40 Irish fighters are in ISIS, claims former member

RobYourBuilder

It is estimated that some 40 Irish men have gone to fight for ISIS in Syria and Iraq.

It is thought many of them joined the group, having been recruited from Europe.

It comes as figures show more than three times as many Irish Muslims have been to Syria compared to British Muslims.

One in every 1,500 Irish Muslims have travelled to Syria. In the UK, it is more like one in every 5,000.

Newstalk's Shona Murray is on the Turkish-Syria border.

She spoke exclusively to 'Abu Omar' - not his real name - who was a group leader of the Free Syrian Army.

He was forced to fight with ISIS from July, after the Islamic State took over his town.

But he defected and escaped from Syria into Turkey just a few weeks ago.

Link to the Newstalk interviews - https://www.newstalk.ie/Former-ISIS-operative-Irish-fighters-IS-Syria-Turkey-interview-Abu-Omar

A FORMER ISIS operative claims that there are around 40 Irish fighters with ISIS in the Middle East.

The man, ‘Abu Omar’ (not his real name), spoke to Newstalk’s Shona Murray at the Turkish-Syria border.

He told her he had been a group leader in the Free Syrian Army, then forced to fight with ISIS for a time before defecting.

In the interview, he said:

All the countries around the earth, the Western countries, have fighters with ISIS inside Syria now. There was some of UK people, Irish, French… the Irish fighters are perfect snipers. Every place they need snipers they move the Irish there.

But the Irish fighters they was around 40.

They know them from them names as Abu Omar er Irlandie, Irish, Abu Omar Irish.

They walk in with the British every time, and they see them together.

Murray said Omar told her the European fighters see themselves as part of the formation of the caliphate. Omar said that some Irish were involved in beheadings against local people and local militias, though he did not have video evidence.

Omar also said there is “much talk” about attacking Western soil. But priority is to expand their control over Syria and Iraq and the Levant region.

He claimed that there are members in Europe and the US who could make a bomb inside any country they wanted, but they are waiting a decision.

America, Britain, France, Denmark could be first to be targeted because they make cartoons about Mohammed, he said. “So they focus about it and they promise the fight in a few years, big thing will happen there.”

http://www.thejournal.ie/interview-isis-fighter-ireland-1930654-Feb2015/

If this is true, then it is very worrying indeed. Considering our small Muslim population and that a large splice are only of school going age, for 40 to go off and join ISIS shows a high level of radicalisation here. The Minister for Justice has previously stated that she would consider stripping returning Jihadis of Irish citizenship. But this will be only possible if they are naturalised dual citizens.

How should we deal with this?

Sheep Lover

Can't wait to see the latest beheading video with "Abdul" and his ginger hair, factor 400 suncream and thick Roscommon accent giving the speech

Roger Hassenforder

RobYourBuilder wrote: »

Link to the Newstalk interviews - https://www.newstalk.ie/Former-ISIS-operative-Irish-fighters-IS-Syria-Turkey-interview-Abu-Omar


If this is true, then it is very worrying indeed. Considering our small Muslim population and that a large splice are only of school going age, for 40 to go off and join ISIS shows a high level of radicalisation here. The Minister for Justice has previously stated that she would consider stripping returning Jihadis of Irish citizenship. But this will be only possible if they are naturalised dual citizens.

How should we deal with this?

39 left...

ygolometsipe

verb
1.
state or assert that something is the case, typically without providing evidence or proof.

tomwaterford

RobYourBuilder wrote: »

http://www.thejournal.ie/interview-isis-fighter-ireland-1930654-Feb2015/

If this is true, then it is very worrying indeed. Considering our small Muslim population and that a large splice are only of school going age, for 40 to go off and join ISIS shows a high level of radicalisation here. The Minister for Justice has previously stated that she would consider stripping returning Jihadis of Irish citizenship. But this will be only possible if they are naturalised dual citizens.

How should we deal with this?

a lot of this higher average could be due to them being more rescent to Ireland than England where they are maybe fourth or fifth generation in the country



so long as they leave there fight behind upon returning....I see no issue with it tbh

Kermit.de.frog

RobYourBuilder wrote: »

The Minister for Justice has previously stated that she would consider stripping returning Jihadis of Irish citizenship. But this will be only possible if they are naturalised dual citizens.

How should we deal with this?

I think it represents the biggest terrorist threat to this country since the IRA/loyalists. The law should be changed whether by referendum or other means to strip citizenship and stop them re-entering this country. We should not tolerate this for a day longer in my opinion.

We have seen it only takes a handful of radicalised individuals to cause murderous mayhem.

Iwasfrozen

RobYourBuilder wrote: »

If this is true, then it is very worrying indeed. Considering our small Muslim population and that a large splice are only of school going age, for 40 to go off and join ISIS shows a high level of radicalisation here. The Minister for Justice has previously stated that she would consider stripping returning Jihadis of Irish citizenship. But this will be only possible if they are naturalised dual citizens.

How should we deal with this?

Personally I think they should be shot for treason upon return. I can't be the only one.

gumbo1

Personally I don't think they will leave the fight behind them, there in lays the problem!

bb1234567

RobYourBuilder wrote: »

Link to the Newstalk interviews - https://www.newstalk.ie/Former-ISIS-operative-Irish-fighters-IS-Syria-Turkey-interview-Abu-Omar



In the interview, he said:












http://www.thejournal.ie/interview-isis-fighter-ireland-1930654-Feb2015/

If this is true, then it is very worrying indeed. Considering our small Muslim population and that a large splice are only of school going age, for 40 to go off and join ISIS shows a high level of radicalisation here. The Minister for Justice has previously stated that she would consider stripping returning Jihadis of Irish citizenship. But this will be only possible if they are naturalised dual citizens.

How should we deal with this?

We have a large muslim population. 60,000 people may not be a huge amount of people but its 1.5% of our population. I think thats a large minority. I would call our jewish population small. At about 1000 people.

Mr_Muffin

Probably just on jobs bridge.

RobYourBuilder

tomwaterford wrote: »

so long as they leave there fight behind upon returning....I see no issue with it tbh

You see no issue with Irish citizens going off to join ISIS and reportedly beheading people? Here's the thing, Tom. It's unlikely that they will give up the urge to wage Jihad upon their return.

tomwaterford

RobYourBuilder wrote: »

You see no issue with Irish citizens going off to join ISIS and reportedly beheading people? Here's the thing, Tom. It's unlikely that they will give up the urge to wage Jihad upon their return.

but as everyone knows....the OSA allows the gaurdai extraordinary powers to disrupt this threat in Ireland.....though the lack of political will to disrupt anyone bar dissident republicans is to be regretted

nokia69

Iwasfrozen wrote: »

Personally I think they should be shot for treason upon return. I can't be the only one.

well how is it treason

but they should not be allowed back into the country

anyone fighting for ISIS should have no right to live in Ireland or any other country

deaddonkey15

Why would stripping their citizenship only be considered? It should be done 100%.

shruikan2553

I'll keep an eye out for GAA jerseys in the next video.

Herb Powell

Roger Hassenforder wrote: »

39 left...

Where does it say that he had anything to do with Da3esh?

bb1234567

gumbo1 wrote: »

Personally I don't think they will leave the fight behind them, there in lays the problem!

If your neighbour went on holidays to shoot people dead, and came home to live beside you again, and you knew he had personally executed innocent people, you'd be alright with that?

bjork

AUGUST 23, 2014
Irish jihadi fighters – police investigate group using Ireland as base
As Britain scrambles to assess its counter-terrorism security following the horrific beheading of Irish American journalist James Foley by an ISIS militant with a British accent, Ireland is also weighing the threat homegrown jihadists may pose.

Irish authorities confirmed yesterday that they are closely watching the movements of nearly 30 Irish Muslims who have been traveling from Ireland to Iraq and other conflict zones in recent months.

Three of those who were under surveillance are believed to have been killed, including a 16-year-old boy.

The remainder are also being monitored by international security agencies, the Irish Independent reports, as suspicions emerge that potential jihadists with Irish papers have been using Ireland as a base between tours of fighting in the Middle East

http://www.irishcentral.com/news/politics/Fear-of-Irish-jihadi-fighters-as-police-investigate-group-using-Ireland-as-base.html


Gardai are missing a few

Defender OF Faith

Roger Hassenforder wrote: »

39 left...

Hudhaifa died in 2012 while fighting along side Syrian rebels against Assad regime forces. ISIS was created and jointed the Syrian Civil war by April 2013 changing its name from IS.Iraq to ISIS...

RobYourBuilder

deaddonkey15 wrote: »

Why would stripping their citizenship only be considered? It should be done 100%.

We are a signatory to a UN treaty on prevention of statelessness. Unless they are dual citizens who became naturalised here, we cannot strip them of Irish citizenship.

themandan6611

if they come back to ireland I wonder will 6-7 Guards knock on their door at 6.30am to take them in for questioning ?

tomwaterford

themandan6611 wrote: »

if they come back to ireland I wonder will 6-7 Guards knock on their door at 6.30am to take them in for questioning ?

If they do it to republican I can't see why not
I wonder will theu go in and rip the houses asunder for reason aswell

meathstevie

It would be very handy if they for some reason couldn't make it back...ever.

Iwasfrozen

nokia69 wrote: »

well how is it treason

but they should not be allowed back into the country

anyone fighting for ISIS should have no right to live in Ireland or any other country

Joining an organization that seeks to overthrow the Irish state by violent means is treason. They should be arrested on arrival.

nokia69

Iwasfrozen wrote: »

Joining an organization that seeks to overthrow the Irish state by violent means is treason.

when did ISIS say they wanted to overthrow the Irish state

Iwasfrozen

RobYourBuilder wrote: »

We are a signatory to a UN treaty on prevention of statelessness. Unless they are dual citizens who became naturalised here, we cannot strip them of Irish citizenship.

Then we should break our agreement.

Iwasfrozen

nokia69 wrote: »

when did ISIS say they wanted to overthrow the Irish state

They want to destroy all states. They want a worldwide caliphate.

riffmongous

It's also important to find out why people are being radicalised in Ireland and try to cut it off at the source. I'm sure some will try to claim it's because of the religion itself but with numbers like 1/1500 and 1/5000 for people actually becoming radicalised enough to go fighting I think it will be more complicated than that

Roger Hassenforder

Defender OF Faith wrote: »

Hudhaifa died in 2012 while fighting along side Syrian rebels against Assad regime forces. ISIS was created and jointed the Syrian Civil war by April 2013 changing its name from IS.Iraq to ISIS...

his group could be part of ISiS now, or Al Nusra, or etc.
one thing is for sure, the crather aint coming back to Ireland

The_Valeyard

Simples. Upon return, deny entry.

nokia69

Iwasfrozen wrote: »

They want to destroy all states. They want a worldwide caliphate.

don't think so

they have released a map of the countries they think they should be part of the caliphate

basically its any part of the world that was ever under islamic rule, e.g. Spain, Israel ect

Tugboats

Can they not be arrested when they come to sign on every month?

Iwasfrozen

nokia69 wrote: »

don't think so

they have released a map of the countries they think they should be part of the caliphate

basically its any part of the world that was ever under islamic rule, e.g. Spain, Israel ect

I saw that map too but they want a worldwide caliphate. I'm on phone so can't post links but do a Google. They're quite vocal about conquering the world.

malibu4u

The_Valeyard wrote: »

Simples. Upon return, deny entry.

How you you know who exactly has been "fightin"? What is they just say they were backpacking around for 6 weeks or 6 months? About 5 years ago I spent a year travelling around Australia etc. Some of those 40 people could say they were just travelling and experiencing the culture in the middle east and done nothing illegial?

token101

malibu4u wrote: »

How you you know who exactly has been "fightin"? What is they just say they were backpacking around for 6 weeks or 6 months? About 5 years ago I spent a year travelling around Australia etc. Some of those 40 people could say they were just travelling and experiencing the culture in the middle east and done nothing illegial?

Can't imagine there's much of a hostel scene in Raqqa these days

JPCN1

RobYourBuilder wrote: »

Link to the Newstalk interviews - https://www.newstalk.ie/Former-ISIS-operative-Irish-fighters-IS-Syria-Turkey-interview-Abu-Omar



In the interview, he said:













http://www.thejournal.ie/interview-isis-fighter-ireland-1930654-Feb2015/

If this is true, then it is very worrying indeed. Considering our small Muslim population and that a large splice are only of school going age, for 40 to go off and join ISIS shows a high level of radicalisation here. The Minister for Justice has previously stated that she would consider stripping returning Jihadis of Irish citizenship. But this will be only possible if they are naturalised dual citizens.

How should we deal with this?

Let Assad deal with them. Just give him the support to do it.

riffmongous

Roger Hassenforder wrote: »

his group could be part of ISiS now, or Al Nusra, or etc.
one thing is for sure, the crather aint coming back to Ireland

There doesn't seem to be any evidence at all that he was involved in any jihadist activity, he was described by all who claimed to know him as a nice intelligent young man in any article online

old_aussie

I wonder how many of them are recent converts, who will be keen to demonstrate on their return to Ireland that they have been correctly converted with the full IS program and training.

porsche959

Iwasfrozen wrote: »

Joining an organization that seeks to overthrow the Irish state by violent means is treason. They should be arrested on arrival.

Pity the legislation wasn't applied to the Fianna Fail/PD/banksters that destroyed the economy.

blatantrereg

riffmongous wrote: »

It's also important to find out why people are being radicalised in Ireland and try to cut it off at the source. I'm sure some will try to claim it's because of the religion itself but with numbers like 1/1500 and 1/5000 for people actually becoming radicalised enough to go fighting I think it will be more complicated than that

Glorification of rebellion is prevalent in Irish culture. I'm not surprised that this is fertile territory for recruiting extremists.

nokia69

blatantrereg wrote: »

Glorification of rebellion is prevalent in Irish culture. I'm not surprised that this is fertile territory for recruiting extremists.

they may have lived here for a while but these people have little or nothing to do with Irish culture

sawing peoples heads off is not part of my culture

Mellor

It's probably more accurate to say that;

"There are 40 ISIS fighters with Irish passports"

rather than

"There are 40 Irish fighters with ISIS"

DarkyHughes

Pffffffft there was 1500 9in the PIRA Belfast Brigade alone.

DarkyHughes

blatantrereg wrote: »

Glorification of rebellion is prevalent in Irish culture. I'm not surprised that this is fertile territory for recruiting extremists.

My post was a joke. You sound like you believe that nonsense. You could say the same thing about France.

blatantrereg

DarkyHughes wrote: »

You sound like you believe that nonsense.

No, it was a passing thought at 4am. As pointed out, they aren't going to be the sorts of people who have integrated enough to be influenced by the culture here.

AngryHippie

JPCN1 wrote: »

Let Assad deal with them. Just give him the support to do it.

Thats pretty much how we got here in the first place....

Roger Hassenforder

riffmongous wrote: »

There doesn't seem to be any evidence at all that he was involved in any jihadist activity, he was described by all who claimed to know him as a nice intelligent young man in any article online

he was killed fighting with these lads

JONJO THE MISER

Mellor wrote: »

It's probably more accurate to say that;

"There are 40 ISIS fighters with Irish passports"

rather than

"There are 40 Irish fighters with ISIS"

Exactly, just because they have Irish passports does not make them Irish.
Im pretty sure you wont find any Paddy Briens from Ahascragh fighting over there with a can of club orange to relieve there blood thirst.

anncoates

It's hardly a surprise that some Irish people are eager to support a lunatic organisation that revolves around killing civilians and hero-worshiping bearded demagogues.

yipeeeee

porsche959 wrote: »

Pity the legislation wasn't applied to the Fianna Fail/PD/banksters that destroyed the economy.

Really? Christ.

Anyway if an attack happens here people will be scratching their head, when it's quite clear that lads leaving to fight a for Isis and returning aren't returning to Ireland and been nice little boys again.

Shannon is all a couple of these need as an excuse and the Irish attitude of ah sure were grand were loved all over the world won't save us this time.

conorhal

anncoates wrote: »

It's hardly a surprise that some Irish people are eager to support a lunatic organisation that revolves around killing civilians and hero-worshiping bearded demagogues.

How so? Something tells me those involved have never heard of Pearse or Connelly.