By Noureddine Omar | 2025-06-27

Captured "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS) fighters are breaking ranks after discovering they were being used as expendable tools rather than respected as the valued soldiers they believed themselves to be.

After coming to this realization, many of these former ISIS recruits -- among them, Abdelhamid al-Madioum -- are now cooperating with intelligence agencies to expose the group's recruitment methods and global networks.

Despite his moderate Islamic upbringing, al-Madioum fell victim to "distorted fatwas and propaganda propagated by ISIS," military expert Mansour al-Shehri told Al-Fassel.

After moving to Syria and Iraq, sustaining multiple wounds in combat, and losing his wife, al-Madioum surrendered to Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) with his two children before being deported to the United States for trial.

His time in prison proved transformative, allowing him to "regain his senses," al-Shehri said.

Through his cooperation, security agencies gained valuable intelligence that will help them develop countermeasures against terrorist ideology and pursue remaining ISIS operatives.

Disillusionment runs deep among dozens of detained ISIS elements, as they begin to understand that their lives "meant absolutely nothing" to the group that recruited them with promises of religious purpose, al-Shehri said.

Many lost wives and children during battles in Iraq and Syria, only to find themselves abandoned in prisons and camps when ISIS collapsed, he said.

An awakening

After their arrest and detention, most ISIS elements begin to recognize the stark contrast between the way the self-described "Islamic State" abandoned them and the humane treatment they receive from arresting authorities, he said.

This awakening provides "a motivating incentive to acknowledge the mistakes and crimes they committed and the wrongness of being drawn into terrorist ideology," al-Shehri said.

King Abdulaziz University Center for Social Research and Humanities supervisor Fadel al-Hindi told Al-Fassel that he believes al-Madioum's cooperation stems from genuine conviction more than a desire to reduce his sentence.

Al-Madioum's decision to surrender shortly after his wife's murder to protect his children suggests a fundamental shift in priorities, al-Hindi said.

For brainwashed ISIS elements to return to sanity, they require "a major shock and a convincing reason," he explained.

They need to clearly understand that the group they joined "will dispense with them at any time, and that their lives and the lives of their families are of no value to the group's emirs and commanders," he said.

These former fighters possess intimate knowledge of ISIS's brainwashing and recruitment techniques, making them uniquely qualified to expose the group's true nature in prisons and rehabilitation centers, al-Hindi said.

Their insights prove "important and necessary," he said.