Germany charges woman over IS ties, suicide belt

BERLIN – Prosecutors say they have filed charges against a German woman accused of belonging to the Islamic State group and attempting to sell a suicide belt online.

Federal prosecutors said Wednesday that 26-year-old Derya O., whose last name was not given for privacy reasons, left Germany in February 2014 for Syria, where she married an Islamic State fighter.

They said in a statement that she lived in IS-held territory, living free of charge in buildings where residents had fled. She is accused of receiving training on using automatic weapons and owning a suicide belt, which she tried to sell via an online messenger service.

Prosecutors said the woman was arrested in November 2018. She is charged with membership in a foreign terrorist organization and violating arms control laws.