ISIS recruiters target ‘white’ Aussies

ISLAMIC State terrorists are going online to target and recruit “white Australians” who can fly under the radar of authorities.

There is also a focus on building an ISIS power base in South East Asia. Picture: Ardiles Rante

ISLAMIC State members have adopted a White Australia policy and are now going online to target and recruit “white Australians” who are not Muslim but who have grievances and can fly under law enforcement radar.

Radical Islamic State supporters are flooding encrypted online message services with lists of hundreds of potential targets to hit in Australian terror attacks.

The lists include phone numbers and addresses of potential target sites and suggestions and have been likened to a “lolly grab bag” for would-be attackers.

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Adelaide-trained doctor and ISIS supporter Tareq Kamleh fled to Syria.

And Australia has the biggest number of online nikah or Islamic marriage groups of any country in the world, seeking to bolster support and numbers by marrying off radicals in a long-term strategy to increase support and numbers.

On some days there are 200-300 people in the online groups.

Dr Robyn Torok, who researches social media and online radicalisation at Edith Cowan University’s Security Research Institute and who has spent seven years researching the sites, says that online propaganda is now “through the roof”

With the fall last month of Raqqa, the IS nominal capital, Dr Torok, says the propaganda has stepped up as IS seeks to recruit new members willing to carry out attacks across the western world.

Indonesian woman Ummu Muhammad says her son was treated by Tareq Kamleh at a hospital in Raqqa. Picture: Ardiles Rante

She said encrypted apps now include lists of places in Australia that would be good targets. These are not attacks in the planning phase but are suggestions for anyone who might like to take them up.

“They absolutely flood it. You will get 400 threats against Australia every day. They are doing that in the hope that some lone person will take it up and do it,” she said.

“They give restaurant numbers, phone numbers and say ‘this would be a good place to hit’. That doesn’t mean there is specific attack planned.”

Dr Torok said it was like a “lolly grab bag”, putting the propaganda out there in the hope that someone might feel inclined to take it up.

“It’s a propaganda machine. It’s all in desperation because they need that discourse,” she said.

“Propaganda is more through the roof than it has ever been.”

Tareq Kamleh says he travelled from his home country to join IS and is using his medical skills “as part of my jihad for Islam”.

Dr Torok said there was also a noticeable increase in the online recruitment, where white Australians with grievances against the Government and society are targeted in online chat rooms such as Facebook.

They believe that white Australians, not always Muslim, could be recruited and fly easily under the radar.

“They are looking for white Australians who are disgruntled or anti-social or who have violent tendencies or who are questioning their faith,” Dr Torok said.

“And they are still wanting to use second and third generation aggrieved Muslims. They are going to continue using that in a dynamic way. They want to convey to us that you are not as safe as you think. We can use anyone.”

She said that the online recruitment was slick and clever with radicals using multiple fake names and accounts which they alter depending on which chat room they are in at the time. They target an online discussion group, such as a school or parents chat, on the lookout for people who feel isolated and appear vulnerable and chat with them online. They find out their interests and because these people are vulnerable they are more open to listen (to radical discourse).

Online recruiters often target vulnerable people. Picture: Ardiles Rante

Dr Torok says the recruiters often work in unison, one finding out a person’s interests and grievances and then passing it on to another recruiter to focus on them. And the recruitment is targeting more than ever secular individuals.

“Now it is more specific towards secular people who are unhappy with the way the world is or are questioning the world and building a group of (online) people around them who can pick them off,” Dr Torok said.

“The way radicals present themselves has changed drastically in the last six months.”

The discourse now focuses on the failings of Government and law enforcement and encourages followers that while the caliphate in Syria may be no longer the Caliphate is wherever you are.

The recruiters now believe that it is easier to recruit someone who is Catholic and has a basis of faith than someone who is an atheist.

There is also a focus on building a power base in South East Asia, including calls for Australian fighters to go to the Philippines

Dr Torok likens the different groups of radicals using encrypted apps and social media as the different spokes on a wheel with a common goal.

“Propaganda is now through the roof. The reason is because they want to embody power because they don’t want to appear weak. Part of perpetuating the power is to use the power for propaganda,” Dr Torok says.