Mississippi Man Pleads Guilty to Trying to Assist Daesh

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — A 23-year-old Mississippi man has pleaded guilty to trying to support Daesh terrorist group with a co-conspirer and is now awaiting sentencing, the US Department of Justice announced in a statement on Friday.

"Muhammad Oda Dakhlalla, 23, of Starkville, Mississippi, pleaded guilty today in US District Court in Greenville, Mississippi, to conspiring to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization," the statement read.

The Justice Department said Dakhlalla was placed in the custody of the US Marshals Service, and his sentencing would be set for a later date.

In February, US National Intelligence Director James Clapper estimated that more than 36,000 foreign fighters have travelled to join Daesh in Syria and Iraq from 120 countries since 2012. Of those, about 6,600 Islamic volunteers came from western countries.

The Islamic State, also known as Daesh, is a designated terrorist group that has captured large areas of land in Syria and Iraq, where it proclaimed a caliphate. The terror group is outlawed in the United States, Russia and in many other countries.