Overview
The U.S. Department of Justice charged Somali-American Yusra Ismail with one count of misusing a stolen passport on December 2, 2014. Ismail allegedly used the stolen passport to travel to Syria to join ISIS. Her last confirmed contact with her family was a call she made from the Netherlands on August 24, 2014, allegedly while en route to Syria.“Minnesota Woman Charged With Stealing Passport To Travel To Syria,” Federal Bureau of Investigation, December 2, 2014, http://www.justice.gov/usao/mn/yursaismailcomplaint.html. It is unconfirmed whether she is currently in Syria, but authorities have stated that records cannot confirm if she has returned the United States since her departure.John Hall,“ Somali-American woman, 20, 'stole friend's passport and used it to travel to Syria where she joined ISIS terrorists',” Daily Mail (London), December 2, 2014, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2858322/Minnesota-woman-charged-stealing-passport-Syria.html.
Ismail is a 2013 graduate of Lighthouse Academy, a charter school in Minneapolis. Interviews with school officials reveal a quiet woman who was intent on memorizing the Quran.Laura Yuen, Mukhtar Ibrahim, Sasha Aslanian, “From MN suburbs, they set out to join ISIS,” MPR News, March 25, 2015, http://www.mprnews.org/story/2015/03/25/minnesota-teens-isis.
Associated Groups
- Extremist entity
- ISIS
- Read Threat Report
- Type(s) of Organization:
- Insurgent, territory-controlling, religious, terrorist, violent
- Ideologies and Affiliations:
- Islamist, jihadist, pan-Islamist, Salafist, takfiri
- Position(s):
- Foreign fighter
ISIS is a violent jihadist group based in Iraq and Syria. The group has declared wilayas (provinces) in Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the North Caucasus. ISIS has also waged attacks in Turkey, Lebanon, France, Belgium, Iraq, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Tunisia, and Kuwait.
History
Daily Dose
Extremists: Their Words. Their Actions.
In Their Own Words:
We reiterate once again that the brigades will directly target US bases across the region in case the US enemy commits a folly and decides to strike our resistance fighters and their camps [in Iraq].
Mar. 2023