There are 70 references to Belgium
in Islamic State documents obtained by Sky that show evidence of suicide
bombers in waiting.
Stuart Ramsay
Chief Correspondent
The names of Islamic fighters, their pseudonyms, their
countries of origin and contact numbers for family members, we had seen before.
What marked this file out was its title: The Martyrs.
Previously unheard of, this was a totally secret brigade.
A brigade made up of men who had joined Islamic State to die as suicide
bombers.
The files revealed the names of 123.
They came from a variety of countries: France,
German, Spain, Tunisia and Egypt.
What is interesting in the files is the number of times
that Belgium or Belgian cities are mentioned.
We can reveal that 25 Belgians are identified.
There are 48 references to Belgian nationals within the
registration papers.
There are 70 references to the country which include
their sponsors who guaranteed their entry to the terror group, family members
and telephone numbers.
Islamic State, like many previous jihadi groups, has used
suicide attackers to overrun their enemies' positions from Libya to Pakistan
and Afghanistan. All in traditional war zones. What marks this brigade out as
different is that it appears to have been made up, in the large part, by
killers trained to carry out attacks in the peaceful cities of Europe and
beyond.
Death squads sent out to attack away from Syria and Iraq,
away from the battlefield.
The files we have published over the past week
or so list all the fighters' intended specialisms.
Fighter, infiltrator and Martyr were standard pieces of
information requested. All these men ticked the Martyr box. In translation it
is suicide attacker.
The registration form of Mohammed Belkaid, first reported
by Sky News from our files after he opened fire on police in Brussels last week
and was killed, showed that he too was part of the Martyrs' Brigade.
In Syria he is likely to have joined one of the training
camps and the Islamic State training programme in their stronghold of Raqqa.
Sky News has previously revealed the existence of these
foreigners' camps, which train fighters to carry out attacks outside Syria and
Iraq.
Counter Terrorism expert Professor Andrew Silke said IS
seeks out recruits for its martyrs' brigade that have a series of
qualification.
He said: "One of the things that the movements are
interested in is 'have we got a candidate who is willing and able to carry out
a suicide attack? Because there's a value in that.
"Another issue ... is 'could this person
operate in the West? Have they got the language skills? Do they fit in with the
culture? Do they come from that particular region, because if they do, their
ability to go back and operate (there) ... is much greater than sending
somebody from the Middle East."
Some of the Belgians we can easily identify.
Redwana Mohammed Hajaoui also known as Abu Khalid
al Maghribi, crossed into Syria in February 2014. He later appeared in an
Islamic State propaganda video.
Mesut Cankarturan also known as Abu Abdullah al Beljiki
from Bruges, crossed into Syria in March 2014. He later died near Deir ez-Zor.
During our investigations Sky News has learned from
former IS members that the recruits were trained not just to carry out attacks
but to be trainers as well, raising the spectre of further developing terror
cells.
The analysis of these files will take a long time; certainly
the security services are gearing up for a long fight against Islamic State and
its terror gangs.
