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3 men with Philly ties accused of trying to join ISIS

The Brooklyn men, one of whom operated kiosks in a Philly-area mall, allegedly supported the terrorist group.

In artist’s rendering, Akhror Saidakhmetov (left) and Abdurasul Hasanovich Juraboev (right) appear in New York federal court. (JANE ROSENBERG / ASSOCIATED PRESS)
In artist’s rendering, Akhror Saidakhmetov (left) and Abdurasul Hasanovich Juraboev (right) appear in New York federal court. (JANE ROSENBERG / ASSOCIATED PRESS)Read moreAP
    by BY VINNY VELLA, Daily News Staff Writer <a href="mailto:vellav@phillynews.com">vellav@phillynews.com</a>, 215-854-2513
    Published 

TERRORISTS WORKING with ISIS operate on foreign soils, far away from the City of Brotherly Love.

Right?

Apparently wrong, according to information released yesterday by the Department of Justice.

Three Brooklyn men with ties to Philly were arrested Wednesday and charged with attempt and conspiracy to provide material support for ISIS, officials said.

Abdurasul Hasanovich Juraboev, 24, Akhror Saidakhmetov, 19, and Abror Habibov, 30, had been under federal surveillance since August, when Juraboev allegedly posted messages in support of ISIS on the website hilofatnews.com. Investigators learned that the men wished to travel to Syria by way of Turkey to join the terrorist forces.

Juraboev, in those postings, also threatened to kill President Obama to become a "martyr" while living in America, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court in New York.

The suspects' quest to become terrorists allegedly was funded by Habibov, who operated kitchenware and mobile-phone-repair kiosks in unidentified malls in Philly; Dover, Del.; Georgia and Virginia, among other places, the complaint says.

Employed at those locations was Saidakhmetov, who also allegedly expressed a desire to join ISIS.

Later in the investigation, during a conversation with a confidential informant, Saidakhmetov allegedly said that if he were unable to obtain documents necessary to travel abroad, he would "buy a machine gun, AK-47, go out and shoot all police," according to the complaint.

Earlier this month, Saidakhmetov received documentation to travel to Turkey, allegedly causing him to tell the informant that "his soul was already on its way to paradise" and causing him to make "the sound of a horn," according to the informant.

Habibov allegedly bought the teen his plane ticket, and the would-be terrorist was arrested as he tried to board the flight in New York.

Juraboev was arrested at the Brooklyn apartment he shared with Saidakhmetov, and Habibov was arrested by federal agents in Jacksonville, Fla.

If convicted, all three men face up to 15 years in prison.