US Soldier Tried to Assist Jihadists Strike American Troops

A US soldier tried to supply info to the Islamic State group to assist it assault American troops within the Center East, the Justice Division mentioned Wednesday.

However 22-year-old Cole Bridges was truly speaking with an FBI worker posing as a supporter of the violent extremist group, which as soon as held swathes of Iraq and Syria earlier than dropping the territory it seized to native forces backed by a US-led worldwide coalition.

Bridges on Wednesday “pleaded responsible to trying to supply materials assist to a delegated overseas terrorist group and trying to homicide US navy service members,” the Justice Division mentioned in an announcement.

The division mentioned the personal firstclass — who joined the US Military in 2019 — went from consuming on-line jihadist propaganda to attempting to supply info to help IS.

Bridges started speaking with the FBI worker in October 2020 and “offered coaching and steerage to purported (IS) fighters who have been planning assaults, together with recommendation about potential targets in New York Metropolis.”

He later advised the alleged IS supporter how the jihadists may greatest assault American forces within the Center East, diagramming maneuvers for them to “maximize the lethality of assaults” and giving recommendation on how you can fortify an encampment towards a particular forces assault.

He then despatched a video to the FBI worker of himself in physique armor standing in entrance of a flag utilized by IS fighters, and adopted it with a second clip wherein he “narrated a propaganda speech in assist of the anticipated ambush by (IS) on US troops,” the Justice Division mentioned.

After the jihadists misplaced their final scraps of territory to native Kurdish-led forces in 2019, IS remnants in Syria largely retreated into desert hideouts within the nation’s east, and are periodically focused by US raids and strikes.

Bridges will probably be sentenced on November 2, with the 2 expenses he pleaded responsible to every carrying a most of 20 years in jail.