The F.B.I. has arrested an American lady who federal prosecutors stated had risen via the ranks of the Islamic State in Syria to change into a battalion commander, coaching girls and youngsters to make use of assault rifles and suicide belts, the Justice Division disclosed on Saturday.
The lady, 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 F.B.I. flew her to Virginia on Friday to face prosecution.
Prosecutors described Ms. Fluke-Ekren as enjoying an unusually outsized function within the Islamic State as a lady and an American. Prices towards American girls concerned with the Islamic State have been uncommon.
Ms. Fluke-Ekren was smuggled into Syria in 2012 from Libya, court docket paperwork stated. She traveled to the nation, in accordance 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 on Saturday.
In accordance with a prison criticism that was filed in 2019, a witness advised the F.B.I. that Ms. 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; he later was killed by an airstrike whereas attempting to conduct a terrorist assault, investigators stated. Ms. Fluke-Ekren had met him in the USA, in accordance with court docket paperwork.
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The identical witness additionally advised the F.B.I. that Ms. Fluke-Ekren had a plan in 2014 to assault a university in the USA utilizing a backpack crammed with explosives. Prosecutors didn’t reveal which school she had wished to focus on. The prison criticism stated her plan was introduced to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the chief of the Islamic State on the time, who permitted funding for it. The witness stated the assault was placed on maintain after Ms. Fluke-Ekren realized she was pregnant. Ms. Fluke-Ekren had a number of kids, however it isn’t clear what number of.
Prosecutors stated Ms. Fluke-Ekren moved to Egypt in 2008, lived there for about three years after which traveled to Libya, the place she stayed for a couple of yr earlier than sneaking into Syria. In accordance with one witness, Ms. Fluke-Ekren departed Libya as a result of one other terrorist group, Ansar al-Sharia, was not conducting assaults in that nation and he or she wished to wage violent jihad.
In his memo arguing to maintain Ms. Fluke-Ekren behind bars whereas she awaits trial, Mr. Parekh stated she had been a “fervent believer within the radical terrorist ideology of ISIS for a few years.” The prosecutor stated the federal government had quite a few witnesses who have been ready to testify towards her.
In accordance with the detention memo, the mayor of the Syrian metropolis of Raqqa, the Islamic State’s self-proclaimed capital, permitted the opening of an all-female army battalion. Ms. Fluke-Ekren, investigators stated, quickly grew to become the chief and organizer of it.
Witnesses stated Ms. Fluke-Ekren taught courses for members of the battalion, and on one event, a younger little one of hers was seen holding a machine gun. Greater than 100 girls and ladies obtained coaching from her, one witness stated.
Ms. Fluke-Ekren had hoped to create a cadre of suicide bombers who might infiltrate enemies’ positions, however the effort by no means materialized, in accordance with the criticism. She additionally advised a witness about her want to assault a shopping center utilizing a remote-detonated automobile filled with explosives.
Courtroom paperwork stated that after the dying of her husband, Ms. 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 army chief who was chargeable for the protection of Raqqa, a witness stated.
A witness additionally stated that Ms. Fluke-Ekren claimed to have tried to ship a message to her household with the purpose of tricking them into believing she was useless so the U.S. authorities wouldn’t attempt to discover her. She advised the witness that she by no means wished to return to the USA and wished to die a martyr in Syria.
Federal prosecutors in Virginia have mounted an aggressive effort to prosecute terrorists captured abroad. The instances will be extraordinarily troublesome as a result of witnesses and different proof can usually solely be present in struggle zones, in addition to due to geopolitical concerns.
Final yr, Mohammed Khalifa, a Saudi-born Canadian who traveled to Syria in 2013 and later joined the Islamic State, was dropped at the USA and charged with offering materials assist to a terrorist group that resulted in dying. Mr. Khalifa offered the narration and translation for roughly 15 movies created and distributed by the Islamic State. He later pleaded responsible and faces life in jail.
Two British males, El Shafee Elsheikh and Alexanda Kotey, who have been a part of an ISIS cell of 4 Britons referred to as “the Beatles,” have been dropped at the USA in 2020 to face expenses. 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 the American journalists James Foley and Steven J. Sotloff, each of whom have been beheaded in propaganda movies.
Mr. Kotey pleaded responsible to his function within the deaths of 4 People in Syria. He faces life in jail. Mr. Elsheikh has pleaded not responsible and awaits trial.