Prosecutors cite training certificate found on Halima Salman's husband's cellphone

State Department: 11 U.S. citizens repatriated from northeast Syria

Halima Salman returned to the United States as part of a Biden administration repatriation effort. A State Department press release from that time said the administration had repatriated 11 U.S. citizens from northeast Syria, including five minors. The Biden administration called it the largest single repatriation of U.S. citizens to date from northeastern Syria.

During Halima Salman’s federal trial, prosecutors presented a digital copy of a document certifying her completed training from ISIS in Syria. They said the document had been found on her husband’s cellphone after the device was recovered from a battlefield, and they pointed to the copy as proof.

The Justice Department said the same device also contained photographs of Salman with an ISIS flag in the background and a video of her with an AK-47.

The New York Times reported that Salman was believed to be the first American woman accused of joining ISIS to stand trial in a U.S. federal court. The report said she was arrested in May 2024 at New York City’s Kennedy Airport and later indicted on the single charge.

The Justice Department said a federal jury convicted the 27-year-old U.S. citizen by birth on Tuesday after a two-week trial on one count of receiving military-type training from a foreign terrorist organization and that Salman faces up to 10 years’ imprisonment at sentencing.

Federal prosecutors said 17-year-old Salman, also known as Umm Khattab al-Muhajir, left the United States with her parents and eight siblings in October 2016, with a final destination of ISIS-controlled Syria.

During the trial, prosecutors showed that after arriving in Syria, Salman married an ISIS fighter and, as an 18-year-old, voluntarily received and completed training from ISIS.

The United States designated the Islamic State’s predecessor, al-Qaida in Iraq, as a foreign terrorist organization in December 2004.

In a statement, U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. for the Eastern District of New York said, “With today’s verdict, Salman is held accountable for joining forces with a terrorist organization.”

Nocella also said, “ISIS ravaged Syria and caused havoc across the globe; our office will continue to prosecute those who supported its murderous reign.”