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Top ISIS Commander Had U.S. Training

Abu Omar al-Shishani (left) is pictured in this screenshot from an ISIS video posted on the internet.
Abu Omar al-Shishani (left) is pictured in this screenshot from an ISIS video posted on the internet.

He’s known as Abu Omar al-Shishani and he leads the forces of the Islamic State in Syria, but he has roots in Georgia and its conflict against Russia. Fighting in that war, he and other Chechens received training from U.S. Special Forces.

So how did he end up fighting for the Sunni-led militant group? Mitchell Prothero of McClatchy has been writing about this and speaks with Here & Now’s Meghna Chakrabarti.

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