American woman who led Islamic State battalion in Syria sentenced to 20 years

Allison Fluke-Ekren's children told the court that their mother had a lust for control and power' and deserved the maximum sentence

A Kansas woman who led an all-female Islamic State battalion when she lived in Syria has been sentenced to 20 years in prison - the maximum possible sentence - after her own children denounced her in court and detailed the horrific circumstances and abuse she heaped on them.

Allison Fluke-Ekren, 42, admitted that she led the Khatiba Nusaybah, a battalion in which roughly 100 women and girls - some as young as 10 years old - learned how to use automatic weapons and detonate grenades and suicide belts.