File photo of Syrian rebels capturing a man from Bosnia suspected of being an Islamic State fighter. Photo: AFP
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https://scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3019407/american-isis-sniper-captured-syria-has-been United States & Canada
American Isis ‘sniper’ charged in New York after being captured in Syria
- Court documents claim Ruslan Maratovich Asainov sent texts telling friends in the US he was fighting for ‘the worst terrorist organisation in the world’
A gun-mounted Islamic State group vehicle firing at members of the US-backed Syrian rebels. Photo: AP
A naturalised US citizen who was a sniper for Islamic State has been charged in New York with material support for a terror group after being captured in Syria and repatriated to the US, the Justice Department announced on Friday.
Kazakhstan-born Ruslan Maratovich Asainov fought for Isis in Syria for five years before he was captured by the Syrian Democratic Forces and handed over to US custody, the department said.
He once boasted that he supported “the worst terrorist organisation in the world”, authorities said as they announced his arrest.
“Asainov travelled overseas, joined Isis, and became a fighter and a sniper for the terrorist organisation,” said Assistant Attorney General John C Demers of the National Security Division. “He was ultimately detained overseas, turned over to the FBI, and will now face justice in an American courtroom.
“The United States is committed to holding accountable those who have left this country in order to fight for Isis,” Demers said. “We hope countries around the world, including our European allies and partners, will likewise repatriate and prosecute their own citizens for travelling to support Isis.”
Asainov, 43, was brought back to the US on Thursday and was arraigned on Friday afternoon in federal court in Brooklyn.
He was detained without bail following the court appearance.
Outside court, defence attorney Susan Kellman said her client was “very pleasant, very forthcoming” but was reluctant to speak up when a judge asked him if he understood his rights.
“He answers to a higher authority,” the lawyer said. “He says his ruler is Allah.”
Asainov fought for Isis in Syria from 2013 to 2018 as a sniper and a weapons trainer for other combatants.
Over time, he rose up through the ranks of the organisation, and was named an “emir” or chief, in charge of weapons training.
He stayed in contact with some people in the US, sending messages and photographs of himself from the battlefield.
“We are the worst terrorist organisation in the world that has ever existed,” he said in one of his messages written in 2015 to an associate, according to court documents. He added he wished to die on the battlefield.
Asainov also tried to recruit another individual in the US to join Isis – a person who, unbeknown to him, was an informant for the New York Police Department.
Asainov told the person he’d help get him a job, housing, food and US$50 a month, according to court documents. Asainov suggested he bring his family, too, saying “even grandmothers are coming”.