Five-star jihad? Brit extremist says Syria is no luxury

“Five-star jihad” in Syria doesn’t exist, according to one British jihadist fighting in the crisis-torn country who has uploaded a video to YouTube to show viewers the living conditions of extremists.

The video was released on Sunday by Rawat al-Tawheed, a mouthpiece group for British fighters that are fighting in support of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), according to a report by The Telegraph.

Like a surreal version of the hit MTV series ‘Cribs’, as described by The Independent, the man who calls himself Abu Abdullah tours the rooms of what appear to be an abandoned house.

In one shot, the camera is taken into a room where he says up to seven “mujahideen,” or fighters, sleep on foam mattresses on the floor with AK47s seen resting against the wall.

“It’s just basic living, you’ve got your mattresses here where six or seven brothers sleep on the floor. The majority of the time we don’t have electricity.”

Abu Abdullah said he made the video to deny claims made by other Britons in Syria that jihadists are living a life of luxury.

“Today we wanted to show you the basic living of the brothers in this base … there’s been a lot of talk of so-called five star-jihad, and the way mujahideen have been living in villas and mansions and cupboards full of sweets. But wallahy [I swear by God] it’s far from that.

“It’s not the five-star that people are saying,” he adds. ”This boiler doesn’t work. We only use cold water.”

Then, Abu Abdullah - dressed in camouflage and wearing a balaclava - films several iPhones scattered on the floor, saying they are always plugged in for charging as the Syrian regime turns the electricity off for many hours during the day.

Tabasco sauce and an Apple Mac

He points to an Apple Mac computer sitting on the table in the corner of the room, which the man says is used to do “work.”

“He then points to a number of Western items, including body scrub and Tabasco sauce, as well as his North Face thermal jacket for the ‘cold nights,’” the Telegraph reported.

Abu Abdullah has previously appeared in a number of similar videos in which he calls for British Muslims to join him in Syria.

On YouTube, the video is posted with the description: “Abu Abdullah telling how it is.” Rayat al-Tawheed (Banner of God), claims to be the English-language media arm of ISIS, which was formerly affiliated with al-Qaeda until the latter dissociated itself from the group.

Britain’s Scotland Yard revealed earlier this year that Syria-related terrorism arrests are soaring with 16 so far this year, compared with 24 for all of 2013, according to The Independent.