(CNN) — An American woman repatriated to the United States from Syria faces criminal charges for training with ISIS abroad, according to court documents revealed Tuesday.
Halima Salman, aged in her 20s, is accused of learning to use the terrorist organisation’s AK-47 assault rifle while living in Syria.
Salman, according to a U.S. official, was one of 11 U.S. citizens, all part of the same family, from northeastern Syria who were repatriated in what Secretary of State Antony Blinken called the “largest single repatriation” of Americans from that region. .
A State Department official previously told CNN that none of the family members are former ISIS fighters. CNN has reached out to the State Department for comment on the charges against Salman.
CNN has not been able to identify a lawyer for Salman.
According to court documents, Salman, who was 17 at the time, left the United States and entered an ISIS-controlled area of Syria in late 2016 or early 2017. Once he turned 18, prosecutors say, Salman received his ISIS training. She was captured or handed over to “forces opposed by ISIS” about two years later in Baghouz, Syria.
In 2023, Salman was interviewed by FBI agents at a detention center in Syria, court documents show. She allegedly told agents that she had married an ISIS fighter, but she denied being involved in any ISIS activity.
The FBI, however, obtained information from a phone found in the Middle Euphrates River Valley in Syria, a phone they claim belonged to Salman’s husband. The phone’s photo library had images of a document that said Salman had successfully completed his military training and was in possession of an AK-47, prosecutors say, adding that the document was stamped with a signature indicating it was issued by an ISIS military battalion. composed solely of female members of ISIS.
The Kansas woman who led the all-female battalion of ISIS fighters that Salman allegedly trained with was sentenced in 2022 to 20 years in prison. The women of the battalion, some of whom were as young as 10, were trained in the use of explosives and firearms.
The phone also had photographs of Salman standing in front of an ISIS flag and walking around with an assault rifle, prosecutors say.
The United States has worked to repatriate Americans from former ISIS territory and has encouraged other nations to repatriate their own citizens as well.
According to Blinken, there are tens of thousands of people, “most of whom are children,” from more than 60 countries staying in two sprawling camps – Al-Hol and Roj – in northeastern Syria.
CNN’s Holmes Lybrand and Jennifer Hansler contributed to this report.
