British jihadists warns wannabes: Syria war is ‘not easy’

A British Muslim extremist and Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) member posted an emotional video on YouTube on Tuesday warning foreign fighters that the road to the Syrian war was not paved with flowers and butterflies.

The man in the video cautions would-be jihadists that fighting in the three year Syrian conflict was more than something “you can put on Instagram or Facebook,” the Daily Mail reported.

“You don't just come here, put on a tactical vest, grab a Kalashnikov and get a big beard (and) that's it,” the unidentified man said in the four minute video, saying that fighters naively had an image of a “five-star jihad.”

The man, who spoke with an English accent, lectured potential jihadists of the dangers that waited for them, seemingly weary and enervated by the conditions himself.

“It is not easy to stand in front of a tank while it launches at you. It is not easy to raise this simple piece of metal and pull the trigger, although people might think it is.”

The man spoke holding a gun under the banner of Rayat al-Tawheed, a group claiming to be the distributor of English-language materials produced by ISIS.

“It's not as easy as pulling out your 9mm [gun] on a back road on the streets of London and blasting a guy with it, [knowing] that he's not going to blast you back,” he added.

In a chilling conclusion, the ISIS member claimed that fighting in the name of Islam was a duty of a Muslim man.

“It's not as easy as putting your feet up on the couch after a hard day's work on the corner. This is practically the Muslim man's job and career, to fight for the sake of our lives,” he said.

British immigration minister James Brokenshire said on Sunday the country faces a major security concern from people who fought in Syria and have since returned to Britain.

The minister told the BBC that Britain’s security services were “vigilant” about those traveling between Britain and Syria, adding the issue was a “big problem.”

The comments came after the Sunday Times reported that security services were “closely monitoring” 250 British-based jihadists who trained and fought in Syria and have since returned home.

ISIS is one of two rebel groups which U.S. and European officials say are the most extreme Sunni factions seeking to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.