US man charged with providing help to ISIS militants

A United States national from New York has been charged for providing material support to Islamic State, a designated foreign terrorist organisation.

Mufid Elfgeeh, 30, of Rochester, was charged on Tuesday with three counts of attempting to provide material support to IS.

Elfgeeh was also charged for attempting murder of current and former members of the US military, of possessing firearms equipped with silencers in furtherance of a crime of violence, and for the possession of unregistered firearm silencers. If found guilty, he faces up to 30 years of imprisonment.

“We will remain aggressive in identifying and disrupting those who seek to provide support to IS and other terrorist groups that are bent on inflicting harm upon Americans,” US attorney, Eric Holder, said.

“As this case shows, our agents and prosecutors are using all the investigative tools at our disposal to break up these plots before individuals can put their plans into action. We are focused on breaking up these activities on the front end, before supporters of IS can make good on plans to travel to the region or recruit sympathisers to this cause,” Holder said.

According to court records, Elfgeeh attempted to provide material support to ISIS in the form of three individuals, two of whom were cooperating with the FBI. Elfgeeh attempted to assist all three individuals in travelling to Syria to join and fight on behalf of IS, federal prosecutors said, adding that he also plotted to shoot and kill members of the US military who had returned from Iraq.

As part of the plan to kill soldiers, Elfgeeh purchased two handguns equipped with firearm silencers and ammunition from a confidential source. The handguns were made inoperable by the FBI before the confidential source gave them to Elfgeeh, the department of justice said.