German Jihadists on Syria's Battlefields

Jihadists from Germany are engaging in combat, and dying, on the side of the rebels in Syria.

• And Comrade Obama and the Western nations keep pouring hundreds of millions in tax money to support the rebels.

Der Spiegel  -  A young man in his mid-twenties with a stubbly beard is driving a delivery van through the rubble-strewn streets of the northern Syrian town of Azaz. He speaks excellent German and calls himself Yousuf. The man in the passenger seat is around the same age and also sports a beard. He won't even reveal his first name, but he also speaks nearly perfect German.

"After we go back home, we don't want any problems with Germany's foreign and domestic intelligence agencies," says Yousuf. This also explains why the two men refuse to divulge what city in Germany they come from. "Before we entered Syria, the Turks had already put our passport information into their system," he adds. "They know exactly who we are. If they pass that on to the Germans, we're sunk, even though we're just here on a humanitarian mission."

A humanitarian mission? That's the euphemism foreign Jihadists use when they try to explain their presence in Syria.

There are reportedly a few hundred Muslims from Western countries who are fighting alongside the rebels to topple Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. It's a relatively small number compared to the perhaps 100,000 insurgents in the country.

"We know that jihadists from Germany, who we have already been observing here at home, are currently in Syria and fighting there," German Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich said last week. German intelligence agencies are primarily concerned that such men will be trained during the civil war and later return to the West as radicalized extremists -- assuming they survive.

American Jihadists in Syria fighting beside the FSA and Al-Nusra Front rebels
American terrorists in Syria fighting beside the FSA and Al-Nusra Front rebels.

Chechen Jihadists in Syria Announce new Extremist Brigade
Documenting the Presence of Extremist Groups in the Syrian Conflict. A Chechen Islamist using the nom do guerre Emir Abu Omar Al Chechen speaks in Russian at the announcement of a new Jihadist brigade which combines the existing Chechen dominated Kateeb Al Muhajireen (Immigrants Brigade) with several majority Syrian Islamist militias. He mentions fighting in Afghanistan and the need to kill infidels and apostates (Shia).

The 'Land of Sham'

The men of the Islamist Al-Nusra Front, who see their group as part of al-Qaida, are not particularly concerned about losses among their own ranks. In a small shop in Azaz, one of the group's commanders is sitting with a young Libyan who has just arrived.

First, he explains to the new arrival that in the Support Front they don't use the name "Syria," but rather the "Land of Sham." Both "Land of Sham" and "Greater Syria" are nationalist terms that refer to a geographical space covering nearly the entire Levant, which the fighters hope to transform into one big Islamic state.

Then the older man says to the younger one: "I hope that you will soon die in battle and go to paradise."

Many foreign Jihadists are between the ages of 18 and 28 and of Arab descent, or at least from Muslim families -- and have no combat experience whatsoever. They are essentially cannon fodder.

They come from Gulf states like Saudi Arabia, from North Africa, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Great Britain and North America. Most of them receive rudimentary training in camps, primarily in northern Syria.

The Libyans have a special status. Speaking via Skype, a physician from the western Libyan city of Zawiya talks about how he lost a relative in Syria. "When our young men leave Libya, they are very rarely radical Islamists," he says, "but when they return, we hardly recognize them anymore. They have been brainwashed."


For the full article go to Der Spiegel - International.

Estimates that there are now between 2,000 and 5,500 foreign Jihadists in Syria, and the EU's top terrorism officials have stated that at least 500 of those come from EU countries. Officials fear that these "guest warriors" are gaining weapons know-how and ties with other extremists, and that they might bring Jihad when they return home.

"Supporting Jihadists in Syria also gives the Saudis an opportunity to ship their own radicals to Syria, where they can fight & possibly die "
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With a large number of unemployed, underemployed and radicalized young men, the Jihad in Syria provides a pressure valve similar to the past struggles in Iraq, Chechnya, Bosnia and Afghanistan. The Saudis are not only trying to winnow down their own troubled youth; we have received reports from a credible source that the Saudis are also facilitating the travel of Yemeni men to training camps in Turkey, where they are trained and equipped before being sent to Syria to fight.
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The reports also indicate that the young men are traveling for free and receiving a stipend for their service. These young radicals from Saudi Arabia and Yemen will even further strengthen the Jihadist groups in Syria by providing them with fresh troops.   (Uprooted Palestinians.blogspot)