US Congress Report: 4,000 Jordanians Joined ISIS in Syria and Iraq

AMMAN, (ST)- A recent report by the US Congress Department of Studies has revealed that nearly 4,000 Jordanians have joined ISIS terrorist organization in Syria and Iraq since 2011, which makes Jordan the second largest contributor to the terror group, in terms of recruits and manpower, right after Tunisia.

 According the Jordanian “Al-Ghad” newspaper published on Saturday, the report, which was issued last February, uncovered that recruitment among ISIS “is in no way exclusive to the city of Maan in southern Jordan, but it expanded to involve cities in the northern area like Irbid and Al-salt.”

Jordan’s involvement in supporting terrorism in Syria has been evident from the very beginning of the crisis in Syria.

Intelligence reports and information affirm that Jordan has set up training camps for terrorists on its territories. The process was funded by the Saudi regime and supervised by the CIA. According to the reports, Jordan also has facilitated the passage of weapons and money to terrorists in Syria since the beginning of the crisis. In addition, the Jordanian capital Amman is hosting the so-called Military Operations Command (MOC) rooms which include Arab, foreign and Israeli intelligence bodies led by the United States in order to run the operations carried out by the terrorist organizations in Syria.

Previous media reports revealed that 5000 Tunisian terrorists joined the ranks of ISIS in Syria and Iraq. Hundreds of those have returned home, according to Tunisian officials.

Notably, the US congress department of studies’ report offered an extensive overview of the environment and the harsh conditions which contribute to the spread of extremist and terrorist ideology among the youths in Jordan.

It suggested that poverty, corruption, slow economic growth, unemployment and the immigration of thousands of young people to find jobs abroad are key long-term problems in the Jordanian society. It also said that frustration and desperation are main enabling factors for the spread of extremism, in addition to the overall loss of faith and trust in the government and proposed reformation to fix the economy.

Last February, Amman witnessed demonstrations protesting the government’s decisions to increase prices and impose customs on several goods and services.

Hamda Mustafa