Articles

Italian Jihadists in Syria and Iraq

Authors:

Abstract

This article explores the current extent of Italy’s Sunni jihadists in Syria and Iraq. The country presents interesting particularities, including a relatively small number of foreign fighters compared to other European countries (not more than 90 individuals, and only a dozen with Italian passports). However, the Italian case has not been extensively investigated. This article first examines the scale of the problem and then focuses on the cases of three Italian nationals who left for Syria: a convert who died in combat in the Aleppo area in 2013, a second-generation immigrant who joined the ranks of the Islamic State (IS) and a muhajira (“emigrant”) who, as a woman, has not been allowed to take combat roles in the self-proclaimed “caliphate”.

Keywords:

Terrorismradicalisationjihadismforeign fightersmuhajirinIslamic StateItaly
  • Year: 2016
  • Volume: 7 Issue: 1
  • Page/Article: 20-35
  • DOI: 10.15664/jtr.1205
  • Submitted on 29 Aug 2015
  • Published on 5 Feb 2016
  • Peer Reviewed