The Blackwater Of Jihad

The war in Syria is now about to enter its sixth year. In addition to the massive destruction the conflict has wrought, it has also given rise to a few new and rather curious phenomena. As the first major war fought in the age of social media, technology, ideology and military prowess are being presented in new and often bizarre ways.

Amongst the millions of videos, images, tweets and messages sent from the war zones of Syria to the outside world, researchers have discovered new methods of fighting, recruiting and engineering which would otherwise be lost in the fog of war. One such example is a group of 'mercenaries' called Malhama Tactical.

While there have been several groups of mercenaries operating in Syria, almost from the beginning of the conflict, Malhama Tactical is different in one key area – all of its members and clients are exclusively radical Islamists. This group of mainly Chechen jihadis, armed with experience from years of fighting Russia, have traveled to Syria to train and arm their ideological brethren.

Aside from the practical training and weapons supply which they provide to a number of different rebel groups in Syria, Malhama Tactical also occasionally serves as an elite unit-for-hire. What is more interesting about the group is their sophisticated online marketing outreach, despite being in the middle of a war. Social media has allowed them to spread across Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, uploading instructional content and promoting their brand of services.

This article is an interesting look at the intersection of war and social media, and the strange business opportunities it creates. Moreover, it shows that the tactics used by nation states are trickling down to dangerous non-state actors at an increasingly fast pace.