Internet Infidels

The Beach Town That's a Favorite ISIS Recruiting Spot

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• published: 10 Oct 2014
• views: 14845

Over a million tourists from around the world visit Sousse, Tunisia every year. And, while the coastal city boasts pristine beaches and world class hotels, recently, hordes of local young men have been leaving fun and sun behind them in favor of joining ISIS in Syria. In fact, Vocativ’s Deep Web analysts monitoring social media found that more ISIS jihadists come from Tunisia than anywhere else. In collaboration with MSNBC, Vocativ traveled to Sousse to speak to the family of 17-year-old Mohamed Amrouni, who disappeared after being recruited to join ISIS by his own math teacher. According to his family, Mohamed ate breakfast with his parents then told them he was going to the mosque for prayer. Typically, he’d open the family’s store at 8 AM, but on that day he did not. “He had his brain washed,” older brother Ajmi Amrouni, tells us. “He was always surfing the internet. I suppose [that] is where he started thinking seriously about going to Syria.” ISIS has circulated several recruitment videos on social media. While these videos certainly aid in convincing young men to join the jihadis, the real recruiters are planted inside mosques and schools. “It happens at every school in the country,” Oussama, Mohamed’s best friend tells us. And at recruitment rallies, jihadis proselytize on megaphones promising riches, the chance to blow up infidels, and access to paradise. “The recruiters receive $18,000 for each person they send to Syria,” Mohamed’s father Khaled Amrouni tells us. “And then within a month you see them driving a new car.” And although Sousse police tell us they will not let terrorist recruiters “pass at any price”, when the Amrouni family informed authorities about the disappearance of their son, no action was taken against the recruiter. As for Mohamed? Since we spoke to the Amrouni family, he has moved with ISIS from Syria to Iraq.

The Beach Town That's a Favorite ISIS Recruiting Spot

• Report rights infringement
• published: 10 Oct 2014
• views: 14845

Over a million tourists from around the world visit Sousse, Tunisia every year. And, while the coastal city boasts pristine beaches and world class hotels, recently, hordes of local young men have been leaving fun and sun behind them in favor of joining ISIS in Syria. In fact, Vocativ’s Deep Web analysts monitoring social media found that more ISIS jihadists come from Tunisia than anywhere else. In collaboration with MSNBC, Vocativ traveled to Sousse to speak to the family of 17-year-old Mohamed Amrouni, who disappeared after being recruited to join ISIS by his own math teacher. According to his family, Mohamed ate breakfast with his parents then told them he was going to the mosque for prayer. Typically, he’d open the family’s store at 8 AM, but on that day he did not. “He had his brain washed,” older brother Ajmi Amrouni, tells us. “He was always surfing the internet. I suppose [that] is where he started thinking seriously about going to Syria.” ISIS has circulated several recruitment videos on social media. While these videos certainly aid in convincing young men to join the jihadis, the real recruiters are planted inside mosques and schools. “It happens at every school in the country,” Oussama, Mohamed’s best friend tells us. And at recruitment rallies, jihadis proselytize on megaphones promising riches, the chance to blow up infidels, and access to paradise. “The recruiters receive $18,000 for each person they send to Syria,” Mohamed’s father Khaled Amrouni tells us. “And then within a month you see them driving a new car.” And although Sousse police tell us they will not let terrorist recruiters “pass at any price”, when the Amrouni family informed authorities about the disappearance of their son, no action was taken against the recruiter. As for Mohamed? Since we spoke to the Amrouni family, he has moved with ISIS from Syria to Iraq.