Sky News Obtains Thousands of Islamic State Files, A 'Goldmine of Information'

Sky News has announce that "tens of thousands of pages containing phone numbers and family contacts" were "handed to Sky News by a disillusioned convert to the group". If even a fraction of the information culled from these documents proves actionable, it will provide data to many nations fighting the "war on terror".

Speaking about the discovery of the files, former global terrorism operations director at MI6 Richard Barrett told Sky News: "It's a fantastic coup. "And it will be an absolute goldmine of information of enormous significance and interest to very many people, particularly the security and intelligence services."

Afzal Ashraf, a counter-terrorism expert at the Royal United Services Institute, told Sky News: "They're probably the most significant intelligence we've had to date of Da'esh (IS). "It will give them an indication of not just who they are, where they come from, but will be able to potentially to lead them to the individuals who radicalized these individuals as well as facilitated their departure."

The information contained in these documents are so great in number, and so detailed in scope, it staggers the mind. 500,000 data points will lead to "intelligence agencies will set their computers loose on the data."

The link details how this treasure trove came about:

The files were passed to Sky News on a memory stick stolen from the head of Islamic State's internal security police, an organization described by insiders as the group's SS. He had been entrusted to protect the organization's core secrets and he rarely parted with the drive. The man who stole it was a former Free Syrian Army convert to Islamic State who calls himself Abu Hamed.

Disillusioned with the Islamic State leadership, he says it has now been taken over by former soldiers from the Iraqi Baath party of Saddam Hussein. He claims the Islamic rules he believed have totally collapsed inside the organisation, prompting him to quit.

The fallout from these files could be immense, for both jihadists and the agencies in the war on terror. Timing on such data is crucial, and one could envision the frantic reaction of those whose information is contained in these files. This is a coup of epic proportions.
news.sky.com...
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Oh dear, was this meant to happen?

Oh deary deary me. What have we here?

This is a shame (Said in the most sarcastic way possible)

I'm absolutely loving this. The mind boggles about what could be done with this info.

"They" are going to have so much fun.

This is great if it isn't corrupt info....as much as this could help, the potential for abuse is..well...frightening

Fantastic bit of information if correct, BUT The media now listing former soldiers from the Iraqi Baath party of Saddam Hussein as the leaders of ISIS could just be a long shot of justifying the war on terror to the mainstream media observer??.. Almost a late "we told you so".

I will watch this information closely but how much real useful information Mr Joe bloggs will learn about this stuff is anyones guess..

I would like to see hard evidence to go along with any claims made in the future as this could just be a treasure trove to pull any information from regardless if it is true or not.


RA

originally posted by: Boscowashisnamo

Disillusioned with the Islamic State leadership, he says it has now been taken over by former soldiers from the Iraqi Baath party of Saddam Hussein. He claims the Islamic rules he believed have totally collapsed inside the organisation, prompting him to quit.

The fallout from these files could be immense, for both jihadists and the agencies in the war on terror. Timing on such data is crucial, and one could envision the frantic reaction of those whose information is contained in these files. This is a coup of epic proportions.

Wow, now that is interesting....

The Baath party is secular. I wonder if this is deliberate covert infiltration to collapse ISIS from within?

originally posted by: markosity1973

originally posted by: Boscowashisnamo

Disillusioned with the Islamic State leadership, he says it has now been taken over by former soldiers from the Iraqi Baath party of Saddam Hussein. He claims the Islamic rules he believed have totally collapsed inside the organisation, prompting him to quit.

The fallout from these files could be immense, for both jihadists and the agencies in the war on terror. Timing on such data is crucial, and one could envision the frantic reaction of those whose information is contained in these files. This is a coup of epic proportions.

Wow, now that is interesting....

The Baath party is secular. I wonder if this is deliberate covert infiltration to collapse ISIS from within?

A gold star for you! An interesting observation on your part, and intriguing to say the least. The shear volume of the information, and if even a portion is usable after culling and vetting, is a wet dream for the alphabet agencies and MI-6. Those who fight "the war on terror" are looking at this cache with wolf eyes, and I wonder if the press release has devalued the information before any of it is actionable.

The other thread said it had info on the families too.

lol!! I wonder if they will be gone after.

It's a real good thing they have names of even the low level isis morons.

Start picking them off and watch the confusion.

a reply to: Boscowashisnamo

On the one side this could be a fantastic lengthy waste of time chasing down the rabbit hole of nothing for all the agencies involved.

On the other hand, I am not surprised that someone obviously with brain capability has turned against Daesh because the incident of throwing a gay youth from a building by a commander who had been having sex himself with the youth sucks of corrupt values - OK for me but not islamic/sharia OK for the rest of you. If you lead basically in a religious war you have got to be pure. Also I suspect many were from family backgrounds and simply could not stomach the vicious violence and ethics of hate - everyone's human after all.

I would have thought it wasn't that difficult to find out who the poison spreaders in the imams are - just trace the line back to Saudi.

I think there is something not right about this info. Many have left and are leaving ISIS. This could be names of people who have deflecte or returned. It could be a way of making sure they are punished. Also, while intelligence are going through this they may be side tracked and allow ISIS to slip through to carry out an atrocity. Something doesnt feel right I think it has been orchestrated by ISIS!

a reply to: anxiouswens

You have the point that it might be orchestrated by Isis which it could well be.

If it gives us information on those who have sneaked back into the UK then brilliant and I hope they get exactly what they deserve in a long prison and deportation.

It does give the intelligence agencies around the world extra work though because their focus should also be on the ones who are posing as refugees and asylum seekers. If it sheds light on some of the less genuine terrorist plants also it will help weed these horrors out. We have a lot of unemployed and job creation in this field might be a good thing to keep people safe.