American Woman Who Led ISIS Battalion Sentenced to 20 Years

A U.S. citizen was sentenced to 20 years in prison today in the Eastern District of Virginia for organizing and leading an all-female military battalion in Syria on behalf of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), a designated foreign terrorist organization.

According to court documents, Allison Fluke-Ekren, aka Allison Ekren, aka Umm Mohammed al-Amriki, and aka Umm Mohammed, 42, a former resident of Kansas, traveled overseas and, from in or about September 2011 through in or about May 2019, engaged in terrorist acts in multiple countries, including Syria, Libya and Iraq. Fluke-Ekren ultimately served as the leader and organizer of an ISIS military battalion, known as the Khatiba Nusaybah, where she trained women on the use of automatic firing AK-47 assault rifles, grenades and suicide belts. Over 100 women and young girls, some as young as 10 years old, received military training from Fluke-Ekren in Syria on behalf of ISIS.

During the sentencing hearing, the Court incorporated into the record two separate letters submitted by Fluke-Ekren’s adult daughter and adult son, both of whom wrote about being abused by Fluke-Ekren, beginning in Kansas and continuing overseas when they were minors. . . Additionally, Fluke-Ekren’s adult daughter delivered a victim impact statement in court today describing the severe abuse that Fluke-Ekren inflicted upon her in Syria, including coercing her to marry an ISIS fighter, who then raped her, when she was only 13 years old.

In or around 2008, Fluke-Ekren departed the United States and moved to Egypt with her second husband, a now-deceased former member of the terrorist organization Ansar al-Sharia.

In or around late 2012, Fluke-Ekren, her second husband and others traveled from Libya to Turkey. Shortly thereafter, they traveled from Turkey to Syria.

Fluke-Ekren’s second husband ascended through the ranks of ISIS and ultimately became the “emir” (leader) of ISIS snipers in Syria.

In or around mid-2014, Fluke-Ekren and others were smuggled back into Syria. While residing in Syria, Fluke-Ekren told a witness about her desire to conduct an attack in the United States. To conduct the attack, Fluke-Ekren explained that she could go to a shopping mall in the United States, park a vehicle full of explosives in the basement or parking garage level of the structure,and detonate the explosives in the vehicle with a cell phone triggering device. Fluke-Ekren also spoke about learning how to make bombs and explosives. Fluke-Ekren further said that she considered any attack that did not kill a large number of individuals to be a waste of resources. Fluke-Ekren would hear about external attacks taking place in countries outside the United States and would comment that she wished the attack had occurred on United States soil instead.

In 2014, ISIS officials sent a female member of ISIS, who traveled from Central America, to Ablah, Syria, where she resided in an adjoining residence to Fluke-Ekren for approximately 18 days. This witness visited Fluke-Ekren at her residence in Syria on multiple occasions. During those visits, Fluke-Ekren discussed ideas for an attack involving the use of explosives on the campus of a U.S.-based college in the Midwest.

In or around 2015, Fluke-Ekren, her second husband and others moved from Syria to Mosul, Iraq, where they temporarily resided inside an ISIS-controlled compound within the University of Mosul.

In or around mid-2016, Fluke-Ekren led and organized an effort to establish a Women’s Center in Raqqa, Syria. Fluke-Ekren obtained authorization from the “Wali,” the ISIS-appointed mayor of Raqqa, in order to establish the Center. There, Fluke-Ekren and others provided medical services, educational services about the Islamic State, childcare and various training to women and young girls. As the Center’s leader, Fluke-Ekren also provided and assisted other female ISIS members in providing training to numerous women and young girls on the use of automatic firing AK-47 assault rifles, grenades and explosive suicide belts.

In or around late 2016, the ISIS “Wali” of Raqqa approved the creation of the “Khatiba Nusaybah” – a military battalion to be comprised solely of female ISIS members. The Khatiba Nusaybah began operations on behalf of the terrorist organization in or around February 2017. Fluke-Ekren’s main objective as the leader and organizer of the Khatiba Nusaybah battalion was to teach female ISIS members how to defend themselves against ISIS’s enemies, including helping male fighters defend ISIS-controlled Raqqa. Fluke-Ekren sought to motivate her trainees by explaining how female fighters can ensure the Islamic State is kept alive by “helping ISIS expand and to remain” through the use of weapons, including automatic firing AK-47 assault rifles, grenades and suicide belts packed with explosives. In addition, witnesses with first-hand knowledge stated that the Khatiba Nusaybah also provided certain members with instruction on physical training ­including martial arts, medical training, VBIED driving courses, ISIS religious classes and how to pack and prep a “go bag” with rifles and other military supplies.

Fluke-Ekren informed (this same) witness that it was important to kill the “kuffar” (disbelievers) and die as martyrs on behalf of ISIS in Syria. Fluke-Ekren was located outside the United States since on or about Jan. 8, 2011, until she was transferred in custody to the Eastern District of Virginia on Jan. 28, 2022.

Further information from USA Today

Prosecutors had argued the 20-year maximum sentence wouldn’t be sufficient for her crimes. Beyond the prison term, U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema sentenced Fluke-Ekren to 25 years of probation.

Her lawyers had urged Brinkema to order an unspecified shorter sentence because of the trauma and loss she experienced. Three of her husbands and two children died overseas.

Counterterrorism experts said she represented an unusual case of a woman commanding power in the traditionally male-dominated culture of Islamic jihad. Her father and grandfather were U.S. military veterans. Her grandfather served in the Navy during World War II, and her father served in the Army in Vietnam, prosecutors noted.