An Inside Look At The Recruitment Of European Jihadis

By: JTTM Staff

Introduction

Recently, Spanish and Moroccan security forces broke up an international recruitment ring that is said to have dispatched dozens of young mujahideen, some underage, from France, Belgium, and Morocco to fight in Syria and Mali. The ring's suspected leader is Mustafa Maya Amaya, 51, a Belgian-born resident of Melilla, a Spanish enclave in Morocco, who converted to Islam some 16 years ago. Amaya was very active online, operating several blogs and using social media platforms to recruit young men to jihad and to advertise his services as middleman between would-be recruits and the jihad organizations.

This report reviews Mustafa Maya Amaya's recruitment activity and methods. Blog header on Amaya's Ansar Tawhid blog, March 15, 2014. Amaya and six other members of his group (two Frenchmen, a Tunisian, and three Moroccans) were arrested in a March 14, 2014 joint operation by Spanish and Moroccan security forces. He and another three were apprehended in Melilla and the others were caught in Morocco. The group is accused of conducting outreach, contacting would-be fighters across Europe and the Maghreb and providing them with technical means, including fake passports, to help them reach the jihadi fronts in Syria and Mali.

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