The German magazine “Der Spiegel” revealed that the religious fanaticism, which ISIL presents as its ideology, is not the group’s central focus. Their main goal was to conquer Syria and this move was planned by ISIL members long ago.
The papers revealed a number of highly complex intelligence methods, based on widespread espionage, surveillance and murder. ISIL members pretended to be Islamic preachers and spied on their opponents.
They also passed on information to their leadership about power structures and weak points in populated areas.
ISIL members were also responsible for organizing systematic "kidnappings" of charismatic rebel leaders and murdering them to prevent potential resistance, followed by massive military attacks supported by local armed agents.
All of these plans were implemented, “Der Spiegel” wrote, based on the results of their own investigation and the secret documents. Hundreds of pages contain records of planned espionage operations, intelligence activities and methods to maintain their grip on the occupied areas.
The documents reportedly belonged to a former Iraqi colonel known under the pseudonym Haji Bakr, who joined ISIL in 2004, and was killed in Syria in January 2014.
