After receiving thousands of pages of confidential papers written by top ISIS leaders, NBC worked with the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point to translate and analyze the documents. The details were surprising and shocking.
The database, containing information on more than 4,000 fighters, details the organization behind ISIS' enlistment operation and illustrates a surprisingly varied fighting force captivated by the idea of Muslim law.
While the average fighter is around 26 years old, they range in age from teenagers to men in their 60s. Some have no education, but many are well-traveled and well-educated with advanced degrees, MDs, and MBAs.
Each potential fighter was asked if he wanted to be a regular soldier or a suicide bomber or suicide fighter, but only 12 percent put themselves down for voluntary martyrdom.
According to intelligence officials, the number of those who raised their hands for ISIS's Suicide Squad is much lower than Al-Qaeda’s forces, which suggests ISIS is much more interested in sustained victory and amassing more territory than quick attacks.
The group was also less educated on Islam than would be assumed. Seventy percent said they had only a basic understanding of sharia law and, more surprisingly, those with a deeper understanding of Islam were actually less likely to choose to be suicide bombers or fighters.
The three biggest ISIS feeder countries were Saudi Arabia (797 fighters), Tunisia (640 fighters) and Morocco (260 fighters).
This information comes the same week Saudi Arabia vowed to dump U.S. holdings if 9/11 report papers citing their support of the 2001 attacks were released.
Stolen ISIS Documents Reveal Terrorist Network from PeerDaily on Vimeo.