Kurdish forces capture American in IS-held north Iraq

An American citizen, who is reportedly an Islamic State (IS) fighter, has been captured by Kurdish security forces after leaving Islamic State-held territory in northern Iraq, the Kurdistan Regional Government's security council announced on Monday.

According to CNN, the man, who reportedly has an American passport, was captured near Sinjar and handed over to Kurdish authorities in the region.

Major General Feisal Helkani of the Peshmerga forces identified the individual as a Palestinian-American named Mohammed Jamal Amin.

He added that he was carrying a large amount of cash, three cell phones and a United States driving license.

The Kurdish news site BasNews said that he was a Virginia-born American citizen of a Palestinian father and Iraqi mother from Mosul. 

A Peshmerga fighter posted a video on Twitter purporting to show the man shortly after his capture:

A US State Department spokesperson told Middle East Eye that they were "aware of reports that a US citizen that was allegedly fighting for Daesh has been captured by Peshmerga forces in northern Iraq. 

"We are in touch with Iraqi and Kurdish authorities to determine the veracity of these reports. We have no further information to share at this time.”