'Cyrillic Jihadists' Bring Discipline to IS in Syria

AS IT IS 2016-04-04 'Cyrillic Jihadists' Bring Discipline to IS in Syria

Russian-speaking militants² are the second-largest group of foreigners fighting for the Islamic State militant¹ group.

Nearly 5,000 fighters from the Central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan have joined IS, according to the Soufan Group.

The largest number of IS fighters – more than 6,000 – came from Tunisia, Soufan said. Soufan provides intelligence services to governments and businesses.

The Russian-speaking fighters are among the Islamic State’s most brutal³ fighters. Some are part of the IS leadership.

They have settled mostly near the Syrian city of Raqqa, where IS has made its capital. Many brought their wives and children. They are raising their children to be future militant fighters, sources told VOA.

While their customs, race and ethnic⁴ background differ, these fighters have one thing in common -- they can read and write Cyrillic script. Cyrillic is the writing system used in Russia, which controlled the now independent Central Asian nations for decades.

In their homes in IS-controlled Syria, residents can hear Friday prayers in Russian. Children study math and the Koran at a Russian- language school. Products from their home countries are sold at a Univermag Russian store.

The men are experienced fighters, according to Salem al-Hammoud. He is a civic⁵ activist⁶ from the IS-controlled Syrian city of Deir Ezzor. He now lives in Turkey.

“These fighters are very different from others in terms of discipline and military training compared to their Arab and African counterparts,” Al-Hammoud said.

Some fought for Georgia in the 2008 war against Russia.

“Given their combat experience, fighters from the North Caucasus are regarded as particularly strong fighters,” said Edward Lemon. He is a researcher at the University of Exeter in Britain.

Some were drawn⁷ to the Islamic State by lack of jobs in their former Central Asian communities or in Russia.

Babajon Karabayev is a former IS fighter who returned to Tajikistan.

Karabayev was unhappy when he could not find work in Russia. Karabayev received money from IS. But he said left the group because he was not as committed as other fighters.

Many of the Russian-speaking fighters come from migrant worker communities in Russia.

Noah Tucker is managing director of registan.net, a website focused on Central Asia. He said Islamic State does a good job convincing Central Asian Muslims that their problems could be solved by joining the militant group.

He said IS tells potential recruits: “You are Muslims, and your problems are caused by those who oppress Muslims.”

Some experts said Russia encouraged militants to travel to Syria. Tucker said the Russian air force was able to bomb the Russian speaking fighters in Syria “with a level of impunity⁸,” not possible in Central Asia.

Words in This Story

brutal – adj. extremely cruel or harsh

de facto - adj. used to describe something that exists but that is not officially accepted or recognized

discipline – n. control that is gained by requiring that rules or orders be obeyed and punishing bad behavior

counterpart – n. someone or something that has the same job or purpose as another

combat – n. active fighting especially in a war

particularly – adv. more than usually

convince – v. to cause someone to believe that something is true

encourage – v. to tell someone to do something

impunity – n. without fear of punishment

1 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

2 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

3 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

4 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

5 civic   

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

参考例句：

• I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
• The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。

6 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

7 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

8 impunity   

n.(惩罚、损失、伤害等的)免除

参考例句：

• You will not escape with impunity.你不可能逃脱惩罚。
• The impunity what compulsory insurance sets does not include escapement.交强险规定的免责范围不包括逃逸。