They have left Germany behind to wage war in Syria and Iraq: young women, often girls who have exchanged family, friends and security fo...
They have left Germany behind to wage war in Syria and Iraq: young women, often girls who have exchanged family, friends and security for a life in the so-called Islamic state. Five German followers of the Terrormiliz were now arrested in the old town of Mossul - allegedly also a 16 year old girl from Saxony.
Iraqi security forces found a total of 20 women hiding in a tunnel system of the Islamic state, equipped with weapons and explosive belts. The rest of the IS supporters from Russia, Turkey, Canada, the Caucasus, Libya and Syria come from the "world", referring to security circles.
The German authorities followed the information intensively. "The Foreign Office is in contact with the Iraqi authorities and is trying to obtain rapid, substantial information on these persons," the ministry said. "If they are indeed German nationals, they will be offered consular assistance." Still no reliable information was available.
16-year-old girl from Saxony?
It was also unclear whether the 16-year-old Linda W. was from the Saxonian Pulsnitz among the now accepted IS supporters. On the weekend, reports were published on the net. Pictures allegedly showed the young Germans surrounded by security forces during their arrest. The Dresden prosecutor's office stated that she was checking the evidence.
The Iraqi anti-terrorist unit denied the details on Tuesday. All women are older than 30 years, said an officer of the unit to the news agency dpa. They were fighters, the other trained and working for the IS police.
The fate of Linda W. remains therefore unclear. The girl had disappeared almost exactly a year ago, after it was converted to Islam and apparently was in contact with IS-trailers via Internet chats. From Frankfurt, Linda W. was supposed to have flown to Istanbul and then made his way to the Syrian border. According to a report by bild.de, the girl was picked up by rebels at the border crossing Bab al-Hawa at the beginning of August and later handed over to a jihadist group. Then her track loses.
Even school girls traveled to the war zone
Over the past years, a total of more than 930 Islamists from Germany have gone to Syria and Iraq. Among them were 20 per cent of women, a total of almost 200. 5 per cent were minors. Of the under-18s, half were female. Time and again, individual cases of school girls and teenagers were publicly torn from home to join the IS.
Such as Elif Ö. From Neuried near Munich. The then 16-year-old sold himself to Syria in February 2015. Two months later, she reported to her parents and reported that she was living in Rakka, the high-society of the Islamic state in Syria. Currently fierce fights are raging around the city. The US-backed Democratic Forces of Syria (SDF) are pushing the extremists down there ever further.
Merve S. from Hamburg also went to Syria in 2015. With a fake authority, the then 17-year-old bought a plane ticket and traveled with his girlfriend Ece B. from Geesthacht to Turkey, from there to Syria. The father of Ece B. took his life after the disappearance of his daughter.
Valentina S. from Mönchengladbach joined the Islamic state in Syria at the age of 19. In 2015, a year after her departure, her name appeared on a search list of the Turkish secret service: for allegedly planning a suicide act.
Girls dreaming of jihad romance
Experts from counseling centers dealing with such cases report that the young women have partly romanticized ideas of marrying a jihadist. The IS-fighters would be hacked on the Internet in part like pop stars and by some young women correctly.
"Some want to fish a prince - a 'lion', a brave hero," says the Islamologist Marwan Abou-Taam, who works for the Rhineland-Palatinate Provincial Council. Some are above all the ideology. They want to help build the Islamic state. "Some are in a personal crisis, looking for a meaning and are addressed in this situation," says Abou-Taam. But there were also women who accompanied their husbands.
The girls and women are lured into the territory of the Islamic state with propaganda tailored to them. Travel guides for women give tips on what they should take, which route they should take and the like. On Facebook, women who have already left their mark on their lives in the caliphate. Diaries and videos on the net draw a romantic picture of existence in the jihad area. Other videos show fighting women and thus serve those who see their role not only on the side of a jihadist.
"Many women are abused"
For women, the role as a wife and mother is primarily foreseen in IS areas. They are to raise new talent for the Islamic state, to keep their husbands clear, to take care of the injured. The dream of romantic jihad life or sacrifice for the good cause end for many but bitter, says Abou-Taam. "There is an army of young men from all over the world." For them, the women would be lured. "Many women are abused." They would be housed first in women's houses. "They sit there until they are assigned to a man." Some would be passed on and held as "sex slaves".
Some, however, also take on armed roles, such as the female Shariah police, who control the observance of Islamic law among women. Recently, there have also been increased female suicide bombers. According to Iraqi security circles, seven IS supporters have sprung up in the past few days, while the army searched Mossul's old town for jihadists. Among them were foreigners.
COMMENTS