German police examine ISIS files
The files contain various names, phone numbers and addresses. German police believe them to be genuine.
A statement from the German Interior Ministry quoted by BBC said these documents present "a great chance to identify Germans taking part in terrorist activities of the so-called IS."
According to Sky News the bulk of the files contain approximately 22,000 names. They were disclosed when a member of ISIS named Abu Hamed became disgruntled and stole a flash drive from the groups internal security force and brought it to Turkey. Upon being asked if he believed handing over these files would help bring an end to the group his response was, "God willing."
If authentic this could be of value to American-led coalition efforts to destroy the groups network as it might give an insight into how it recruits foreigners into its ranks and could also provide the identities of hitherto unidentified foreigners in the group. However they originate from late 2013 meaning they are significantly dated (ISIS didn't declare its so-called state until after its infamous conquest of Mosul in June 2014).
One Middle East analyst named Jordan Perry warned that the disclosure could actually make ISIS look stronger.
"From Islamic State's perspective," he told Newsweek, "I think it is quite a propaganda coup. There are westerners on that list who previously weren't detected by security forces."
"In a way," he continued, "it will reinforce that Islamic State's appeal is pretty broad and includes people from all walks of life, both from the Middle East, the West and elsewhere. It will reinforce the reach that Islamic State has, and that's something intelligence services fear."
The documents reveal that ISIS has citizens originating from at least 51 countries.
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