Le Parisien published the confessions of a reformed French jihadist, who returned to France in March 2015 after having joined the Islamic State in Syria. The man recounts barbaric scenes, such as the killing of a 14-year-old boy.
Called “Ali,” in the article, the man became radicalized during his time in Fleury-Merogis prison. It is there he decided to wage holy war. When Ali returned in March he went to a police station where he confessed to investigators the inner workings of the terrorist organization. According to Le Parisien, the police found some of his statements inconsistent.
Ali described his easy travel through Turkey to enter Syria. After being interrogated by the “Islamic State’s secret services,” near Raqqa he was declared “clean.”
“We were awakened by the Emir banging guns…Thirty minutes of jogging then stretching,” he recounts, remembering the training camps for new recruits where he met 200 people, and took religious courses on the battle against the ‘unbelievers,’ in the West. After having pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, he received arms training and learned combat techniques.
“A 14 year old who was killed for having interrupted prayer was left in the streets for several weeks,” he recounted. Ali admitted he left Syria following the decapitation of an old man accused of sorcery. “I was not with Muslims, a Muslim could not commit such atrocities,” he told police.
