More than 70 German women have made their way to ISIS-controlled areas of Syria and Iraq, according to the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz – BfV), Germany’s domestic intelligence agency.
Nearly 40 percent of them are younger than 25 years old, and nine of them are underage, Hans-Georg Maaßen, head of the BfV told DPA.
Some 650 extremists have travelled from Germany to Syria and Iraq so far, he added.
Although the departure of young women and girls to the conflict areas is not a new phenomenon, the authority, according to Maaßen, is especially concerned about the ISIS-made propaganda directed at women.
According to Maaßen, a manual for women on how to as travel to Syria and Iraq is circulating online, and ladies identifed as potential ISIS-sympathizers are selected and contacted by the terrorists, in order to convince them to leave their country and marry one of the fighters, he added.
Also, blogs and social network sites have appeared, with romantic portrayals of the daily life in ISIS-controlled areas. The women are lured by the images of an idyllic life, but they are unaware of the reality that awaits them, Maaßen said.
Passports and mobile phones may be taken from the women, so they become “fully isolated.”
Edited translation from DPA
