SW News: The threat of the Islamic State is far from over as a recent ‘Guardian’ report has revealed that militants associated with the Islamic extremist outfit in Syria and Iraq are being helped by an Uzbek national to move to Western nations with forged passports.
The investigative report by the British newspaper says that the militants are being helped by this Uzbek who operates a network based in Turkey. With fake passports, the extremists begin life anew undercover in the West. These fake passports sport almost-accurate official visas and travel stamps that even experts cannot identify.
Some of the other nations preferred by the militants are Niger and Mauritania in Africa, the Ukraine and Afghanistan.
As per the report, each fake passport costs $15,000. The Uzbek revealed that he has handed out passports on at least 10 occasions. With fake Russian passports, two militants were able to sneak into the US through Mexico.
Other popular destinations include Niger and Mauritania, as well as Ukraine and Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. The Uzbek national makes use of the messaging app Telegram to invite potential clients. He also makes use of translators who are fluent in Russian, Arabic and other languages to woo the militants. The report also says that the US Department of Homeland Security knows about the operations of this Uzbek’s network.