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.
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