Kosovo Albanians who joined or ISIS in 2013 had little knowledge of Islamic law and had never left Kosovo, a tranche of documents leaked to Prishtina Insight reveals.

These files were given to PI by the Syrian online media portal and opposition group “Zaman al Wasi” and have not been authenticated. They are just some of a total of 23 files pertaining to Kosovo entrants. None of the six had any education above high school, and only one had previously left Kosovo. Those who said they had held jobs in Kosovo listed blue-collar jobs including construction, building technician, painter, and butcher. Only one lists hometown, which is Ferizaj.

These files are the first official written documents from ISIS itself that prove the involvement of several Kosovars in this group. These documents could possibly bolster prosecution of some of Kosovo’s jihadis. The forms appear to be standard entry  processing forms, with 23 sections including personal information, occupation and level of religious knowledge. The ISIS bureaucrats filling out the forms about the Kosovars also had a space to select the role new recruits would play in the so-called caliphate. The options include serving as a fighter at the front (‘mukatil’), serving as a suicide bomber (‘istishadi’), and the highest level, a fighter who does not expect to return home (‘Al-Inghmasi’)

These forms are just six of 1736 documents with personal information on IS freshmen that have been leaked. Some 40 nationalities are represented in the forms, including Australia, Canada, France, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Morocco and Turkey. In addition to the 23 Kosovars, there are 25 fighters from Albania and 8 people from Macedonia.

These forms, called “Mujahid data,” are given to every person who joins the group, ordered by the General Border Administration of the self-proclaimed Islamic State. Each of these forms was filled out in the second half of 2013.

But the Syrian opposition group, who gave these files to Prishtina Insight, choose to obscure the fighters’ real names and contact information. Ethar Abdulhaq, deputy editor of the Zaman al Wasl portal stated in a written response to Prishtina Insight that the group wants to protect the identity of these fighters’ families.

“We covered some of the data, choosing not to reveal the person’s name, mother’s name, address and number of communication. This is important, due to the fact that intelligence could benefit from this information and we respect personal privacy.”

However, the activists said they are ready to provide information about fighters to their families as long as relatives can verify their identities.

Another question on the form ask the newly recruits about their religious knowledge, in which they can choose basic, average and high. All six Kosovar recruits checked the basic box. It seemed that the six fresh recruits did not have a big religious understanding before stepping into the conflict. The six recruits also said they have no prior experience in fighting a jihad, making Syria their first place to wage their struggle.

The education level mentioned on the forms varied from basic, low level education to high school education. Not a single fighter seemed to have any further professional or higher education. These findings are also in line with the recorded jobs, considering the recruits were doing manual labour work.

All Kosovars who entered territory held by the Islamic State seemed to be recommended by the same person, Abu Abdullah. In five cases he is referred as Abu Abdullah al Albani, (Al Albani means “the Albanian”) while in the other formula he is named Abu Abdullah Al-Kosovi. Four jihadis entered Syria on the same day, while the other two entered separately. According to Shpend Kursani, an expert on Kosovo’s ISIS fighters, both of these noms de guerre refer to Lavdrim Muhaxheri, who first called himself Al-Kosovi, and then Al-Albani. There should be a reference from inside Kosovo as well, who in this case, says Kursani, is Zekirija Qazimi who was arrested in August 2014 and remains in prison.

Qazimi, an imam from Gjilan, was arrested after he was allegedly hiding in the woods. He is charged with recruiting for terrorist organisations and is being tried in the same court process along with six other suspects. In the last court session held on March 14 2016, one of the suspects from the same group, Liridon Kabashi pleaded guilty for having joined ISIS in Syria.

In today’s court hearing Qazimi said that after he concluded his Islamic studies in Egypt he was appointed as an imam in Gjilan from the Islamic Community of Kosova, BIK, in the Al-Kuds mosque.

He was asked for a sermon during which he has allegedly said that “the blood of the kufar [infidels] is the best drink. He acknowledged say that line, but claimed he was merely quoting from a book.

Qazimi also denied to having helped anyone to go to Syria, and also said that although he personally knew both Lavdrim Muhaxheri and Ridvan Haqifi, the latter being the commander of Albanian ethnicity ISIS fighters, he hasn’t spoken with them after they left Kosovo.

“It is like they are two different people now,” Qazimi told the court when he was asked about the two top ISIS fighters, adding that what he has seen in the media is totally different from how he knew them.

“The Lavdrim I know is a quiet and polite young man,” Qazimi said.

It remains unclear what law enforcement will do with these files, leaked by the Syrian opposition. These cases and the others files, which are not disclosed yet, could serve as important proof in court.

Kosovo is thought to have a high per capita representation of fighters in ISIS, with an estimated 300 citizens that have gone to fight. However, on Monday Interior Minister Skender Hyseni announced that not a single Kosovar has gone to Syria in the past nine months. 

Read the translations below:

Number one
Name: redacted
Nickname: Abu Hamza Kosovi
Mother’s name: redacted
Blood type:
Date of birth and citizenship: 1982, Kosovo
Personal status: Unmarried
Address and place of residence: Kosovo
Academic achievement: middle
Level of sharia: basic (or “simple”)
Previous work: construction worker
Countries traveled to and how long stayed: Kosovo only
Location through which you entered? And the personal connection? Atma (a village in Syria), Abu Mansour Al Maghrabi (“the Moroccan”)
Do you have a recommendation and from whom? Abu Abdullah Al Abani (This is a typo, the last name is missing an “L”, as the rest list a recommendation from Abu Abdullah Al Albani, “the Albanian”)
Date of entry: 2013/11/9
Have you previously participated in jihad? Where? No
(Are you a): Fighter, or martyr, (person training for a suicide bombing operation) or inghimasi? (loosely translated as someone who goes on a mission knowing he likely won’t return, but not someone who blows himself up): Fighter
Specialization? (options are fighting, sharia, security, or administration, but none are checked)
Current place of work:
Deposit: passport
Level of listening and obedience:
The address for a contact: Doesn’t want anyone contacted
Date of killing and place: n/a

Number two
Name: redacted
Nickname: Abu Khetab Kosovi
Mother’s name: redacted
Blood type:
Date of birth and citizenship: 1984, Kosovo
Personal status: Unmarried
Address and place of residence: Kosovo
Academic achievement: middle
Level of sharia: basic (or “simple”)
Previous work: Technician in infrastructure building
Countries traveled to and how long stayed: n/a
Location through which you entered? And the personal connection? Atma (a village in Syria), Abu Mansour Al Maghrabi (“the Moroccan”)
Do you have a recommendation and from whom? Abu Abdullah Al Albani (“The Albanian”)
Date of entry: 2013/11/9
Have you previously participated in jihad? Where? No
(Are you a): Fighter, or martyr, (person training for a suicide bombing operation) or inghimasi? (loosely translated as someone who goes on a mission knowing he likely won’t return, but not someone who blows himself up): Fighter
Specialization? Blank (options are fighting, sharia, security, or administration, but none are checked)
Current place of work:
Deposit: passport
Level of listening and obedience:
The address for a contact: Doesn’t want to contact anyone
Date of killing and place: n/a

Number three
Name: redacted
Nickname: Abu Sufian
Mother’s name: redacted
Blood type: n/a
Date of birth and citizenship: 1986/10/15, Kosova
Personal status: Unmarried
Address and place of residence: Ferizaj
Academic achievement: primary
Level of sharia: basic (or “simple”)
Previous work: Butcher
Countries traveled to and how long stayed:
Location through which you entered? And the personal connection? Atma (a village in Syria)
Do you have a recommendation and from whom? Abu Abdullah Al Albani (“The Albanian”)
Date of entry: 2013/12/9
Have you previously participated in jihad? Where? No
(Are you a): Fighter, or martyr, (person training for a suicide bombing operation) or inghimasi? (loosely translated as someone who goes on a mission knowing he likely won’t return, but not someone who blows himself up): Fighter
Specialization? (options are fighting, sharia, security, or administration, but none are checked)
Current place of work:
Deposit:
Level of listening and obedience:
The address for a contact: redacted
Date of killing and place: n/a

Number four
Name: redacted
Nickname: Abu Abdelaziz Kosovi
Mother’s name: redacted
Blood type:
Date of birth and citizenship: 1987, Kosovo
Personal status: married
Address and place of residence: Kosovo
Academic achievement: middle
Level of sharia: basic (or “simple”)
Previous work: construction worker
Countries traveled to and how long stayed: n/a
Location through which you entered? And the personal connection? Atma (a village in Syria), Abu Mansour Al Maghrabi
Do you have a recommendation and from whom? Abu Abdullah Al Albani (“The Albanian”)
Date of entry: 2013/11/9
Have you previously participated in jihad? Where? No
(Are you a): Fighter, or martyr, (person training for a suicide bombing operation) or inghimasi? (loosely translated as someone who goes on a mission knowing he likely won’t return, but not someone who blows himself up): Fighter
Specialization? (options are fighting, sharia, security, or administration, but none are checked)
Current place of work:
Deposit: passport
Level of listening and obedience:
The address for a contact: doesn’t want anyone contacted
Date of killing and place: n/a

Number five
Name: redacted
Nickname: Abu Abdel Karim Kosovi
Mother’s name: redacted
Blood type:
Date of birth and citizenship: 1992, Kosovo
Personal status: married
Address and place of residence: Kosovo
Academic achievement: single
Level of sharia: basic (or “simple”)
Previous work: construction worker
Countries traveled to and how long stayed: Belgium
Location through which you entered? And the personal connection? Atma (a village in Syria), Abu Mansour Al Maghrabi
Do you have a recommendation and from whom? Abu Abdullah Al Albani (“The Albanian”)
Date of entry: 2013/11/9
Have you previously participated in jihad? Where? No
(Are you a): Fighter, or martyr, (person training for a suicide bombing operation) or inghimasi? (loosely translated as someone who goes on a mission knowing he likely won’t return, but not someone who blows himself up): Fighter
Specialization? (options are fighting, sharia, security, or administration, but none are checked)
Current place of work:
Deposit: passport
Level of listening and obedience:
The address for a contact: doesn’t want anyone contacted
Date of killing and place: n/a

Number six
Name: redacted
Nickname: Abu Suleyman
Mother’s name:  Farida
Blood type:  O+
Nationality and Date of Birth: Albania, (birth date is blank)
Personal status: married, one child
Address and place of residence: Kosovo
Academic achievement: high school
Level of sharia: basic (or “simple”)
Previous work: house painter
Countries traveled to and how long stayed: n/a
Location through which you entered? And the personal connection? Entered through Via Azaz
Do you have a recommendation and from whom? Abu Abdullah Al Kosovi (the Kosovar)
Date of entry: July 29, 2013
Have you previously participated in jihad? Where? No
(Are you a): Fighter, or martyr, (person training for a suicide bombing operation) or inghimasi? (loosely translated as someone who goes on a mission knowing he likely won’t return, but not someone who blows himself up): Fighter
Specialization? Fighter
Current place of work: n/a
Deposit: n/a
Level of listening and obedience:
The address for a contact: ‘place of the Albanians’
Date of killing and place: n/a