IS stronger than thought: Journalist

A German reporter, who was allowed to spend 10 days inside Islamic State(IS)-controlled territory in northern Iraq, has warned that the Sunni radical group is "much stronger" and "much cleverer" than thought, the British media reported Tuesday.

"The first strong impression is that ISIS is much stronger than I thought, much cleverer," the Mirror quoted Jurgen Todenhofer as saying in an interview to BBC Radio 4.

Todenhofer is the first Western journalist allowed inside the regime which beheaded Brits David Haines and Alan Henning, the report said.

He said the IS fighters have an "incredible enthusiasm and sense of victory", with total certainty that they will win the war for the Middle East.

Todenhofer added that the IS is "enthusiastic about killing hundreds of millions of people", adding that Cambodian Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot was "nothing in comparison" and Al Qaeda are "peanuts".

He said the IS "caliphate" appeared to be working as a state, with the terrorists displaying well-established arrangements for security, and care for the poor -- arrangements that have been accepted by many of the communities the group now controls.

"The popultaion is tolerating them, accepting them because they are Sunnis, and they have been discriminated against by a Shia government."

Todenhofer said that he did not see "anybody who has a real chance to stop them". "Only Arabs can stop IS, the Western countries will never stop IS."

Todenhofer was allowed inside the IS regime after months of negotiations with the help of a German IS fighter. A former German politician, Juergen Todenhoefer is the only outsider to have travelled deep into IS territory and back.