Abdullah Ramo Pazara was a

Bosnian-American Bosnian Americans are Americans whose ancestry can be traced to Bosnia and Herzegovina. The vast majority of Bosnian Americans immigrated to the United States during and after the Bosnian War which lasted from 1992–95. Nevertheless, many Bosnia ...

who was suspected of an association with the

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...

(ISIL). He was born a member of Bosnia's Muslim majority, near

Teslić Teslić ( sr-cyrl, Теслић) is a town and municipality located in Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in the central part of the Republika Srpska, on the banks of Usora River. As of 2013, the town has a pop ...

an area of Bosnia largely populated by

Bosnian Serbs The Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sr-Cyrl, Срби у Босни и Херцеговини, Srbi u Bosni i Hercegovini) are one of the three constitutive nations (state-forming nations) of the country, predominantly residing in the politi ...

. He was a youth during the brutal civil war that lead to Bosnia's independence from

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...

. ''

Atlantic magazine ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'' described how the

Vojska Republike Srpske The Army of Republika Srpska ( sr, Војска Републике Српске/Vojska Republike Srpske; ВРС/VRS), commonly referred to in English as the Bosnian Serb Army, was the military of Republika Srpska (RS), the self-proclaimed Serb ...

, a Serbian militia, called upon non-Serbs to swear a loyalty oath to it. They reported some Bosnian sources claimed Pazara was enlisted, as a child soldier, and fought with the Serbian VRS, against his own people. They described his upbringing as ''"shattering"'', and that he seemed to have failed to adapt to peacetime civilian life. Pazara was born in

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

, and became an American citizen. US intelligence officials describe him becoming radicalized, after he became an American citizen, and then traveled to Syria in July 2013, and volunteered to fight for ISIS. However, according to the ''

St Louis Post-Dispatch The ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' is a major regional newspaper based in St. Louis, Missouri, serving the St. Louis metropolitan area. It is the largest daily newspaper in the metropolitan area by circulation, surpassing the ''Belleville News-Dem ...

'', Pazara was not naturalized until 2013. They described how he may have died there, but not before rising to a command position, and leading six other American ISIS followers to transfer funds to ISIS.

Ramiz Zijad Hodzic Ramiz, Rameez or Rhomeez / ( ar, رامز ) is an Arabic masculine given name meaning "one who communicates well", "wise", "noble", or "intelligent".{{cite book, title=A Dictionary of Muslim Names, author= S. A. Rahman, publisher=Goodword Book ...

Sedina Unkic Hodzic ''Sedina'' is a genus of moths of the family Noctuidae. *''Sedina buettneri ''Sedina buettneri'', or Blair's wainscot, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Eduard von Hering in 1858. It is found in the Palea ...

Medy Salkicevic Medy is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: * Camille Médy (1902–1989), French cross-country skier * Medy Elito (born 1990), Zairian footballer * Medy van der Laan Medy Catharina van der Laan (born 14 Augu ...

Jasminka Ramic Jasminka Ramic (born 1973) is a joint citizen of Bosnia and the United States who pled guilty to supporting terrorism in an American court, in 2015. Ramic and five other Bosnian-Americans were charged in February 2015. American intelligence off ...

Armin Harcevic Armin (Armyn) is a given name or surname, and is: * An ancient Indo-European name: ** a German/Dutch given name, *** a modern form of the name Arminius (18/17 BC–AD 21), a German prince who defeated a Roman army in the Battle of the Teutoburg F ...

, and

Nihad Rosic Nihad may refer to: * Nihad Awad, American Executive Director * Nihad Haj Moustafa, Syrian footballer * Nihad Hasanović, Bosnian writer * Nihad Hrustanbegovic, Bosnian-Dutch composer * Ahmed Nihad, Pretender to the Ottoman throne * Nihad Đe ...

, the six individuals described as his conspirators, all faced terrorism charges on February 7, 2015. They too were all immigrants from Bosnia. In 2017 the six alleged co-conspirators who faced charges for helping to fund Pazara's activities in Syria filed a motion have their charges dropped, arguing he was a

lawful combatant Combatant is the legal status of an individual who has the right to engage in hostilities during an armed conflict. The legal definition of "combatant" is found at article 43(2) of Additional Protocol I (AP1) to the Geneva Conventions of 1949. I ...

, fighting against Syria's Bashar al-Assad government, while enlisted with militia groups that operated with the support of the US.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pazara, Abdullah Ramo Year of birth missing 2014 deaths Bosnia and Herzegovina emigrants to the United States Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant members