Houstonian Sentenced to Prison for Supporting Terrorism

Houston, TX - In a recent development, a 23-year-old U.S. citizen from Houston has been sentenced to federal prison for attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), a designated foreign terrorist organization. The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani and Assistant Attorney General for National Security Matthew G. Olsen.

Kaan Sercan Damlarkaya was found guilty of attempting to join and support ISIS from August 2017 until his arrest in December 2017. He pleaded guilty on July 8, 2019.

U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen has ordered Damlarkaya to serve 165 months in federal prison, followed by a lifetime of supervised release.

According to Hamdani, "Damlarkaya wanted to kill in the name of ISIS. He slept with a machete by his bed, ready to use on law enforcement, provided instructions on how to make a bomb to ISIS supporters, and prepared to travel overseas and become a martyr for our enemies. Today's sentence ensures that Damlarkaya will spend many years away from machetes and explosives, making everyone in the Southern District of Texas a lot safer."

In addition to his desire to join ISIS, Damlarkaya also shared information with ISIS supporters on the use of machetes, homemade construction of automatic weapons, and the manufacturing and usage of explosive materials.

James Smith, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Houston Field Office, stated, "Preventing a terrorist attack remains the FBI's number one priority, but the threat of terrorism has morphed significantly from the sophisticated, externally directed plot to the individual, inspired attack. Fortunately, Damlarkaya was stopped before he was able to carry out his terrorism plan. Our Joint Terrorism Task Force will continue to gather and share information 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year to protect our communities."

Damlarkaya had engaged in numerous online conversations with individuals he believed to be fellow ISIS supporters, expressing his intentions to travel overseas to fight for ISIS in Syria or Afghanistan. He also discussed conducting attacks on non-Muslims in the United States if he failed to join the group overseas.

He provided information on bomb-making techniques, specifically describing the process of making explosives using triacetone triperoxide, while emphasizing the importance of safety precautions. Additionally, Damlarkaya shared instructions on constructing automatic weapons, stating that a $15 machete could serve as an affordable alternative for those who couldn't obtain firearms or explosives.

Upon Damlarkaya's arrest, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at his residence and discovered a machete next to his bed.

Damlarkaya will remain in custody until his transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility, which will be determined in the near future.

The investigation was conducted by the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Rob Jones leading the prosecution, assisted by DOJ Trial Attorneys Kevin Nunnally and Gregory Gonzalez from the National Security Division's Counterterrorism Section.

Army Engineers Improve Iraqi City's Public Works

By A. Al Bharani
Special to American Forces Press Service

Jan. 15, 2008 - Army engineers are conducting a public works upgrade here, repairing streets and completing unfinished sewer work. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers started work on a Basra pavement and sewer project in November, said Ferdinand Guese, project engineer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Gulf Region South District.

The new project aims to complete the paving of various streets in Maqil, a neighborhood in the northern part of the city, Guese said. It also entails completing work on an unfinished sewer construction project, finishing the repair of 20 linear meters of 2-foot-high masonry fence, and repairing a section of drainage pipe that was damaged during construction of the Basra sewers in 2006.

Alaa, a project engineer with Gulf Region South's Basra Area Office, said the Maqil road repair project will entail putting a 5-centimeter overlay over the existing 10-centimeter pavement on the roads.

"The contractor supplies all the equipment, labor and materials necessary to pave 10,700 linear meters of street with asphalt in Al-Maqil neighborhood," he said.

Guese said the $1.7 million project will directly and indirectly provide jobs to more than 75 Iraqis in the city.

"Al-Maqil district ... is in close proximity to many Iraqi security forces facilities that include the Shat Al-Arab Hotel, an important Iraqi army facility in Basra city, Basra prison, and various police stations," Guese said

"After the turnover of security control of Basra province from the British to the Iraqi army in December, Al-Maqil and its surrounding Iraqi security forces facilities gained increased prominence in maintaining control of the area," he said.

The road rehabilitation in the area is seen as a very positive thing and has the full support of the local population, he added.

"I'm very happy to see the construction work on these streets which have been neglected more than 20 years," an Iraqi citizen who lives in Al-Maqil neighborhood said. "The residents here highly appreciate the improvements that have taken place in their neighborhood."

(A. Al Bahrani is a public affairs specialist with the Gulf Region South District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Iraq.)