Advertisement

Updated June 8th, 2022 at 06:14 IST

US: Kansas woman pleads guilty to training a 100-women ISIS brigade in Syria

In US, an American lady accused of directing an all-female ISIL (ISIS) battalion pled guilty to conspiring to provide material support to a "terrorist" group.

Reported by: Aparna Shandilya
US
Image: AP | Image:self
Advertisement

A woman accused of directing an all-female ISIL (ISIS) battalion pled guilty in a US court to conspiring to provide material support to a "terrorist" group. Allison Fluke-Ekren entered her plea in a federal courtroom outside Washington, DC, in Northern Virginia. According to the US Justice Department, she could face a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.

"Over 100 women and young girls, including as young as 10 or 11-years-old, received military training from Fluke-Ekren in Syria on behalf of ISIS," according to a statement released by the US Department of Justice on June 7.

Fluke-Ekren was arrested in Syria and transferred to the United States in late January to face accusations. On October 25, she will be sentenced. According to the Justice Department, Fluke-Ekren attempted to motivate her trainees by explaining how female fighters can ensure the Islamic State's survival by 'helping ISIS expand and to remain' through the use of weapons such as automatic firing AK-47 assault rifles, grenades, and suicide belts packed with explosives.

The testimony of many witnesses told US officials that Fluke-Ekren contemplated waging assaults in the US and had translated ISIL material into English, according to a criminal complaint released earlier this year. According to a witness, the 'Wali' (or ISIS-appointed mayor) of Raqqa, Syria, allegedly allowed the formation of the 'Khatiba Nusaybah,' a military battalion made up entirely of female ISIS members who were married to male ISIS fighters,' in or around late 2016, the Department of Justice said in a statement in January.

Fluke-Ekren allegedly became leader of the battalion: US Dept of Justice

"Shortly thereafter, Fluke-Ekren allegedly became the leader and organizer of the battalion," US Department of Justice stated.

The all-women brigade was also active throughout ISIL's de facto capital and one of its last territorial strongholds, Raqqa, until the Syrian city was seized by the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in 2017. The programme provided medical and physical training, as well as weapon preparation classes, according to US investigators, some of which were given by Fluke-Ekren herself. According to the Department of Justice, Fluke-Ekren, whose family hails from the Midwest of the United States, worked as a teacher in the United States before fleeing the nation and joining ISIL in Syria.

From 2014 until its territorial defeat late in 2017, ISIL controlled huge swaths of territory in Iraq and Syria. Thousands of foreign militants, including those from Europe and the United States, joined the group, which had declared a "caliphate" and spurred attacks on civilian targets around the world. Alexanda Kotey, a British-born former member of the ISIL cell known as "the Beatles," was sentenced to life in prison by a US judge late in April.

Image: AP

Advertisement

Published June 8th, 2022 at 06:14 IST

Your Voice. Now Direct.

Send us your views, we’ll publish them. This section is moderated.

Advertisement
Advertisement

Trending Quicks

Hardik Pandya
2 minutes ago
India Registers stern objection to US remarks on Kejriwal
3 minutes ago
File Photo of PM Narendra Modi
3 minutes ago
MS Dhoni story from IPL 2023
11 minutes ago
Government Approves Major Bureaucratic Rejig with Key Appointments | LIVE
11 minutes ago
Bollywood actor Govinda
16 minutes ago
Heinrich Klassen's daughter
17 minutes ago
Shashank Srivastava and Partho Banerjee
24 minutes ago
A Matador fell into a gorge in J&K's Poonch, injuring 9.
28 minutes ago
Hacker
30 minutes ago
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Whatsapp logo