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  • An image of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi,Isis leader taken by the US prison authorities in 2004.
    An image of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi,Isis leader taken by the US prison authorities in 2004.Scribd screenshot
  • Islamic State
    An ISIS fighter. [Representational Image]Reuters

A trove of secret documents found in possession of a dead Isis commander, Samir al-Khlifawi, who was a former top Saddam general, reveals that the Islamic State has an efficient secret service that meticulously planned out its covert operation to take over Syria-Iraq, a German investigative magazine revealed.

The blueprints of documents recovered from al-Khilifawi, better known by the nom de guerre, Haji Bakr, reveal that the Islamic State's secret service has planned out the Syria-Iraq invasion for years.

According to Der Spiegel, which has accessed the documents recovered from Haji Bakr, the Sunni militant oufit planned out the invasion in a sophisticated manner, using jihad as a strategy to win loyalty.

The report noted that the page-by-page study of the documents reveal that Isis' ultimate plan was to set up a caliphate based on 'cold calculations.'

Al-Khlifawi, who himself was a top strategist during the Saddam regime, planned out the entire organisational structure with clear chains of command. The documents reveal that the Sunni militant group even has a clearly defined Secret Service structure that is efficient at carrying out surveillance and security work. 

In the documents, al-Khlifawi, also details a number of Isis espionage operations and other intelligence activities around Syria and Iraq, where the radical Islamist group covertly carried out studies to understand the power structure of local tribal areas.

The spies were even asked to find weakness of the local leaders as per Sharia law. Many who were smokers, homosexuals or had any other vices were blackmailed into subjugation, the report revealed.

Spies were sent to local tribal areas and were asked to bring following information:

  • Names of powerful families.
  • Name the powerful individuals in these families.
  • Find out their sources of income.
  • Names and troop strength of rebel brigades in the village.
  • Names of rebel leaders, who controls the brigades and their political orientation.
  • Find out their weaknesses (according to Sharia law), which could be used to blackmail them if necessary.

The lengthy documents, which were secretly brought to Turkey by an informant, also laid out Isis' recruitment plans, starting from how the group would recruit men through the local secret cells that will be working as Islamic missionary centres.

By 2013, Isis suddenly rose out of anonymity and by 2014 the group took over swathes of land in Syria and Iraq. The recovered documents finally have proved that Isis invasion of Syria and Iraq was in the making for years and must not be seen as a mere rebel uprising.

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