Islamic State can make fake Syrian passports: US report

It may explain how the Paris attacks mastermind Abdelhamid Abaaoud was able to get out of Athens after almost being captured in January, get back to Syria and then make his way to Paris to control the murder of 130 people.

The DHS report says it is unclear what state the “blank” passports stolen from Deir ez-Zour were in or if they were completely blank.

Another passport office was located in Raqqa, Syria, where the terror group has long maintained its de facto capital.

The issue of fake Syrian passports came to the spotlight in Europe last month after authorities found that two suicide bombers involved in the November 13 Paris attacks entered Europe with fake passports, along with a group of Syrian refugees fleeing ISIS violence.

The report, published by the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), said authorities believe militants belonging to the depraved death cult have already infiltrated American borders and warned they are capable of sneaking into any country.

The report warned that, based on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s intelligence sources, ISIS has access to passport printing machines and blank passport books, raising the possibility the documents could be faked, according to the source.

They’ve also entered information on the 3,800 fake passports investigators have tracked into US databases, although it wasn’t clear from the report if those 3,800 fake passports have turned up in the U.S.

The information was first made public on Wednesday by FBI Director James Comey while he testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

“The intelligence community is concerned that they [IS] have the ability, the capability to manufacture fraudulent passports, which is a concern in any setting”, Comey told the legislators.

The UK Daily Mail is one of many media outlets whose reporters were able to easily purchase fake passports in Syria.

The Obama administration plans to welcome some 10,000 Syrian refugees to the U.S.in the coming year.

The report also says individuals from Syria may have traveled to the US on fake passports.

“If ISIS ability to produce passports is not controlled, their operations will continue to increase and expand outside of their operational controlled areas”, the HIS stated in its report, according to ABC News. The U.S.is part of a coalition that has been conducting airstrikes in Syria targeting ISIS since 2014.