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Three American Teens, Recruited Online, Caught Trying to Join the Islamic State
(Washington Post) Kevin Sullivan - While his parents slept, Mohammed Hamzah Khan, 19, gathered three newly issued U.S. passports and $2,600 worth of airline tickets to Turkey that he had gotten for himself, his 16-year-old brother and their 17-year-old sister, all U.S.-born children of Indian immigrants, and together they went to O'Hare International Airport in Chicago. Their plan was to fly to Istanbul, then drive into Syria to live in the Islamic caliphate, part of a growing number of young Americans who are attempting to join the Islamic State. This year officials have detained at least 15 U.S. citizens - nine of them female - who were trying to travel to Syria to join the militants. Almost all of them were Muslims, and almost all were arrested at airports waiting to board flights. Authorities are closely monitoring Twitter, Facebook and other social media networks, where recruiters from the Islamic State aggressively target youths.