The key facts

  • Halima Salman, 27, found guilty of receiving military training from IS at age 18
  • The offense carries up to 10 years in prison; the sentence will be handed down later
  • The defense argued that she was taken to Syria as a child without knowledge of her stepfather's views

US court verdict

American citizen Halima Salman, 27, has been found guilty of receiving military training from the Islamic State (IS) group. This was reported by AFP, citing a statement by the prosecutor's office. The offense of which she was found guilty carries a penalty of up to ten years in prison; the sentence will be handed down later.

The path to Syria and detention

According to the prosecution, in late 2016 or early 2017, 17-year-old Salman traveled through Russia and Turkey to IS-held territory in Syria. There, the prosecution claimed, at age 18 she was trained in the use of an assault rifle and received ammunition from an IS military battalion. According to court records, in Syria she married an IS fighter, Abu Ali, a German citizen of Afghan origin. In early 2019 she was taken into custody by a Syrian force opposed to IS; until 2024 she was held in a camp for displaced persons, then returned to the United States, where she was arrested.

The positions of the parties

After the verdict, prosecutor Joseph Nochella said that Salman had been 'held accountable for joining a terrorist organization' and pledged to continue prosecuting those who supported IS. According to AFP, the defense argued that Salman was a 'victim' of her stepfather, who took her to IS territory as a child, and that she was unaware of his sympathies for the group.

Context: the fate of IS foreign women

Salman is one of hundreds of foreign women who ended up in IS territory and, after the fall of the 'caliphate,' were detained while awaiting repatriation. Their fate, as AFP notes, remains a difficult issue for Western countries: many are stuck in camps or have been stripped of their citizenship. According to an official cited by the agency, Kurdish forces are still holding about 2,200 foreign relatives of suspected IS fighters in a camp in northeastern Syria. The Program on Extremism has identified 83 American adults who traveled to Syria or Iraq since 2011 and were linked to jihadist groups there. The verdict in Salman's case shows that the United States is choosing the path of criminal prosecution of returnees rather than mere repatriation without consequences — though the final penalty will only become known when the sentence is handed down.