French woman who allegedly committed war crimes after joining IS is arrested in Germany

Women shop in the marketplace at al-Hol camp, home to families of Islamic State fighters, in Hasakeh province, Syria, on March 31, 2019
Women shop in the marketplace at al-Hol camp, home to families of Islamic State fighters, in Hasakeh province, Syria, on March 31, 2019 Copyright Maya Alleruzzo/AP
Copyright Maya Alleruzzo/AP
By Katy Dartford with AP
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According to Germany's federal prosecutor, the woman, who was only identified as Samra N. was arrested Tuesday in the western city of Trier.

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German authorities have arrested a French woman who allegedly committed war crimes in Syria after joining the Islamic State extremist group.

The woman is suspected of having participated as a member of two foreign terrorist organisations as a teenager, the prosecutor's statement said.

She allegedly travelled to Syria in September 2013, where she first joined Jabhat al-Nusra and married one of the group's fighters according to Islamic rites. 

In November 2013, the couple joined the Islamic State extremist group.

While in Syria, N. allegedly tried to persuade people living in Germany to go to Syria to become a member of Jabhat al-Nusra. 

She also temporarily took in a woman who had been persuaded to leave the country this way.

The suspect ran the household for her husband and helped him procure military equipment for IS, according to the charges.

On two occasions, when her husband was away on combat missions, she stayed in women’s houses that IS had occupied after driving out the original residents.

Germany considers this a “war crime against property.”

N. returned to Germany at the beginning of 2014, but remained a member of IS until at least February 2015, prosecutors said. 

It was not immediately clear why she went to Germany as a French citizen.

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