Would-be German jihadists found fighting jihad to be hell in Afghanistan

BERLIN - German intelligence sources have revealed how some Islamist radicals discovered that the path of Holy War was more difficult than they had originally thought.

The nine would-be terrorists travelled, with two women, from Germany to Afghanistan in 2009 in a bid for glory. Instead they were laid low by diarrhoea, moaned about the food, griped about their training, were forced to buy their own weapons and admitted pining for friends and family.

The Hamburg’s Office for the Protection of the Constitution - Germany’s domestic intelligence agency - initially called the gang “the travel group” according to news magazine Der Spiegel, and now add that they are encouraged by what happened to the group, the Scotsman reports.

They had been under surveillance for months because of their attendance at the city’s Taiba mosque - where the Hamburg cell of the 9/11 attackers worshipped - which was closed by authorities earlier this year.

The group, according to the agents, were all useless at the art of waging Holy War.

Aged 21 to 55, one was a former drug addict, one a failed businessman with a mentally disturbed brother, one a small-time “pothead” with a criminal record for petty theft offences.

Most were jobless and in the winter of 2008, they resolved to go to Afghanistan to fight NATO forces. The reportedly split into four small groups early last year for the journey.

In all, five men and two women made it to a town in Pakistan near the border with Afghanistan. They were upset at having to pay for their food and weapons. Their Taleban masters made them write begging letters home seeking more cash.

The group found the harsh conditions of the Hindu Kush impossible to deal with. (ANI)