Syria Many of the residents have enriched themselves as a result of their work in selling oil and guarding wells, in return for fighting with al-Nusra Front or providing al-Nusra with logistical and intelligence support. Although al-Nusra Front and ISIS have been able to lure many recruits who believe in their stated goals, especially foreign fighters, many observers do not rule out the possibility that the “spoils strategy” they adopt may well backfire. In this regard, an activist from the city of Raqqa said, “Many have deserted after getting their money. This is to be expected, because simply, there is no other cause.” A resident of the city of Tall al-Abyad, near the border of Turkey, which is controlled by radical Islamic brigades, said that the residents always feared the moment when radical groups need money themselves. The residents’ fears came true. According to Kurdish sources, the radical groups recently robbed “billions of Syrian pounds from Kurdish citizens” in Tall al-Abyad. Then, “they demanded many Arab families to send men to enlist in their ranks or pay cash in return for exempting them.” On a different note, leaders of al-Nusra Front and ISIS acknowledge that their groups have been infiltrated. In a previous interview with a local website affiliated to the Syrian opposition, Abu Musab al-Suri, deputy ISIS commander of the northern region (Aleppo, Idlib, and Latakia), admitted to breaches in the group. At the time, he said that al-Nusra Front and ISIS were infiltrated by regime-planted elements, but also by agents of foreign intelligence services. english.al-akhbar/content/syria-al-qaeda-looking-local-mujahideen
Posted on: Sat, 14 Sep 2013 22:13:21 +0000
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