Three Arrested in US for Supporting Islamic State

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has made three arrests of people suspected of providing material support to the Islamic State and seeking to travel to Syria to fight with the group.

The FBI announced the arrests in a press release from its New York City office. The suspects are of Kazakh and Uzbek origin. They are Abdurasul Hasanovich Juraboev, Akhror Saidakhmetov, and Abror Habibov. Juraboev and Habibov are from Uzbekistan while Hasanovich is from Kazakhstan.

Saidakhmetov was arrested at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport just before he was to board a flight to Istanbul, Turkey. Many foreign fighters who try to join IS in Syria often travel there via Istanbul and smaller Turkish cities.

The men said that if they were for some reason unable to travel to Syria, they would instead try to carry out terror attacks in the United States. One of the men said they would even try to kill President Barack Obama. Another said they would get an automatic weapon and use it to go on a rampage targeting police officers and agents of the FBI.

"The flow of foreign fighters to Syria represents an evolving threat to our country and to our allies," stated United States Attorney Lynch. "As alleged in the complaint, two of the defendants in this case sought to travel to Syria to join ISIL but were also prepared to wage violent jihad here in the United States. A third defendant allegedly provided financial assistance and encouragement. We will vigorously prosecute those who attempt to travel to Syria to wage violent jihad on behalf of ISIL and those who support them.

If the men are found guilty, they each face a prison sentence of 15 years.