Thread by @jseldin

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