Germany charges Syrian man with war crimes, membership to IS

BERLIN, Germany (Kurdistan 24) – German authorities on Wednesday said they had arrested a 29-year-old Syrian man accused of committing war crimes as a member of the Islamic State (IS) in Syria.

The German federal prosecutor’s office said 29-year-old Fares A.B., whose last name was withheld in line with privacy laws, is “accused of membership in a terrorist organization.”

The man was arrested in Baden-Wuerttemberg, located in southwestern Germany, on July 31 before appearing in court on Tuesday.

According to prosecutors, the Syrian man joined the Nusra Front extremist group in 2013 before joining IS a year later.

While a member of IS in Syria, the 29-year-old was tasked with monitoring a jail where he “allegedly abused three prisoners,” the Associated Press reported.

He also reportedly struck a pickup truck driver with his assault rifle at a traffic checkpoint, as well as executed an IS prisoner in 2014.

Last month, a German court convicted a Syrian refugee on terrorism charges after he was suspected of plotting an attack in Denmark.

The German court found the unnamed 21-year-old guilty “of collecting components to make bombs with the intent of carrying out attacks in Denmark.”

Court officials said the man became radicalized by IS propaganda and was handed a six-and-a-half-year prison sentence.

With violence on the rise in Europe, German security officials have consistently warned the country is under threat by international terrorist groups, including IS.

In December 2016, a Tunisian citizen launched an attack at a Berlin Christmas market, driving a truck into a crowd which killed 12 people and injured dozens more.

Editing by G.H. Renaud