US charges New York father, teenage son who joined Islamic State
Emraan Ali allegedly told prosecutors he snuck his family into Syria after in-laws told him they had a good life under IS.
Prosecutors in the United States unveiled charges Wednesday evening against a man and his son who traveled to Syria to join the Islamic State (IS).
Trinidad-born Emraan Ali, 53, brought his wife, stepchild and five other children to Syria in 2015 to live under IS, prosecutors allege. Among them was his then-14-year-old son Jihad.
Both Emraan and Jihad received IS military training for the so-called caliphate, according to the criminal complaints against them. They surrendered to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) at IS’ final battle, near Baghouz, Syria, in March 2019, according to prosecutors.
They are the latest American citizens to be charged for providing material support to IS. Earlier in September, a Kosovo-born former resident of Chicago appeared in court in Washington, DC, on allegations that he joined IS. Another man who had been captured in Baghouz, Abdulhamid al-Madioum, from Minneapolis, was also charged this month.
