Syria Kurds say 8 foreign jihadists captured including US teen

Date created : 09/01/2019 - 15:46

Beirut (AFP)

Syria's Kurds on Wednesday said they had captured eight alleged foreign jihadists including an American teenager in fighting against the Islamic State group.

The eight, detained on Sunday and Monday, include a 16-year-old American as well as a German and a Russian, the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) said in a statement.

Two are from Uzbekistan. The others are from Tajikistan, Ukraine and Kazakhstan.

The YPG has spearheaded the battle against IS in eastern Syria, where they are close to flushing out the jihadists from their last pocket near the Iraqi border.

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Syrian Kurds say American teen among 8 captured foreign ISIS fighters

By CHAD GARLAND | STARS AND STRIPES
Published: January 9, 2019

U.S.-backed forces in Syria said they have captured eight foreign Islamic State fighters in the town of Hajin, including one American teen, days after announcing they had detained five others.

The Kurdish People’s Protection Units, or YPG, said Wednesday they had captured U.S. citizen Soulay Noah Su, 16, who had been going by the alias Abu Souleiman al-Amriki, as well as citizens of Germany, Russia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan.

The group announced over the weekend they had captured two purported Americans, including a Texan who had once applied to teach English to ISIS students in Mosul.

The arrests come amid concerns about whether neighboring Turkey — which considers America’s Kurdish partners terrorists — will be attacked in light of President Donald Trump’s call last month to rapidly withdraw U.S. forces from the country.

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