WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An
American fighting for Islamic State was taken into custody in northern
Iraq after emerging from territory controlled by the militant group in
Syria, media reports said on Monday.
CBS News, citing two sources with the Kurdish peshmerga
military force, said the American fighter was trying to return to
Turkey. He was identified as Muhammad Jamal Amin, 27, of Virginia, it
said, citing Kurdish news organizations.
The State Department said it was aware of the reports that
a U.S. citizen allegedly fighting for Islamic State was captured by
Kurdish peshmerga forces in northern Iraq.
"We are in touch with Iraqi and Kurdish authorities to determine the veracity of these reports," a State Department official in Washington said on customary condition of anonymity.
CNN, which also reported the incident, said the fighter
was captured near Sinjar and handed over to Kurdish authorities in the
region.
Peshmerga forces initially fired warning shots when they saw the man on
concerns he was a suicide bomber, but he identified himself as a former
member of Islamic State who wanted to turn himself in, according to CBS.
Amin, whose father
is from Palestine and mother from Iraq, had fought with the militants
for a couple of months, it said, citing Kurdish reports.
(Reporting by Doina Chiacu and Susan Heavey; Editing by Bernadette Baum)