Dar al-Iftaa warns of attacks from returning IS members

CAIRO – 2 October 2017: Egypt’s Dar al-Iftaa Fatwa Monitoring Observatory warned in a statement Monday of possible terrorist attacks that might be committed by foreigners returning to their countries of origin after fighting with the Islamic state (IS).

In an official statement, the Fatwa Monitoring Observatory said that these warnings come as a result of Germany’s federal intelligence services finding a new map from IS targeting vital sites within all of Europe.

Another German study affirmed that the numbers of those who travel seeking to join IS in Syria, Iraq and other countries is clearly declining, but nevertheless, about 900 left their countries recently to join the terrorist group.

“About 61 percent of returning terrorists are German, while about 73 percent of current IS members have the German nationality, and about 27 percent of them [Germans with IS] have dual nationalities,” the statement read.

The observatory praised in its statement the new German method recently developed by Germany’s federal intelligence service, aiming to evaluate returnees psychologically by asking them several questions previously set by a group of experts in terrorism, crime, psychology and sociology.

Through these questions, the returning terrorists are rated according to the severity of their terroristic instincts.

This strategy, which was called the “Da'esh radar,” was highly recommended by the Fatwa Monitoring Observatory to be used by the Egyptian authorities as a new and effective method in countering terrorism in Egypt.

“The world needs new methods and strategies in dealing with extremists and IS members who return from conflict zones. They must be psychologically and socially rehabilitated,” the statement read.