ISIS News 2017: U.S. Citizen Fighting for ISIS Captured in Syria; Terror Group Claims London Subway Bombing Caused by Affiliate Unit
The U.S. military has reportedly captured a U.S. citizen who had been fighting alongside Jihadist militant group ISIS in Syria.
While there are conflicting reports about the person being captured and having surrendered himself, the detention of the American-born ISIS fighter has been confirmed by officials to various news outlets.
"Syrian Democratic Forces turned over to U.S. forces an American citizen who surrendered to the SDF on or around September 12," U.S. Marine Corps Major Adrian Rankine-Galloway reportedly told CNN, referring to the U.S. backed Kurdish forces fighting the Islamic State militants in Syria.
"The US citizen is being legally detained by Department of Defense personnel as a known enemy combatant," the official also said.
This was not the first time that an American had been captured while fighting alongside the ISIS, however. Back in 2016, NBC News reported the surrender of 27-year-old Mohamed Khweis, who was born in Virginia, to Kurdish authorities. He was convicted for providing material support to the terrorist group and is now facing a five-year sentence behind bars.
In other news, last Friday, a homemade bomb had caused a fire on a train at a London subway station. According to USA Today's report, it injured 29 individuals as the explosion took place during rush hour, shortly after 8 a.m.
Following the incident, ISIS reportedly claimed that it was carried out by one of their affiliate units, marking it the fifth terrorist attack in the Great Britain this year.
Despite the incident seemingly appearing as a minor attack compared to the previous ones, Otso Iho, a Jane's Terrorism and Insurgency Center analyst, warned that failed attacks can possibly cause more future attacks.
"A failed plot, which draws the attention of law enforcement to an existing network, can accelerate pre-existing plots," he reportedly said, poitning out the attacks in Spain last month, which investigators believed were the result of the accidental discovery of a explosives factory near Barcelona.
The Metropolitan Police did not release any information about suspects of the recent London subway incident. However, Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley cautioned Londoners to expect increased polic presence across the subway area.