2 Americans Said to Have Joined ISIS Caught on the Front Lines in Syria

By Rukmini Callimachi
Jan. 6, 2019

A 34-year-old man from Houston who sent a résumé and cover letter seeking a job inside the Islamic State was captured alive on the battlefield alongside another American fighting for the terrorist group, according to the Syrian Democratic Forces, who announced the arrest on Sunday.

The two Americans reported captured, Warren Christopher Clark and Zaid Abed al-Hamid, were seized alongside other foreign fighters, including citizens of Ireland and Pakistan. They were taken during an operation targeting the Islamic State’s last pocket of control in northern Syria, according to a statement issued by the Syrian Democratic Forces, the Kurdish-led and American-supported militia that is fighting to take back territory from ISIS.

Only four other Americans are known to have been captured alive on the battlefield in Iraq and Syria, according to a database maintained by George Washington University’s Program on Extremism. Similarly small is the number of Americans who have returned to the United States after joining the terrorist group.

Extraditions to the United States of Mr. Clark and Mr. al-Hamid, whose surname was also spelled al-Hamed, would make them only the 15th and 16th American adults to return from joining ISIS in Iraq and Syria.

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