US soldier pleads guilty to attempting to help IS

A US army soldier has pleaded guilty to attempting to help the Islamic State (IS) group attack and murder US service members in the Middle East.

The justice department also said he pleaded guilty to attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization.

Cole Bridges, known as Cole Gonzales, shared information with an undercover federal agent, the department said.

He could face up to 40 years in prison.

Mr Bridges joined the US Army around September 2019 and was based in Fort Stewart, Georgia.

He soon began "researching and consuming online propaganda promoting jihadists and their violent ideology," according to a US Attorney's Office statement.

But Mr Bridges began corresponding with a Federal Bureau of Investigation employee in October 2020 who was posing as an IS supporter in contact with members in the Middle East.

Mr Bridges shared his frustrations with the US military and noted his desire to aid IS - also referred to as ISIS - to the undercover FBI agent.

The statement said he began providing "training and guidance to purported ISIS fighters who were planning attacks, including advice about potential targets in New York City".

He is also said to have sent the undercover agent "portions of a US Army training manual and guidance about military combat tactics".

By December 2020, Mr Bridges started providing instructions for IS fighters on how to attack US service members in the Middle East, and even shared a diagram of specific military manoeuvres to maximize US troops deaths.

He provided a video of himself in US Army body armour standing in front of an IS flag and gestured support for the group.

A week later he sent another video, using a voice manipulator, narrating a propaganda speech in support of the anticipated IS ambush of US troops.

"As he admitted in court today, Cole Bridges attempted to orchestrate a murderous ambush on his fellow soldiers in service of ISIS and its violent ideology," said Damian Williams, US Attorney of the Southern District of New York. "Bridges's traitorous conduct was a betrayal of his comrades and his country."

He will be sentenced on 2 November.