Image posted on a militant website shows fighters from the Islamic State marching in Raqqa, Syria, in 2014.(Photo: AP)
WASHINGTON — A Texas man has been charged by federal authorities in a alleged conspiracy to aid the Islamic State terror group by assisting a friend's travel to Syria and unsuccessfully attempting the same journey himself to join the group's ranks.
Asher Abid Khan, 20, of Spring, Texas, was arrested Tuesday after making it as far as Istanbul, a well-traveled staging area for foreign fighters seeking entry to Syria.
According to federal prosecutors, he was duped into returning to Texas when his family sent the suspect false information about his mother's health.
Khan is expected to make an initial court appearance in the Houston area Tuesday.
The suspect and a friend allegedly planned their travel to Syria through Turkey to join the fight on behalf of the Islamic State or ISIL, federal prosecutors allege.
"I wanna join (ISIL), can you help?" Khan allegedly asked a Turkish-based ISIL contact.
Khan's associate was able to enter Syria with the assistance of Khan and the ISIL contact.
The FBI learned of Khan and the alleged interest in ISIL in October 2014, after agents searched his friend's Facebook account. The friend, identified in court papers as S.R.G., allegedly posted pictures of himself with military-style weapons.
Tracking Khan's earlier communications with S.R.G, dating to January 2014, federal investigators learned of the Turkish-based contact, described in court papers as a 24-year-old co-conspirator.
The messages, which later included detailed exchanges with the Turkish contact, "show how Khan confided in others about his plans,'' federal prosecutors allege.
On Jan. 13, 2014, according to court papers, Khan allegedly messaged the Turkish contact, explaining his support for ISIL. He said he had recently moved to Australia because he was unhappy living in the west. He expressed his "sadness'' that he was living "comfortably while brothers are in so much hardship.''
"All I know is that I want to fight (for the sake of Allah),'' Khan allegedly messaged to a another contact. "I don't want to fight for war booty or for nationalism. I want to just rise the laws of Allah and be (a martyr) in his cause.''
If convicted, Khan faces a maximum 15 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.
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