NEW DELHI: The Islamic State’s Trojan Horse has successfully penetrated pockets throughout Europe and North Africa disguised as refugees, reveals ‘Under the Black Flag’, authored by a Syrian historian, Sami Moubayed, who claims to have access to IS participants and advisors in its headquarters city of Al-Raqqa.
The newly released book, touted to be the first-ever authentic account of the terror outfit’s inner workings, says the IS fighters’ entry into Europe — disguised as Syrian refugees — is aimed at establishing dormant cells. The book carries an interview with Gamal Ibrahim al-Hasan aka Abu Khaled al-Filiastini, a Palestinian advisor in IS’s department of education. He is quoted as saying, “the foreigners are more useful sometimes if they stay in their own countries, awaiting a signal to march through Europe”.
The book provides a rare glimpse of women in IS; it claims 10 per cent of European Jihadists in Syria are women aged 18-25. All 13 women interviewed reveal mediocre knowledge of Islam, its history, evolution and code of conduct. It indicated they were trapped in the propaganda of the Islamic caliphate, making them an easy target for IS recruiters.
The book says IS has opened a marriage bureau in al-Bab, a town near Turkey border, where incoming western women are married off to Jihadi grooms. The book quoting Jennifer, the American wife of IS terrorist Zain al–Abidin al-Shami, says Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi, IS chief, has married off one of his cousins to a foreign Jihadi. “The youngest western girl to join IS was just 13 years old,” the book said. One Aisha, interviewed in the book, claims the women are “cheerleaders of IS”.
“They (Women) are in charge of all of IS’s online media...their posts are cutting edge, trendy and well-planned. They reach out to both Muslim and Christian women in Europe.” However, Moubayed said in contrast to the image they present (selfies of parties etc), the women of IS live the average day-to-day life of a Syrian housewife, cooking, cleaning and taking care of children, away from the glitz and glamour posted on social media.