An article published by the German media group ARD, on July, the 08, 2023, exposes the founding of a research made by the international think tank <Fight Extremism> about the links between polisario mouvement and terrorist groups in the sahel region.
Entitled «Terror groups in Africa: breeding ground for attacks in Europe?», the article indicates, according to this think tank, that Islamists have a strong presence in Africa and recruit in huge refugee camps, using conflicts for their propaganda, which have reached as far as Bavaria.
While relating the case of a polisario member, using the nickname of Ismail, and his methods of recruitment within Europe, the experts of this organization explained how Ismail was convicted by the National Court of Justice in Spain for two years prison sentence plus five years probation for radicalization, among other charges, and how he proceeded to create his own network which deals with the fight of ISIS in Africa.
The article also underlined that experts of the organization <Fight Extremism>, like Hans-Jakob Schindler, says Africa is increasingly becoming a hotspot for Islamist terrorism and attacks could be called for from there even if many associate ISIS with countries like Syria or Iraq, adding that terrorist groups such as ISIS and Al-Qaeda are having an easy time in the refugee camps, such as the refugee camp in Tindouf.
In that context, Dr. Schindler, the senior director in the think tank, noted that "It's still possible to instrumentalize people in Europe from conflict regions, radicalize them and then possibly even motivate them to carry out attacks."
It was also indicated by the think tank that ISIS supporters exchange information and traces lead to Syria, Spain and the refugee camp of Tindouf in Algeria, adding that in term of communication they only use their Facebook accounts to connect with each other, then switch to Telegram or other means, as was demonstrated by Spanish authorities in the case of Ismail.
The report specified that during his trial, it emerged that Ismail used a German phone number to mask his identity
and that one of his Facebook contacts was from Germany, but it remains unclear whether German authorities are investigating the contact or not.
The expert, Dr. Schindler, from the Counter terrorism organization considers fighting poverty on the ground as a key to curbing the influence of ISIS and other terrorist groups wherever governments are weak, where there is economic hardship and where there is inequality.
The ARD article has in general detailed the founding of the research made by the the international think tank about the links between polisario and terrorist groups in the Sahel and also pointed out to the declarations of an expert in psychology who demonstrated how persons from a fragile and disadvantaged environment, such as the refugee camp in Tindouf in Algeria (as a case studied) are becoming radicalized and then becoming a pillar in recruitment in favor of extremist and terrorist groups in the Sahel region.
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