ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The family of a Kansas woman charged with joining the Islamic State group and leading an all-female battalion has told prosecutors they want nothing to do with her.
Allison Ekren made an initial appearance Monday in federal court in Alexandria. She was ordered to remain jailed pending a detention hearing set for Thursday. An attorney was appointed to represent her. Prosecutors say Ekren became leader of an all-female Islamic State unit in Syria in 2016 that trained in the use of AK-47 rifles, grenades and suicide belts.
She grew up in Kansas but left the U.S. more than a decade ago.
