BERLIN — Federal prosecutors charge a German woman with membership in two foreign terrorist groups, violating weapons law and committing her son as a fighter to a foreign terrorist group.
German federal prosecutors say that Stefanie A., whose last name is withheld in line with privacy rules, left Germany in 2016 with her son, who was 13 at the time, in order to live with her husband in Syrian territory that was then under the control of the Islamic State group.
She first joined the terrorist organization Jund al-Aqsa and later Islamic State, or IS. She is accused of willingly making her son available to the Jund al-Aqsa and to the IS as a fighter.
Shortly after her arrival in Raqqa in Syria in 2017, the defendant joined the IS, initially living with her husband in Raqqa and managing his household. The couple, who were financially provided for by the IS, made their son available to the group. He completed military training and was called up for combat operations. At 15, he was killed in a bomb attack in March 2018, the prosecutor’s statement said.
A. herself was equipped with an explosive belt and carried a rifle during her membership in IS. She and her husband remained loyal to the Islamic State until the end of the group’s reign, and surrendered to Kurdish troops in February 2019. She was arrested upon her arrival in Germany in March.
It's not (only) about you.
Supporting The Times of Israel isn’t a transaction for an online service, like subscribing to Netflix. The ToI Community is for people like you who care about a common good: ensuring that balanced, responsible coverage of Israel continues to be available to millions across the world, for free.
Sure, we'll remove all ads from your page and you'll unlock access to some excellent Community-only content. But your support gives you something more profound than that: the pride of joining something that really matters.
Join the Times of Israel Community
Join our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this