The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is now able to produce authentic-looking Syrian passports using machines that are typically available only to governments, according to an American intelligence report. The report was accessed by the New York-based station ABC News, which said it was issued by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the investigative wing of the United States Department of Homeland Security. According to ABC News, the 17-page report was issued in early December to law enforcement departments across the US. It warns that ISIS is most likely able to print government-quality travel documents using Syrian passport templates.
According HSI, the militant group was
first able to access passport-issuing technology when it conquered
Raqqa, the Syrian city that today serves as the capital of the so-called
Islamic State. The city has a passport office with at least one
passport-issuing machine, said the report. A few months later, ISIS came
in possession of a second passport-issuing machine when it captured the
eastern Syrian city of Deir ez-Zor. The HSI report states that the
city’s passport office, which contained “boxes of blank passports” and
at least one passport-printing machine, came into the hands of ISIS
militants undamaged. Currently, the whereabouts of the Raqqa and Deir
ez-Zor passport machines “remain fluid”, says the report, pointing out
that both machines are believed to be portable.
The intelligence report goes on to state
“with moderate confidence” that ISIS has issued authentic-looking Syrian
passports to individuals, and that some of them may have traveled to
Europe and the US. Further on, the report says that Syria is virtually
awash with fake documents; it cites an unnamed source who says that
high-quality fake Syrian passports can be purchased in the black market
in Syria for less than $400, and that some government employees will
backdate passport stamps in exchange for a fee. IntelNews readers will recall that two of the suicide bombers who attacked Paris in November were carrying fake Syrian passports.
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