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 town in northern Syria. 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 before becoming disillusioned with the brutality he witnessed and decided to flee.

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

Members of an IS “secret service” tasked with recruiting new fighters for the terrorist organization, wearing balaclavas, 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 to their home countries and help them plan terrorist attacks around the world.

Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, IS spokesman, is also the leader of a unit called Emni, which has both internal control functions and an external operational branch. 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 dialogue took place in April last year, seven months before the terrorist attacks in Paris, the deadliest series of terrorist attacks in Europe in more than a decade.

The masked man explained that although the terrorist cell 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,” under the command of 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 an “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 transfer “spies” – from newcomers to seasoned field fighters, from IS special forces and elite commando units. These spies are selected by nationality and grouped 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 is preparing a list of global terrorists and trying to “fill the gap” in its international network. According to Sarfo, the airstrikes carried out 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 militants, because these countries have open gun policies and through social media, they can easily instill radicalization in 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 man was given a Kalashnikov rifle, and when sleeping, he had to put it between his legs until it became a “third leg”. Sarfo had to practice using other guns such as M-14, M-16.

Sarfo witnessed stonings, executions, shootings, amputations and other barbaric acts. Sarfo saw child soldiers as young as 13 with explosive belts and rifles. Some children drove cars and participated in executions. One brother even murdered his own 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, and finally reaching 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)