Leaked Daesh files likely genuine: German police
Iran Press TV
Thu Mar 10, 2016 11:35PM
The Federal Criminal Police Office of Germany (BKA) says it is highly probable that the leaked files containing a treasure trove of details about Daesh terrorists are authentic.
Munich-based German newspaper, Sueddeutsche Zeitung, and broadcasters WDR and NDR had reported independently on Monday that they had obtained 'many dozens' of pages of documents detailing names, countries of origin, telephone numbers, and even sponsors and recruiters of terrorists with the Takfiri group.
On Thursday, Markus Koths, a BKA spokesman, told The Associated Press that the agency was in possession of the documents.
'We believe there is a high probability that these documents are genuine,' he said, adding, 'These documents are of significance for us for prosecutorial reasons and for threat prevention.'
Britain's Sky News has also reported that it has obtained 22,000 such Daesh files, featuring information on nationals from at least 51 countries, including the United States and Britain, that appear to have been collected near the end of 2013. It said the files had been relayed to the network in a flash drive after being stolen by a disillusioned Daesh member from the terror group's head of internal security police.
Daesh, originally an offshoot of al-Qaeda and other militants wreaking havoc in Syria since 2011, extended its campaign of blood-soaked terrorism to Iraq in 2014. It has seized parts of both countries' territories and has been pushing for similar domains in Afghanistan, Libya, and Egypt, while carrying out deadly attacks throughout various parts of the world.
The terrorist group is now estimated to have 19,000 to 25,000 militants on its payroll in the two Middle Eastern countries.
Observers say the figure, down from an estimated 20,000 to 31,500 in 2014, as well as the reported leaks point to the group's having lost out to some extent to defections and financial doldrums.
'Clearly, there is a fracture in the organization, people are disillusioned, the price of oil is dropping – and that is having an effect on their operations and paying people,' said Haras Rafiq, managing director of the London-based Quilliam Foundation, an anti-extremist think tank.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
