A northern Virginia man who joined and trained alongside Islamic State fighters in Syria was indicted on terrorism charges in the U.S. on Wednesday, according to a Justice Department press release issued Thursday.
Mohamad Jamal Khweis of Alexandria, Va., was charged in June with providing and conspiring to provide material support to the terrorist group.
Khweis told his family he was going on vacation this year. But the 26-year-old man traveled to Turkey, where he met up with a woman who had connections to the Islamic State and was able to get him across the country’s southeastern border and into Syria, where the terrorist group has a stronghold.
He told federal officials that he had stayed at a safe house during his time in Syria as he went through a month-long religious training. He also said he had planned to be a suicide bomber.
In March, Khweis self-defected from the Islamic State after becoming disenchanted with the training camps’ leaders. He surrendered to Kurdish Peshmerga forces near Sinjar, Iraq.
The suspect was born in the U.S. to Palestinian immigrants.
