Belgium: Female ISIS Members Return to Conflict Zones

A Syrian refugee boy plays in front of his family tent at the al-Zaatri refugee camp, in the Jordanian city of Mafraq, near the border with Syria (File photo: Reuters)
A Syrian refugee boy plays in front of his family tent at the al-Zaatri refugee camp, in the Jordanian city of Mafraq, near the border with Syria (File photo: Reuters)
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Belgium: Female ISIS Members Return to Conflict Zones

A Syrian refugee boy plays in front of his family tent at the al-Zaatri refugee camp, in the Jordanian city of Mafraq, near the border with Syria (File photo: Reuters)
A Syrian refugee boy plays in front of his family tent at the al-Zaatri refugee camp, in the Jordanian city of Mafraq, near the border with Syria (File photo: Reuters)

The Belgian Federal Prosecutor's Office has announced that a national of foreign origin declared that she will not be returning to Belgium from Syria, local media reported.

Siham, the woman in question, was sentenced in absentia to five years in prison and a fine of €8,000. The court also stripped her Belgian citizenship for membership of a terrorist organization.

She traveled to Syria in 2014 to join her husband, Soufiene, who arrived there in September 2013. The couple joined al-Nusra Front and she decided to stay even after her husband died in 2018.

The public prosecution indicated that Siham was influenced by extremist ideologies she found online before traveling.

She followed a student organization calling for the return to the so-called “roots of Islam” which included members such as Najim Laachraoui, one of the two suicide bombers who attacked Brussels Airport in March 2016.

The court also sentenced in absentia another woman, Saeeda, to five years in prison and revoked her Belgian citizenship.

Saeeda traveled in 2013 with her young son to join her husband, Rashid, where they became members of the Mujahideen Shura Council, and later ISIS.

Rashid was sentenced in absentia to eight years in prison in the case of the "Sharia Group in Belgium" in 2015, and her brother Ibrahim was sentenced to 10 years in prison after traveling to Syria.

Saeeda returned to Belgium at the end of 2014 to give birth to her second child, and in the summer of 2015 she traveled to Poland and Ukraine and from there joined ISIS.

Belgian media said that the international coalition fighting ISIS had found documents in Raqqa, including the marriage certificate of Saeeda to another man dating May 2017, which confirms the death of her first husband, Rashid.

Last December, the Brussels Criminal Court sentenced three female ISIS members to five years in prison. They are Nora, 26, Hafsa, 27, and 30-year-old Ilham.

The court also revoked the citizenship of all three and called for their immediate arrest for their involvement in the activities of a terrorist group.

Last November, The Brussels Federal Public Prosecutor Office announced that both Tatiana, 27, and Bushra, 26, and 6 children, voluntarily surrendered to the Turkish authorities after successfully escaping from the nearby Ein Issa camp.

They had previously been sentenced to five years in prison for joining a terrorist group.

The two left for Syria in 2013, and then returned to Belgium to give birth after their families pressured them.

Their husbands were killed in combat in 2014. Bushra and Tatiana returned to conflict zones, and each married another fighter.

According to Belgian media, Bushra and Tatiana have 6 children; 4 of them were born on Belgian soil, while the other two were born in Syria. DNA tests will be conducted to confirm if the children belong to the two women.



Russia Becomes First Country to Formally Recognize Taliban’s Latest Rule in Afghanistan

In this photo released by Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service on Oct. 4, 2024, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, right, and Acting Foreign Minister of Afghanistan's Taliban movement Amir Khan Muttaqi pose for a photo prior to their talks in Moscow, Russia. (Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service via AP, File)
In this photo released by Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service on Oct. 4, 2024, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, right, and Acting Foreign Minister of Afghanistan's Taliban movement Amir Khan Muttaqi pose for a photo prior to their talks in Moscow, Russia. (Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service via AP, File)
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Russia Becomes First Country to Formally Recognize Taliban’s Latest Rule in Afghanistan

In this photo released by Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service on Oct. 4, 2024, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, right, and Acting Foreign Minister of Afghanistan's Taliban movement Amir Khan Muttaqi pose for a photo prior to their talks in Moscow, Russia. (Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service via AP, File)
In this photo released by Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service on Oct. 4, 2024, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, right, and Acting Foreign Minister of Afghanistan's Taliban movement Amir Khan Muttaqi pose for a photo prior to their talks in Moscow, Russia. (Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service via AP, File)

Russia on Thursday became the first country to formally recognize the Taliban’s government in Afghanistan since it seized power in 2021, after Moscow removed the group from its list of outlawed organizations.

The Russian Foreign Ministry announced that it had received credentials from Afghanistan’s newly appointed Ambassador Gul Hassan Hassan. The official recognition of the Afghan government will foster “productive bilateral cooperation,” the ministry said in a statement.

Afghanistan’s Foreign Ministry called it a historic step, and quoted Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi as welcoming the decision as "a good example for other countries.”

The Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August 2021 following the withdrawal of US and NATO forces. Since then, they have sought international recognition while also enforcing their strict interpretation of religious law.

While no country had formally recognized the Taliban administration until now, the group had engaged in high-level talks with many nations and established some diplomatic ties with countries including China and the United Arab Emirates.

Still, the Taliban government has been relatively isolated on the world stage, largely over its restrictions on women.

Russian officials have recently been emphasizing the need to engage with the Taliban to help stabilize Afghanistan, and lifted a ban on the Taliban in April.

Russia’s ambassador to Afghanistan, Dmitry Zhirnov, said in remarks broadcast by state Channel One television that the decision to officially recognize the Taliban government was made by President Vladimir Putin on advice from Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Zhirnov said the decision proves Russia’s “sincere striving for the development of full-fledged relations with Afghanistan.”