Wife of alleged IS fighter arrested in NSW for travelling to Syria with husband in 2014

The 31-year-old woman returned to Australia from Syria's Al-Roj camp in October last year.

People walk through a camp with lots of tents.

Al Roj is one of two Kurdish-run camps where relatives of IS fighters are held in Syria. Source: Getty / Delil Souleiman

A woman from NSW has been arrested for entering and remaining in Syria during the time that the self-proclaimed Islamic State controlled most of the country, police said.

The 31-year-old woman allegedly travelled to Syria in early 2014 to accompany her husband who left Australia to join and fight with IS a year earlier.

Police say the woman was aware of her husband's activity in Syria and willingly travelled to be with him. It's believed by police that her husband died in Syria in 2018.

The woman was living in the Kurdish-controlled Al-Roj detention camp, in Syria's northeast, until she returned to Australia in October last year.

Australian Federal Police and the NSW Police counter-terrorism team arrested the woman after executing search warrants in Parklea and Young, where she currently lives in the state's southwest, on Thursday morning.

“We have zero tolerance for Australians – or anyone – who seek to commit acts of violence or extremism, and those considering doing the wrong thing will come under our notice,” NSW Police Counter Terrorism Assistant Commissioner Walton said.

The woman has been charged with entering, or remaining in, declared areas - an offence that carries a maximum 10-year prison sentence.

The woman faces court in Wagga Wagga Local Court later on Thursday.

This is a developing story and this article will be updated.

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Published 5 January 2023 1:25pm
By Rayane Tamer
Source: SBS News



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