An alleged American ISIS defector walked straight into Kurdish Peshmerga forces in Northern Iraq thinking he had reached the Turkish border.
Muhammad Jamal Amin, 27, of Virginia was detained by Kurdish Peshmerga military as he approached a checkpoint near Shingal. Initially the Peshmerga suspected the American to be a suicide bomber and fired warning shots at him.
Independent Journal Review reports:
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Amin instead identified himself as a ISIS defector and wished to turn himself in to Kurdish forces. He admitted that he defected from Virginia and made his way to Turkey and then Syria two months ago. He made an error by misidentifying the Kurdish front-line as the Turkish border.
His capture and initial questioning was videotaped by Kurdish TV and put on display for everyone to see.
جحش #دولة_الاسلامية صباح اليوم سلم نفسه ل #البيشمركة هو عربي من #امريكا دخل الى #سوريا ثم #العراق عن طريق #تركيا pic.twitter.com/arKcbAUgu6
— كوردستانيمه (@kurdistan83) March 14, 2016
In the video the Peshmerga commander and Amin exchange dialogue while the cameras roll:
“Amin: Please turn off the cameras.”
Peshmerga Commander: Why no camera? Where are you from?”
“Amin: (He bows his head) The United States.”
“Peshmerga Commander: Are you of American heritage?”
“Amin: No, I am Iraqi. My mother is from Mosul and my father is Palestinian.”
According to the Kurdish news station Rudaw they also confiscated bank cards, a Virginia drivers license, a U.S. passport and money from Amin.
#American #ISIS member mistakenly walks into #Peshmerga hands on way to #Turkeyhttps://t.co/6zFZ6uo2qu pic.twitter.com/7qenbOciDL
— Rudaw English (@RudawEnglish) March 14, 2016
The State Department said it was aware of reports that a U.S. citizen allegedly fighting for ISIS was in Peshmerga custody. Amin is among the growing list of Americans that have been able to leave the U.S. unnoticed and join ISIS.
