Press. voanews.com.
Photos of
Pokémon characters in the wrecks and ruins of Syria last week drew attention to
an unnoticed aspect of the war: Troops in the most dangerous war zones are not
excluded from this global trending sensation.
The Pokémon Go
craze has reached the frontlines in the Middle East, where a global coalition
is battling Islamic State. Louis Park, an Afghanistan war veteran who is in
northern Iraq fighting IS militants alongside a Christian militia, recently
tweeted that he captured his first virtual monster on the smash-hit cellphone
game in Mosul.
With the
accessibility of smartphones all around the world and free games on App Stores
and Android Markets, getting involved in video gaming is easier than ever before.
Marwan, a voluntary fighter with the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces who
prefers to go by his first name only, told VOA that he plays different games in
any spare time he gets between patrols. "It gives me a relief from the
situation we are stuck in," he said. "It makes my mind distracted a
bit and helps me refresh my brain for a while."
Security
concerns
There are
concerns among armed personnel that rampant growth of smart phone gaming might
harm military activities which require high concentration and attentiveness.
However, U.S. Air Force spokesperson Ed Gulick recently told the Military Times
newspaper that there haven't been any security concerns yet.
"While it
could lead to safety and security concerns, at this point, Air Force
headquarters is not aware of any security issues by civilians or airman playing
the newly released game," he said. Most advanced, multi-player games are
GPS-enabled. And that doesn't fit well in the military world, experts say.
"GPS-based
games could be very dangerous for military people and the people in
frontlines," said Daryoush Bourbour, a Washington-based retired military
officer. "Any kind of distractive activities must be banned for all
members of armed forces as that might cost [them] their lives," he told
VOA.
In Iraq, where
Kurdish forces are taking center stage in the fight against IS, military
leaders have banned the use of cellphone gaming by the Kurdish forces known as
Peshmerga. "When the Peshmerga are patrolling the frontline against Daesh
[IS] attacks, they are not allowed to take cellphone devices or anything that
can distract them," said Barham Aris Yazin, a Kurdish Peshmerga commander.
"We are very close to Daesh territory in Bashiqa [near Mosul], and we
cannot afford to be distracted," he told VOA.
IS, Iranian
games
The war in Syria
has created an opportunity for different groups, including IS, to promote their
agendas, and the video gaming industry has played an important role in that. Recently,
IS released a smart phone-based game with the aim of indoctrinating children
under the cover of Arabic alphabet teaching. The application has games for
memorizing enticing Islamic songs. Their lyrics extol Jihad against infidels.
An IS digital
team, known as Library of Zeal, released the application that is now available
on Android devices. "Islamic State has a team of very sophisticated
experts that run an entire campaign online," said Dlshad Othman, a
cybersecurity expert with the ISC Project, a group that provides information
security assistance to civil society activists in Syria and elsewhere.
But other
parties involved in the Syrian civil war have also developed games to attract
more supporters. The Iranian government, a major backer of President Bashar
al-Assad's regime, has sponsored a new combat game that glorifies Iranian
troops fighting in Syria.
The phone-based
game Delavar — meaning “brave” in Persian — was developed by Iranian Gunay
Studio. It is available in three languages: Persian, Turkish and English.
The game is
aimed at encouraging Tehran's presence in Syria and justifying its involvement
in the Syrian war under the banner of defending Shiite religious sites,
according to its developer, Keyvan Malek Mohammadi.
"The
application, which is produced with government funding, targets Iranian
children and teenagers in Iran and neighboring countries," Mohammadi told
VOA. "It really targets those involved in the war on Takfiri groups."
Iran uses the word Takfiri for rebel groups, mainly Sunni Muslims, fighting
Syrian government forces.
Experts say that
as technology continues to advance, video gaming would remain a significant
tool for all sides of conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere.
Rikar Hussein
contributed to this report.
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