LONDON: A huge cache of stolen IS documents revealing the names and details of thousands of foreign recruits have been released by German intelligence. Called a “devastating” coup for intelligence agencies around the world, the documents show that more than a dozen of Britons were among 22,000 “entrance questionnaires” taken by the Islamic States' border authority in 2013.
German interior ministry confirmed that officials believed the list was authentic. Details about where it was retrieved from or the identities of the people on the list, however, have been declined. News of the list was reported by a team of investigative reporters from a Munich daily. The piece only got attention when a pro-opposition Syrian news website published a selection of the forms online showing a 23 part survey detailing the extremists' names, birth dates, nationalities, hometowns and blood types. Prospective members were also asked to choose if they wanted to be used as suicide bombers, soldiers or in another role, and to elaborate any previous jihadi experience.
“It will be a great blow for their recruitment process because these documents show not just the people joining but the networks involved in radicalising them and facilitating their travel. Any recruit will know they are very likely to be discovered and there will be serious consequences for them, it doesn't inspire a great deal of confidence,” said Afzal Ashraf, visiting fellow at Notthingham University's centre of conflict, security, and terrorism. He also said that claims of a disillusioned IS member leaking the files could spark damaging internal purges, executions and in-fighting.
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”. 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.
