Doubts surrounding documents revealing identities of 22,000 IS members

(Baonghean.vn) – On March 9, the British news agency Sky News published a document of the Islamic State organization IS recording the identities of 22,000 of this organization’s jihadists. And what many people are interested in right now is the authenticity of the information about the 22,000 jihadists in the document published by Sky News.

The list contains 22,000 identities of IS fighters. Photo: Zaman Al-Wasl

Sky News reported that a former IS member handed over a USB containing files stolen from the head of the IS internal system. This document clearly stated the names, addresses and phone numbers of fighters from 55 countries around the world.

The document even contains more than 20 questions such as blood type, mother's maiden name, "level of understanding of Sharia - a type of IS law" or the identity of intermediaries helping fighters reach IS headquarters.

In January, Syria's Zaman Al-Wasl news agency announced that it had the documents in its possession before letting Sky News publish them on March 9 and handing them over to British authorities.

After conducting initial analysis, French intelligence experts said that the document provided by Sky News was the result of patchwork from many different sources.

Therefore, investigators believe that it is not a single complete file taken from the internal IS system. Some names on the list also appear on specialized websites.

In an interview with Le Monde, a French expert said that the person who published the list just wanted to extort more money from news agencies, knowing that these news agencies were eager to have information about IS. The proof is that the IS logo at the end of the document is a clear imitation.

“This is definitely not an official IS document,” the expert said, even though it includes information on how to contact them.

Researchers also found two different IS acronyms coexisting on the document published by Sky News. The document also did not resemble any previously obtained IS secret documents, as it did not contain the organization's seal or signature.

In addition, the name "border directorate" recorded in the document is a name that has never been known to intelligence officers in the IS organization.

However, the experts' assessments are based on only a small number of accessible documents. This does not mean that the entire list is without value.

And obviously, experts will have to work much harder to accurately assess the information related to the 22,000 identities of the above-mentioned IS jihadists.

Chu Thanh

(according to Le Monde)