WASHINGTON: A man linked to the Sept 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, who was said to have praised “violent jihad,” was captured in Syria by US-backed forces more than a month ago, the Pentagon said on Thursday.

“We can confirm that Mohammad Haydar Zammar, a Syrian-born German national, was captured more than a month ago by SDF (Syrian Democratic Forces) partners as part of their ongoing operations to defeat ISIS inside Syria,” Pentagon spokesman Eric Pahon said, using an acronym for the militant Islamic State group.

The Syrian Democratic Forces are an alliance of militias in northern and eastern Syria.

“We are working with our SDF partners to obtain additional details,” Pahon said.

The 9/11 Commission report, a Congressional account on the 2001 attacks, said Zammar was an “outspoken, flamboyant Islamist” who extolled “the virtues of violent jihad.”

US officials have said that there are hundreds of foreign fighters and thousands of Syrian IS militants in SDF custody.

Published in Dawn, April 21st, 2018