Social media platforms such as twitter and facebook have become propaganda tools for ISIS to preach extreme political ideas, disseminate hatred and recruit new followers, Chinese analysts said.

Their target is the young and discontent generation of Muslim immigrants in Europe and the US. According to Daily Mail, an estimated of 500 British nationals have left the UK and joined the extreme jihadist group in Syria.

A study by King's College in London says that 3,000 foreigners from Western states are actively involved in ISIS, which raises fear that those passport holders may bring terrorist threats back to the West.

Li Guofu, director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the China Institute of International Studies, said: "The terrorists have made full use of the Internet and spread convictions such as 'sacrificing life for religion to become a martyr' through various multimedia forms."

The failure to integrate into Western societies has resulted in frustration among the immigrants, which has been taken advantage of by ISIS.

Hua Liming, a former Chinese ambassador to Iran and an expert on Middle Eastern studies, said: "After WWII, a surge of Muslim immigrants from the Middle East and North Africa flocked to Europe, which was then troubled by a severe labor shortage. However, despite several generations' time, these immigrants are still drifting away from the mainstream."

"Most of the Muslims are struggling at the bottom of society with a high unemployment rate but their population is increasing with a high birth rate. In this circumstance, the younger generation of European Muslims tends to blame the West for their living predicament," he said.

Analysts said the prolonged Israel-Palestine conflict, Washington's powerful support of Israel and the two wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have led the Muslims to realize that the current regional order mandated by the US-led West is the source of their suffering.

Li said the biased reports on the Syrian War by Western media have also prompted these young people to seek other explanations. Hua said ISIS has taken advantage of this pervasive disillusionment among the Muslim world.

(China Daily USA 09/04/2014 page3)