German prosecutors charge alleged member of Islamic State

Authorities say 32-year-old received weapons training, fought for the terror group and filmed the 2013 beating of a captured soldier

By AP 27 December 2017, 6:38 pm

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Illustrative: Police close the streets around a Christmas market after a suspicious object was found in Potsdam, Germany, on Dec. 1, 2017. (Julian Staehle/dpa via AP)

BERLIN— German prosecutors charged an alleged member of the Islamic State terror group who spent time in Syria with membership in a terrorist organization and committing a war crime on Wednesday.

Federal prosecutors said that the 32-year-old German citizen, identified only as Abdelkarim E. B. in line with local privacy rules, left Germany for Syria in 2013 and joined IS. They said he received weapons training and fought for the group.

Prosecutors added that, during fighting near Aleppo in November 2013, the man’s unit beat and kicked a captured fighter from an enemy militia and threatened him with torture. The suspect is also accused of filming the scene.

The man is already in custody in a separate case, which prosecutors gave no details of.