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Smuggler says he sends Islamic State jihadis to Europe via Turkey

Nov 15, 2014 10:10 am By Robert Spencer

Islamic State3 “The Western world thinks there is no ISIS in their countries — that all the jihadis have gone to fight and die in Syria. But this man said, ‘No. We are sending our fighters to take their places.’”

“Smuggler Says He Sent ISIS Fighters To Europe,” by Mike Giglio and Munzer al-Awad, BuzzFeed, November 11, 2014:

ISTANBUL — Extremist fighters have been brought into mainland Europe, hidden amid boatloads of Syrian refugees, according to a veteran smuggler who claims to have done so himself.

The smuggler, who has been given the pseudonym Hassan here, said in an interview with BuzzFeed News that since the summer he has sent more than 10 Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) fighters into Europe.

Hassan’s claim was impossible to verify — and Western officials said they’d seen no evidence that such a scenario was taking place. His testimony, plus that of a second human trafficker who offered a similar account, marked the first time someone claiming direct involvement has said publicly that such a plan is underway.

Hassan has worked in the trade for more than three years. He charges $2,500 for each refugee he sends to Europe from Turkey, shipping them by boat to Greece. He said he views it as “humanitarian work,” on top of the profit he makes. But he said he had grown uncomfortable with the dark turn this work has taken since he began allowing ISIS fighters to mix with the refugees on his crowded speedboats.

Hassan said the fighters were all Syrian or Iraqis posing as refugees. He believed they remained loyal to ISIS and were prepared to launch terrorist attacks in Europe. “They are waiting for their orders,” Hassan said. “Just wait. You will see.”

Fears of an ISIS attack in Europe have centered on the danger posed by the continent’s own citizens. Around 3,000 Europeans have joined ISIS, according to the European Union’s counter-terrorism chief, and there are longstanding concerns that some may return to sow terror at home. Recently, there have also been rumblings of an ISIS threat among the unending torrent of Syrian refugees. Some Western officials reportedly believe that ISIS has considered the same plot that Hassan described.

One official with the British government stressed that any potential threat from ISIS should be kept “in perspective.”

“We’re talking about millions of people that need help,” the official said. “We should not get to the stage where we start to fear Syrian refugees as a terrorist threat in Europe.”

Of course not! Why, the very idea is inconceivable!

Hassan is a former white-collar professional in his 30s with a young family. Fearing for his safety, he met for an interview on the condition that his real name not be used. His nationality and the city where he works are also being withheld, as are details of his story that might identify him to the ISIS members allegedly involved.

Hassan began working as a smuggler before Syria erupted in revolt in March 2011. In addition to Syria, Turkey shares borders with Iraq and Iran, and refugees have long used it as a gateway to Europe, mainly traveling overland into Greece and Bulgaria or by boat to Greece, Cyprus, and Italy. These smuggling attempts spiked with the onset of Syria’s civil war, which has flooded Turkey with more than 1 million refugees. According to Frontex, the EU’s border agency, more than 20,000 refugees, many of them Syrians, were smuggled from Turkey into Greece, Bulgaria and Cyprus in the first eight months of this year.

Hassan said that one day this summer, he met a clean-shaven client who looked “like a simple refugee.” The two struck up a friendship, and Hassan learned that the man was a mid-level official with ISIS. The man was blunt about his reason for heading to Europe, Hassan said — he wanted to be ready to stage attacks there. “The Western world thinks there is no ISIS in their countries — that all the jihadis have gone to fight and die in Syria,” Hassan said. “But this man said, ‘No. We are sending our fighters to take their places.’”

When the man landed in Greece, he called Hassan with a message: “We want you to bring our brothers too.”

Hassan said that in the months that followed, the ISIS man sent him more than 10 additional clients. Hassan didn’t speak much to these men — but he believed that they were ISIS fighters too. Each paid about $1,000 more than the other passengers for the boat journeys he organized, blending in with the Syrian refugees. “It’s easy for them to go to Europe,” Hassan said. “They can come to any smuggler and say they are refugees.”…

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Filed Under: Islamic State (aka ISIS, ISIL, Daesh), Turkey Tagged With: featured


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Comments

  1. Don McKellar says

    Nov 15, 2014 at 10:29 am

    Wow, how can that “official with the British government” make a statement like that and it not dawn on them how ridiculous they sound? They must know that hordes of jihadis are among the Syrian “refugees”. This is all so surreal.

  2. Jay Boo says

    Nov 15, 2014 at 10:37 am

    WWMD
    Whether it be the British government or other Western officials, they can not longer deny that:

    Muslims are surely creating — ‘mischief in our lands’

  3. mortimer says

    Nov 15, 2014 at 11:00 am

    Sounds like many ISIS fighters are abandoning the ship.

  4. epistemology says

    Nov 15, 2014 at 11:36 am

    Turkey has become a convenient transfer site for terrorists. It supports ISIS, although clandestinely and its president or should a better say sultan wants a new caliphate with him as caliph of course. Everything fits like hand in glove. Greece is one of our three European front states the two other ones being Italy (think of Lampedusa) and Malta. Greece isn’t far away from Turkey, so the transfer is quick and easy.

    We need a stronger Frontex in Europe, we need to protect our coasts otherwise we’ll be flooded by muzzie invaders. ISIS obviously don’t only want a caliphate in Iraq and Syria but in Europe as well. They’re insatiable.

    Hey you guys in the States, please get your ass into gear and help us. You freed us from the Nazis, now we’re in need again. Obviously we can’t make it on our own. Don’t forget if Europe falls, it wouldn’t be amusing for the States, either.

    • Salah says

      Nov 15, 2014 at 11:53 am

      “Turkey has become a convenient transfer site for terrorists.”

      And Qatar a convenient source of cash.
      They are both U.S. allies. There’s nothing they can do without a tacit green light from the oval office!
      As I’ve always said: the real enemy *is* in the W.H.

      • epistemology says

        Nov 15, 2014 at 12:07 pm

        Get a new pres asap. I know about the problem. As MC said, it’s about time that Turkey gets kicked out of NATO and please forget about Qatar as an ally. Right now it’s the worst of all these golf states, worse than Saudi Arabia. Although tiny it’s one of the richest countries in the world and spends all its money on funding terrorism. The foreign workers can die of dehydration, but that doesn’t matter. They’re infidels.

  5. Nicu says

    Nov 15, 2014 at 12:06 pm

    This is not really new – they all come back for terror – and welfare of course .

    Their passports should be taken away and their GermanID cards anyway !

  6. Anon Bulgarian says

    Nov 16, 2014 at 2:28 am

    ” The land border between the southern European states and Turkey should be closed and reinforced to prevent access into Europe.”
    The border between Turkey and Bulgaria was barb wired months ago; the Greeks have theirs wired and patrolled for years now too. Not sure about legal immigration though.
    However, Bulgaria’s small prof. army is no match for the millions of turks in service.. if they invade, we’re screwed.

  7. change watch says

    Nov 16, 2014 at 3:56 am

    We know. Its only the liberal left elite who don’t have a clue. We’ve known for years, read A Consequence of Apathy by NR Baldwin, the truth is out there.

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