US citizen pleads guilty to organizing and leading all-female ISIS battalion News
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US citizen pleads guilty to organizing and leading all-female ISIS battalion

US citizen Allison Fluke-Ekren has pleaded guilty to organizing and leading an all-female troop in Syria on behalf of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS).

According to prosecutors, Fluke-Ekren trained more than 100 women for the battalion known as the Khatiba Nusaybah. She served as their leader and trained them for the “use of automatic firing AK-47 assault rifles, grenades, and suicide belts on behalf of the terrorist organization.”

In 2016 Fluke-Ekren established a woman’s center in Raqqa, Syria. The “Wali”, the ISIS-appointed mayor, gave her permission to form this center. Fluke-Ekren used this center to conduct her training of the Khatiba Nusaybah. The troop began performing operations on behalf of ISIS in 2017.

Fluke-Ekren was affiliated with ISIS from 2008 to 2019 until she turned herself in. She informed the Syrian authorities she was an American citizen and wanted to leave Syria. Authorities took her into custody and transferred her to the Eastern District of Virginia January 28.

The Department of Justice announced Tuesday that Fluke-Ekren “faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.”

Fluke-Ekren will be sentenced on October 25.

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