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Isis document leak reportedly reveals identities of 22,000 recruits

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More than a dozen Britons and a handful of Americans are among Islamic State fighters reportedly named in a cache of 22,000 documents obtained by German intelligence.

Britons identified in the documents so far had previously been revealed to the public and are dead, killed in US-led strikes, or their whereabouts unknown. Sixteen Britons are thought to be on the list, among them Junaid Hussain and Reyaad Khan.

The documents, thought to be from a border crossing into Syria, are questionnaires of each would-be recruit. There are 23 questions, including names, date and place of birth, hometown, telephone number, education and blood type.

Germany’s interior minister, Thomas de Maizière, confirmed the documents were real and they would facilitate “speedier, clearer investigations and stricter prison sentences” for those returning from Syria and Iraq. De Maizière said the materials help clarify “the underlying structures of this terrorist organisation”.

A spokesperson for the BKA, the German federal police, confirmed that the agency was in possession of the cache of documents, adding that experts determined their authenticity. German officials did not specify how the agency had got the documents, nor how many names had been found within them.

German media reported that the questionnaire asked would-be Isis recruits about any previous experience they had in jihad and whether they were prepared to be suicide bombers.

The existence of the documents was revealed by the Munich-based Süddeutsche Zeitung paper and German broadcasters WDR and NDR on Monday evening. Zaman al-Wasl, a pro-opposition Syrian news website, published examples of the questionnaires on Tuesday.

Sky News claimed on Tuesday that it too has obtained copies of what appeared to be the same documents, containing about 22,000 names. It said the they were passed on a memory stick stolen from Isis internal security police by a former Free Syrian Army convert who later became disillusioned with Isis.

The documents held by the German authorities seem to have been collected at the end of 2013. Even the lowest estimate of the numbers that crossed the border in that period indicates the sheer scale of volunteers to Isis. The documents will be useful to intelligence agencies in confirming names and details of people suspected of joining Isis. However, it was reported that there are names not previously known to the intelligence services.

Zaman al-Wasl reported that personal details of 1,736 fighters from 40 countries had been revealed – a quarter were Saudis and the rest predominantly Tunisian, Moroccan and Egyptian.

The documents, written in Arabic and stamped with logos used by Isis, allegedly contain details of 16 British fighters, four from the US and six from Canada, as well as recruits from France and Germany.

Intelligence agencies have estimated that about 700 Britons have joined Isis.

Isis document leak reportedly reveals identities of 22,000 recruits | World news | The Guardian
 
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Islamic State defector brings 'goldmine' of details on 22,000 supporters - SWI swissinfo.ch

LONDON (Reuters) - A disillusioned former member of Islamic State has passed a stolen memory stick of documents identifying 22,000 supporters in over 50 countries to a British journalist, a leak that could help the West target Islamist fighters planning attacks.

Leaks of such detailed information about Islamic State are rare and give Britain's spies a potential trove of data that could help unmask militants who have threatened more attacks like those that killed 130 people in Paris last November.

A man calling himself Abu Hamed, a former member of Islamic State who became disillusioned with its leaders, passed the files to Sky News on a memory stick he said he had stolen from the head of the group's internal security force.

On it were enrollment forms containing the names of Islamic State supporters and of their relatives, telephone numbers, and other details such as the subjects' areas of expertise and who had recommended them.

One of the files, marked "Martyrs", detailed a group of IS members who were willing and trained to carry out suicide attacks, Sky said.

Richard Barrett, a former head of global counter-terrorism at Britain's MI6 Secret Intelligence Service, said the cache was "a fantastic coup" in the fight against Islamic State.

"It will be an absolute goldmine of information of enormous significance and interest to very many people, particularly the security and intelligence services," Barrett told Sky News.

Sky said it had informed the British authorities about the documents which were passed to its correspondent, Stuart Ramsay, at an undisclosed location in Turkey.

Western security sources said that if genuine, the files could be gold dust as they could help identify potential attackers and the networks of sympathisers behind them, and give insight on the structure of the group.

Reuters was not able to independently verify the documents, given their provenance. A selection of them was published in Arabic.

Islamic State militants claimed responsibility for the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris and the Oct. 31 downing of a Russian passenger plane over Egypt's Sinai region that killed 224. They have promised more attacks on the West and Russia.

SUICIDE BOMBERS

Western leaders say Islamic State, which has proclaimed a caliphate in the parts of Syria and Iraq it controls, now poses a greater danger to the West than al Qaeda. It uses a militant interpretation of Islam to justify attacks on its foes and the use of extreme violence, including rape and beheadings, against those it sees as infidels.

The defector, a former Free Syrian Army fighter who switched to Islamic State, said the group had been taken over by former soldiers from the Iraqi Baath party of Saddam Hussein, who was ousted in 2003 after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

Some of the defector's Arabic documents, posted on the Zaman Al Wasl Syrian news website, were forms issued by "Islamic State in Iraq and Sham, the General Directorate of Borders" and displayed personal details of each fighter, according to a review of some of the documents by Reuters.

The forms included answers to 23 questions such as assumed name, birthplace, education level, extent of Sharia learning and previous jobs, as well as details about the individuals' journey to Islamic State and whether they were potential suicide bombers or more traditional fighters.

When asked for his view of the documents, Raffaello Pantucci, director of international security studies at London's Royal United Services Institute, said in an emailed response: "It seems a bit dated."

"Very interesting though and a real gift for researchers into understanding the group more," he added. "The key for me in many ways is how this highlights the bureaucracy of the organisation once again - kinda like al Qaeda in fact."
 
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Zaman al-Wasl reported that personal details of 1,736 fighters from 40 countries had been revealed – a quarter were Saudis and the rest predominantly Tunisian, Moroccan and Egyptian.
 
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  • ISIS recruited Jihadists from over 40 countries worldwide including Iran and Russia.
  • 72% of them are Arabs, 1.7% are Syrians.
  • Main ISIS fighters' nationalities are Saudi, Tunisian, Moroccan and Egyptian.
  • 25% of ISIS fighters are Saudis.
  • Turkish fighters take the lead among ISIS foreign fighters, French come next.

(Zaman Al Wasl- Exclusive)- Zaman Al Wasl has exclusively obtained the personal data of 1736 ISIS fighters from over 40 countries, including their backgrounds, nationalities and hometown addresses.

The document that branded by ISIS as confidential is shedding the light on the inner circle of the de facto a state which has its own institutions and official documents as well data bank.

Two thirds of ISIS manpower are from Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Morocco and Egypt. 25% of ISIS fighters are Saudis, the data disclosed.

While Turkish fighters are taking the lead among ISIS foreign fighters, French fighters come next.

Syrians are just 1.7 % of the total number of fighters. The Iraqis make 1.2.

Expert told Zaman al-Wasl that Iraqis and Jordanians can make the backbone of ISIS but most of them are based in Mosul and ISIS-controlled areas in Ramadi.

The most notably that ISIS fighters do not know the real names of their fellow fighters since they used to have code names, or names de guerre, and for security issues they have been obliged to follow high ranks of secrecy.

The documents have been written and organized by the General Administration of Borders, and ISIS commission that tracks all Jihadists data.

The data document is including 23 fields, starting with the Jihadist's first name, last name, code name, date of birth and nationality. The jihadist who cross the the Islamic State's borders for the first time is ought to acknowledge the Borders Administration everything about himself, even what he wants to be in ISIS, a fighter or a suicide bomber.

The document is similar to the intelligence data form that should include everything about the jihadist. All activists he did, countries he visited, professions he served.

موقع التسريبات الخاص بزمان الوصل - LINK


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