Palestinian American member of Islamic State surrenders, Iraqi general says

A Palestinian American member of Islamic State gave himself up to Iraqi Kurdish forces in the country's north Monday, an Iraqi Kurdish general said, a rare instance of a voluntary surrender of a militant fighting with the extremist group in Iraq.

The man had been "lurking near the peshmerga lines" since late Sunday night, according to Maj. Gen. Feisal Helkani of the Iraqi Kurdishpeshmerga forces, which are playing key role — along with the Iraqi military — in battling the extremist Islamic State group.

Helkani said his troops first tried to shoot the man, assuming he was a would-be suicide bomber.

"Then in the morning, he walked across and gave himself up," Helkani said, adding that the man is a Palestinian American who was fighting with Islamic State in Iraq. The surrender took place on the front lines near the town of Sinjar, which was retaken by Iraqi forces from Islamic State militants late last year.