Humzah Mashkoor, 18, of Westminster, Colorado, United States was arrested by Federal Bureau of Investigation agents at the Denver International Airport in Denver, Colorado at around 9:00 a.m. on December 18, 2023. He was taken into custody before he could board a flight for the first leg of an overseas trip.
Born in the U.S., Mashkoor is of Afghan descent. He lived in Afghanistan for a few years but returned to the U.S. after his family was forced to leave.
Mashkoor was traveling to the United Arab Emirates when he was arrested at the Denver International Airport. He intended to stay in the UAE until he continued on to either Afghanistan or Syria to serve as a fighter for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), a transnational Salafi jihadist group.
In September 2022, Mashkoor started communicating with FBI employees posing as ISIS supporters online.
On December 19, 2023, Mashkoor made his initial appearance in federal court. He was charged with attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization.
FBI’s field office in Denver is investigating the case. With the help of Jennifer Levy of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section, assistant U.S. attorney Laura Cramer-Babycz for the District of Colorado is prosecuting the case.
The United Nations designated the ISIS a terrorist organization. With 193 member states and two observer states, the intergovernmental organization is the world’s largest international organization.
On October 24, 1945, the U.S. and Syria became U.N. members. Afghanistan and the UAE joined the organization on November 19, 1946 and on December 9, 1971, respectively.
CONAN Daily 