A 19 Year Old Maps The Middle East Wars

A 19 Year Old Maps The Middle East Wars

This post is also available in: heעברית (Hebrew)

It’s not easy to track what is going on in the civil war in Syria, it being so dynamic and turbulent. Researchers in intelligence and security services around the world collect data every day via satellites, cameras, spies and reports from the field to construct a full picture. But they are not the only ones fervently tracking ISIS’ activities, whether it is taking over a beach in Libya or a bloody struggle against the Syrian Kurds. Thomas Van Linge, 19, is also keeping an eye on the terror organization’s movements.

Though just graduated from high-school, he already knows better than most where the Jihadists are headed, what areas they have managed to conquer and where they have been pushed back. Thomas has created some of the best maps of the battle areas from inside his bedroom in Amsterdam, without ever having visited Syria, Iraq or Libya and having learned Arab using Youtube.

Thomas not only knows what ISIS is up to, but what rebels of the Free Syrian Army, al-Nusra Front and Lebanon’s Hezbollah are doing. In Libya he’s monitoring the Zintan Brigades, in Nigeria he’s watching Boko Haram, in Eastern Ukraine he’s keeping an eye on the separatists. His maps are so accurate that CNN, the New-York Times and Der-Spiegel are using them. Why is he so interested in any of this and how has he managed to collect more data on the war in Syria than a professional cartographer? In answer to that question, Thomas says that he thinks everyone should be doing what they love.

According to him, he was watching the news about the Arab Spring in Egypt and decided to research the civil war in Syria for a school project. He was looking for a map of Syria on Google and began inputting front lines and rebel groups. He used different colors. He established contact with activists and gained their trust. They, in turn, sent him information. Then he continued tinkering with the map. In January 2014, he released it for the first time on his Twitter account and now has 14,000 followers from around the world checking his updates and information. Furthermore, he has contacted warriors in the front, reporters, and human rights organizations and claims that he uses more than 1,100 sources for the maps.

It’s quite amazing to see an interest in a specific area and the open information provided by the internet can turn anyone into a regular P.I. It is, however, certainly best to be cautious when relying on any information on the internet and consult further sources.

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