NEW: 2 more US citizens captured by #Syria|n Democratic Forces after joining #ISIS have been transferred to @FBI custody
53yo Emraan Ali & his son, 19yo Jihad Ali, appeared in federal court Wednesday, per @TheJusticeDept
Per the criminal complaints Emraan and Jihad Ali traveled to #Syria in March 2015, where they got military training.
The father & son surrendered to the #SDF near #Baghuz in March 2019
According to the @FBI, Emraan Ali took his wife, 1 stepchild & 5 children when he left to join #ISIS in March 2015, after learning his wife's sister and her husband had already gone
The couple sent him photos/videos depicting a good life in #Syria
Jihad Ali was 14yo at the time and told agents he was excited to go, but also felt he could not speak against his father
Jihad Ali said they traveled to #Syria via #Brazil & #Turkey
Emraan Ali told US agents that upon arriving in #Syria, the men & women were separated & taken to safe houses
Emraan Ali said he and Jihad Ali then lived in #Manbij #Syria for 3 months, & then #Raqqa while they awaited training
Jihad Ali said the training began after he had been in #Syria for about 7 months - focused on using Ak-47s, RPGs & a PKC machine gun, and on urban warfare
Jihad Ali also told @FBI his father made him do the #ISIS training - "and that he initially did not want to attend training because he was scared to be separated from his family"
He said some of the training was "cool" & some was "scary"
The elder Ali said he was assigned to a battalion and went on a one raid vs he #SDF, but that while he was in a safe house a vehicle in the convoy was hit by gunfire, killing 30-40 #ISIS
Ali said he suffered heart problems and eventually got a medical discharge
Emraan Ali told agents he then did construction work for #ISIS in Raqqa and purchased weapons, accessories & phones for ISIS
He also said he helped fighters from #Trinidad collect money from relatives back home, via Western Union & several contacts
Jihad Ali admitted to @FBI agents he became a soldier and fought in #Shamiyah #Gharanij & #Baghuz but that he believed he never killed anyone
He also claimed that he exaggerated his experience in WhatsApp messages he sent to his mother in #Trinidad
The criminal complaints also mention two other of Emraan Ali's children - a minor boy and a girl
Emraan Ali said his daughter was married to a British #ISIS fighter named Fayyad Uthman when she was 14yo, and she gave birth to a son in 2018
Emraan Ali's other son, named only as IMA in court documents
IMA surrendered to the #SDF with his father and his brother, Jihad Ali, on or about March 17, 2019
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