Experts: ISIS Intensifies Online Recruitment After Losing Regional Strongholds

Middle East News Network: Security experts have warned of the escalating online activity of the terrorist organization ISIS, which is seeking to compensate for its territorial losses by recruiting new members around the world.
Iraqi political analyst Mukhlid Hazem told the Russian news agency Novosti that the group has shifted from its traditional recruitment model—based on public pledges of allegiance and physical presence in areas under its control—to a complex digital strategy that relies on social media platforms and modern technologies for covert communication.
Hazem explained that the organization exploits economic and social problems, particularly in European countries, targeting young people through propaganda that focuses on marginalization, unemployment, and intellectual alienation. Recruits are then subjected to systematic “brainwashing” programs, including extremist ideological materials and specialized virtual training courses.
The Iraqi analyst stressed that confronting this digital transformation requires more than conventional military solutions. He emphasized the need for advanced technological and intelligence strategies, alongside addressing the root social and economic causes that the organization leverages in its propaganda.
In a related context, former Iraqi Minister of Communications Mohammed Allawi warned of the risks associated with transferring approximately 7,000 ISIS detainees from Syrian prisons to Iraq in an operation overseen by the international coalition led by the United States, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.
Allawi called for a comprehensive review of prison management procedures and transfer mechanisms, warning against a repeat of previous escape scenarios that had complicated the region’s security situation.
Despite public concerns about the possible reactivation of the group’s sleeper cells inside Iraq, official authorities confirmed that the detainees will be placed under strict security monitoring, noting that the transfer decision was made to prevent potential escape operations that could further destabilize regional security.
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