ISIS Recruiter Sentenced in US Court to Life in Prison

Signage is seen at the United States Department of Justice headquarters in Washington, D.C., US, August 29, 2020. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly
Signage is seen at the United States Department of Justice headquarters in Washington, D.C., US, August 29, 2020. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly
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ISIS Recruiter Sentenced in US Court to Life in Prison

Signage is seen at the United States Department of Justice headquarters in Washington, D.C., US, August 29, 2020. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly
Signage is seen at the United States Department of Justice headquarters in Washington, D.C., US, August 29, 2020. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly

A Kosovo-born New York resident who helped supply "thousands" of recruits to ISIS was sentenced to life in prison for helping the extremist group, the Justice Department announced.

Mirsad Kandic, 40, was a high-ranking member of the militant group between 2013 and 2017, when it controlled large swaths of Iraq and Syria, the Justice Department said.

In 2013, he left his home in New York and traveled to Syria, where he joined ISIS, becoming a fighter in Haritan, outside Aleppo.

After that time, he was directed to move to Türkiye to help smuggle foreign fighters and weapons for the group into Syria, it said.

He was also an emir for ISIS media, the department said Friday, disseminating the group's propaganda and recruitment messages online, including via more than 120 Twitter accounts.

As recruiter, "he sent thousands of radicalized ISIS volunteer fighters from Western countries into ISIS-controlled territories in Syria and elsewhere in the Middle East," the Justice Department said.

One recruited volunteer was a fellow New Yorker, Ruslan Asainov, who became a sniper for the ISIS and was convicted in February of providing material support to a designated terror group, Agence France Presse reported.

Another was Australian teen Jake Bilardi, who was lured into ISIS in 2014 before killing himself and more than 30 Iraqi soldiers in a March 2015 suicide bomb attack.

By early 2017, Kandic was hiding in Bosnia under a pseudonym. He was arrested in July 2017 in Sarajevo and extradited to the United States three months later.

He was convicted in a jury trial in May 2022 of conspiracy along with five counts of providing support to ISIS.



US Working to Evacuate Citizens from Israel, Ambassador Says

A drone photo shows the damage over residential homes at the impact site following missile attack from Iran on Israel, in Tel Aviv, Israel June 16, 2025. (Reuters)
A drone photo shows the damage over residential homes at the impact site following missile attack from Iran on Israel, in Tel Aviv, Israel June 16, 2025. (Reuters)
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US Working to Evacuate Citizens from Israel, Ambassador Says

A drone photo shows the damage over residential homes at the impact site following missile attack from Iran on Israel, in Tel Aviv, Israel June 16, 2025. (Reuters)
A drone photo shows the damage over residential homes at the impact site following missile attack from Iran on Israel, in Tel Aviv, Israel June 16, 2025. (Reuters)

The United States is working to evacuate US citizens wishing to leave Israel by arranging flights and cruise ship departures, US ambassador Mike Huckabee said in a post on X on Wednesday, as fears mount of further military escalation between Iran and Israel. 

The US embassy in Jerusalem was working on the evacuation arrangements, Huckabee said, urging Americans in the country to sign up for updates through the State Department's Smart Traveler program. 

"Urgent notice! American citizens wanting to leave Israel- US Embassy in Israel @usembassyjlm is working on evacuation flights & cruise ship departures. You must enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP)," Huckabee wrote. 

The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It was unclear how many Americans were seeking to depart Israel or whether the US military would assist with the evacuation flights.  

US President Donald Trump has veered from proposing a swift diplomatic end to the five-day-old war between Iran and Israel to suggesting the United States might join it. 

Since Friday, Iran has fired around 400 missiles at Israel, of which 40 have pierced air defenses, killing 24 people, all of them civilians, according to Israeli authorities.