News / Military

American Daesh ‘defector’ nabbed in Iraq: Report

Monday, 14 March 2016 3:51 PM [ Last Update: Monday, 14 March 2016 7:49 PM ]

Muhammed Jamal Amin, an alleged US citizen and detained Daesh member.

An alleged American citizen has been detained in Iraq after defecting from the Daesh (ISIL) terrorist group, according to US media.

The man, identified as Muhammed Jamal Amin, 27, was trying to make his way back to Turkey when he was apprehended by peshmerga forces at a checkpoint, two sources affiliated with the Kurdish fighters told CBS News on Monday.

According to the report, the Kurdish forces at first fired warning shots at Amin, thinking he was a terrorist ready to blow himself up. But he identified himself as a former member of Daesh who wished to turn himself in.

The sources said Amin had fought for ISIL for months. He is now being held in Erbil, where there is a large US military presence.

A video aired by Kurdish TV showed a bearded man, purportedly Amin, being questioned by a Kurdish commander.

In the video, Amin introduces himself as an American who was born to a Palestinian father and an Iraqi mother.

Kurdish TV networks also showed various identification and credit cards that confirmed Amin’s identity, including a driver’s license issued in the US state of Virginia.

The US Embassy in Baghdad could not confirm Amin’s detention, indicating it had only recently become aware of the matter.

US intelligence officials have estimated that about a dozen American citizens have joined Daesh in Iraq and Syria.

Moreover, a study released in November showed that the overwhelming majority of terror suspects charged in the US for their alleged ties with Daesh are American citizens.

Of the 68 people who have been indicted because of alleged involvement with Daesh, 55 or about 81 percent, are US citizens, including 44 who were born in America, according to the study published by Center on National Security at Fordham University.

In January, two other men from Woodbridge, Virginia were charged with offenses relating to attempts to join the terrorist group in Syria, according to the US Department of Justice. The pair could face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison if convicted.

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