How does IS build a transnational network of 'limbs'?

(Baonghean.vn) - A unique interview, in a prison in Germany. The interviewee is a former gunman of the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS), named Harry Sarfo.

An IS sign in Manbij, a northern Syrian town. Photo: Getty.

Sarfo is serving a three-year sentence in a high-security prison in Bremen, Germany, for terrorism. Sarfo joined IS in Syria and appeared in an execution video by the extremist group, before becoming disillusioned by the brutality he witnessed and deciding to flee.

Last year, Harry Sarfo left the working-class city of Bremen and drove for four days non-stop to reach IS-controlled territory in Syria.

Masked members of an IS “secret service” tasked with recruiting new fighters for the terrorist organization told Sarfo and a German that they no longer wanted European citizens to travel to Syria. Instead, they wanted Sarfo and his friend to return home and help them plan terrorist attacks around the world.

Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, an IS spokesman, is also the leader of a unit called Emni, which functions as both an internal control unit and an external operations arm. Photo: New York Times.

“The man told me that they have many “henchmen” living in different European countries, and waiting for orders to attack European citizens,” Sarfo said.

The conversation took place in April last year, seven months before the Paris terror attacks, the deadliest in Europe in more than a decade.

The masked man explained that although terrorist cells had been established in several European countries, the organization still needed more attackers in Germany and the UK. They wanted to carry out a series of parallel attacks in the UK, Germany and France.

Sarfo's revelations, along with those of other captured militants, have further lifted the veil of secrecy about IS's operational apparatus and plans to carry out violence beyond Syria.

What has been described as a “multi-level secret service,” led by a senior Syrian general, IS spokesman and propaganda chief, Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, is a group of individuals authorized to plan attacks in various regions of the world, including a “secret service for Europe,” a “secret service for Asia,” and a “secret service for the Arab region.”

IS elements carried out a series of terrorist attacks in Paris in November 2015. Photo: Getty.

Emni, an IS intelligence unit, is at the core of IS operations. Emni has full authority to recruit and rotate “spies” – from newcomers to seasoned field fighters, from IS’s special forces and elite commando units. These spies are selected by nationality and put into small groups based on their language of communication. Members meet only once before going abroad.

Emni has become a key cog in the IS terror machine, and its trainers carried out last year’s Paris attacks and designed the suitcase bombs used in the Brussels attacks. Investigative files show that experienced fighters have also been sent to Austria, Germany, Spain, Lebanon, Tunisia, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Malaysia.

Sarfo said that many fighters have returned to their homeland, hundreds of them. Sarfo realized that IS was preparing a list of global terrorists and trying to “fill the gap” in its international network. According to Sarfo, the airstrikes conducted by the US-led coalition in Syria have made many people want to become IS fighters because they lost their families in those airstrikes.

Harry Sarfo, who took the name Bilal when he converted to Islam. Photo: Instagram.

For the network in Asia, the group seeks fighters emerging from the Al Qaeda network in the region.

For the US and Canada, it is easier to attract young people to join the ranks of homegrown gunmen, because these countries have open gun policies and through social media, they can easily radicalize these young people.

What's unique is that Emni only recruits single fighters, who must agree to remain unmarried during their training.

Sarfo describes life in an area outside the Syrian city of Raqqa. The first week, the fighters had to practice exercises: running, jumping, push-ups, parallel bars, crawling. The second week, each was given a Kalashnikov rifle, and when sleeping, they had to put it between their legs until it became a “third leg”. Sarfo also had to practice using other guns such as M-14, M-16.

Sarfo witnessed stonings, executions, shootings, amputations and other barbarities. Sarfo saw child soldiers, as young as 13, wearing explosive belts and rifles. Some children drove cars and participated in executions. An older brother even murdered his own younger brother on suspicion of being a spy.

It was this harsh and barbaric life that made Sarfo determined to plan his escape. It took weeks of running at full speed, crawling through muddy fields, to reach Türkiye. Sarfo was arrested at Bremen airport on July 20, 2015, and confessed to his actions. He is currently serving a three-year prison sentence for terrorism.

Lan Ha

(According to New York Times, Independent)