A U.S. teenager was arrested on terrorism-related charges Friday night after he attempted to board a plane at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport for Turkey, the FBI confirmed Saturday.
U.S. citizen Abdella Ahmad Tounisi, 18, is charged with one count of attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, the Associated Press reports.
Mr. Tounisi researched the foreign terrorist organization Jabhat al-Nusrah, or Nursa Front, which is a well-organized rebel faction fighting Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime, the complaint says. According to the FBI, he made contact over email last month with an FBI employee posing as a Nursa Front recruiter and expressed “his willingness to die for the cause,” the AP reports.
Mr. Tounisi faces a maximum 15-year prison term if convicted. The head of the FBI office in Chicago said the arrest has no links to the Boston Marathon bombings.
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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