FBI Confirms ‘Active Investigations’ Into ISIL Supporters in Arizona

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) confirmed that there are active investigations in Arizona focused on ISIL supporters and associated home grown violent extremists.

 

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) probes violent extremists and Islamic State (ISIL) supporters operating in the state of Arizona, FBI Phoenix Division Special Agent Perryn Collier told Sputnik on Wednesday.

“Although we will not confirm an exact number of current or past investigations, we can confirm that there are active investigations in Arizona focused on ISIS [ISIL] supporters and associated home grown violent extremists,” Collier said.

Collier explained that the FBI is actively engaged in protecting the United States from terrorist attacks in conjunction with representatives of the Joint Terrorism Task Force, which is a partnership between various US law enforcement agencies.

“Discussing the number and nature of current investigations within the state of Arizona would adversely jeopardize ongoing efforts to detect, deter and prevent terrorist acts,” Collier added.

At present, the United States has world fourth largest number of ISIL supporters on the social media, according to the US think tank the Brookings Institution. A larger number of people support the terrorist group only in Saudi Arabia, Syria and Iraq.

The ISIL militant group controls large parts of Iraq and Syria, and is notorious for publishing numerous videos of IS committing atrocities, including beheadings of foreign hostages. The group's positions have been targeted by US-led coalition airstrikes since August 2014.