American Islamic State 'sniper' charged in New York: Justice Department

A naturalized American who was a sniper for the Islamic State group has been charged in New York with material support for a terror group after being captured in Syria and repatriated to the United States, the Justice Department announced Friday.

Kazakhstan-born Ruslan Maratovich Asainov fought for the Islamic State in Syria for five years before he was captured by the Syrian Democratic Forces and handed over to US custody, the department said.

Asainov, 43, was brought back to the United States on Thursday and was to be arraigned Friday afternoon in federal court in Brooklyn.

He fought for IS in Syria from 2013 to 2018 as a sniper and a weapons trainer for other combatants.

Over time, he rose up through the ranks of the organization, and was named an "emir," or chief, in charge of weapons training.

He stayed in contact with some people in the United States, sending messages and photographs of himself from the battlefield.

"We are the worst terrorist organization in the world that has ever existed," one of his messages from 2015 said, according to court documents.

Asainov also tried to recruit another individual in the United States to join the group, who, he did not know, was an informant for the New York Police Department.

"The United States is committed to holding accountable those who have left this country in order to fight for ISIS," Assistant Attorney General John Demers said in a statement.

"We hope countries around the world, including our European allies and partners, will likewise repatriate and prosecute their own citizens for traveling to support ISIS," he said.