stated Fluke-Ekren moved to Egypt in 2008, lived there for about three years after which traveled to Libya, the place she stayed for a few yr earlier than sneaking into Syria. According to at least one witness, Fluke-Ekren departed Libya as a result of one other terrorist group, Ansar al-Sharia, was not conducting assaults in that nation and she or he wished to wage violent jihad.
In his memo arguing to maintain Fluke-Ekren behind bars whereas she awaits trial, Parekh stated she had been a “fervent believer in the radical terrorist ideology of ISIS for many years.” The prosecutor stated the federal government had quite a few witnesses who had been ready to testify in opposition to her.
According to the detention memo, the mayor of the Syrian metropolis of Raqqa, the Islamic State group’s self-proclaimed capital, authorized the opening of an all-female navy battalion. Fluke-Ekren, investigators stated, quickly grew to become the chief and organizer of it.
Witnesses stated Fluke-Ekren taught courses for members of the battalion, and on one event, a younger baby of hers was seen holding a machine gun. More than 100 ladies and women obtained coaching from her, one witness stated.
Fluke-Ekren had hoped to create a cadre of suicide bombers that would infiltrate enemies’ positions, however the effort by no means materialized, in keeping with the criticism. She additionally informed a witness about her need to assault a shopping center within the United States utilizing a remote-detonated automobile stuffed with explosives.
Court paperwork stated that after the dying of her husband, Fluke-Ekren married one other Islamic State terrorist, a Bangladeshi man who specialised in drones and labored on a plan to drop chemical bombs utilizing them. He additionally died. She then married an Islamic State navy chief who was answerable for the protection of Raqqa, a witness stated.
Fluke-Ekren informed a witness that she had tried to ship a message to her household with the objective of tricking them into believing she was lifeless so the US authorities wouldn’t attempt to discover her. Fluke-Ekren additionally stated that she by no means wished to return to the United States and wished to die a martyr in Syria, in keeping with the witness.
Federal prosecutors in Virginia have mounted an aggressive effort to prosecute terrorists captured abroad. The instances might be extraordinarily tough as a result of witnesses and different proof can typically solely be present in battle zones, in addition to due to geopolitical issues.
Last yr, Mohammed Khalifa, a Saudi-born Canadian who traveled to Syria in 2013 and later joined the Islamic State, was delivered to the United States and charged with offering materials assist to a terrorist group that resulted in dying. Khalifa supplied the narration and translation for roughly 15 movies created and distributed by the militant group. He later pleaded responsible and faces life in jail.
Two British males, El Shafee Elsheikh and Alexanda Kotey, who had been a part of an Islamic State cell of 4 Britons referred to as “the Beatles,” had been delivered to the United States in 2020 to face prices. The group, which was provided that nickname by its victims due to the accents of its members, kidnapped and abused greater than two dozen hostages, together with American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, each of whom had been beheaded in propaganda movies.
Kotey pleaded responsible to his position within the deaths of 4 Americans in Syria. He faces life in jail. Elsheikh has pleaded not responsible and awaits trial.
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
