ISIS in Somalia issued an appeal for Western supporters with medical training to come volunteer as the terror group uses checkups, surgeries and dental care to ingratiate themselves with communities.
An unidentified medical professional with a North American accent believed to be Canadian appears in the new, 15-minute official ISIS video “Men Who Believe.”
“We’ve been going around and visiting the villages nearby where most of the people work as herdsmen or shepherds,” the masked, bespectacled jihadist said. “The vast majority of them are extremely poor, don’t have any access to health facilities, and have been completely neglected by the local government. On top of that, there’s a severe drought in the area, which has made the situation for them a lot harder.”
“Therefore, we decided to provide them several free health services regardless of how limited our resources and capabilities are, all for the sake of Allah,” he continued. “In total, we were able to look at approximately 200 patients, most of which had general medical conditions like malnutrition, dehydration, anemia, tropical and dermatological diseases, to which we gave the appropriate therapeutic treatment. Several patients also required surgical attention, which included the removal of lipomas and cysts. In addition to that, we did dental checkups where we also extracted teeth. Furthermore, we distributed food to those hardest hit by the drought and to the mothers whose children were malnourished.”
The jihadist added that he wanted “to sincerely advise my brothers and sisters still outside the Islamic State, especially those of you who are doctors or medically trained, to quickly come join us.”
“We are in desperate need of your help. What would you say to Allah on the day of judgment when you are asked ‘what have you done for the ummah [Muslim community]’ while your fellow Muslims are being bombed by the kuffar [disbelievers] and murtadin [apostates] day and night,” he said. “Get on the path of jihad and book yourself one of the highest places in jannah [paradise]. The caravan’s moving and it’s not stopping for anyone. So hurry up and get going.”
Since 2015, ISIS has been trying to lure Al-Shabaab fighters to their side, but the al-Qaeda-aligned force has remained the dominant jihadist force in Somalia.
As of August, U.S. military officials have estimated up to 250 ISIS fighters in Somalia — largely concentrated in Puntland — compared to up to 7,000 Al-Shabaab fighters.
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